Turning Points in Computer Education - History of Computing: Learning from the Past - page 168

9 Conclusion

By examining the critical points in the life history of these two people we see something of
the way in which computing history is reflected through the lives of the ordinary person.
The rise of the computer took many years. Because computers were initially avail-
able only to governments as defence equipment, both the Australian and American
had limited or no exposure to computers in high school. While the Australian experi-
enced the introduction and spread of computers as a university undergraduate student,
the American arrived on the scene at a time when university computers were rela-
tively commonplace. In their first jobs they saw the proliferation of computers beyond
the academic world, and with the arrival of microcomputers witnessed the eventual
ubiquity of computers throughout society. Many of these advances in computing were
invisible to the ordinary person.
Their experience shows that exposure to computers often begins in our educational
system. The resultant familiarity with computers and software is then propagated
beyond the classroom and eventually extends to the population in general. These dual
narratives reveal three turning points:

• from ignorance of the computer to seeing it as a vehicle for executing pro-

grams

• from an interesting curiosity to a readily available tool

• from a tool to being ubiquitous device designed to support complex software.

The advent of sophisticated smart phones may mark the convergence between the
wireless handheld and the PC Markets, changing the landscape of computing yet
again [9]. While computers have evolved from being unattainable, to being a curiosity
in the realm of hobbyists, to being commonplace and mundane, to the verge of
becoming passé, the field of computing will continue to thrive as newer types of hard-
ware and software are required to support this age of enhanced connectivity.

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344-352 (1976)
4. Plato Learning: History of Plato Learning, vol. 2004. Plato Learning Inc. (2004)
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http://www.whartonsp.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1352785