《Mindstorms》之三： 导论——计算机之于孩子

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原文

Introduction: Computers for Children

翻译

导论——计算机之于孩子

第一段

原文

JUST A FEW YEARS AGO people thought of computers as expensive and exotic devices. Their commercial and industrial uses affected ordinary people, but hardly anyone expected computers to become part of day-to-day life. This view has changed dramatically and rapidly as the public has come to accept the reality of the personal computer, small and inexpensive enough to take its place in every living room or even in every breast pocket. The appearance of the first rather primitive machines in this class was enough to catch the imagination of journalists and produce a rash of speculative articles about life in the computer-rich world to come. The main subject of these articles was what people will be able to do with their computers. Most writers emphasized using computers for games, entertainment, income tax, electronic mail, shopping, and banking. A few talked about the computer as a teaching machine.

翻译

几年之前， 人们还觉得计算机是昂贵的、异域风情的机器。 他们的商业和工业用途， 影响着普通人。但几乎没有人预料到计算机会成为日常生活的一部分。 这种看法已经发生了快速的、戏剧性改变。因为大家进入了这样的现实， 个人电脑已经又小又便宜， 足以进入每一个客厅， 甚至每一个胸带。 个人电脑初问世， 尽管粗糙原始， 却已经足以唤起新闻界的浮想联翩。 媒体兴起了一股热潮： 大量关于“电脑时代要来啦”的预测文章， 铺天盖地。 这些文章的标题， 大都是关于“你可以用电脑来干什么”。 大部分的记者着重于写电脑用于游戏、娱乐、个税、电子邮件、购物、银行等方面。 不多的人谈到， 电脑可作为教学设备。

第二段

原文

This book too poses the question of what will be done with personal computers, but in a very different way. I shall be talking about how computers may affect the way people think and learn. I begin to characterize my perspective by noting a distinction between two ways computers might enhance thinking and change patterns of access to knowledge.

翻译

本书亦会探讨这个问题： 个人电脑可被用来做什么？不过， 我的探讨方式会非常不同。 我将论及电脑如何影响人们的思考和学习。计算机或将以两种不同的方式， 来助力人们的思考， 来改变人们获取知识的方式。 我将从讲述这两种方式的区别开始。

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