Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!spool.mu.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!ccu.umanitoba.ca!frist From: frist@ccu.umanitoba.ca Newsgroups: bionet.software Subject: Re: Re easy vs powerful OS - Message-ID: <1991Mar20.175048.17216@ccu.umanitoba.ca> Date: 20 Mar 91 17:50:48 GMT References: <9103191019.AA06674@genbank.bio.net> Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada Lines: 92 In article <9103191019.AA06674@genbank.bio.net> ODONNELL@arcb.afrc.ac.uk writes: > >>>Top omitted > >> People learn to use what they need. Anyone who can design and >>perform a subcloning experiment - with all the steps required to >>isolate fragments, match ends, ligate, and transform - can figure out >>how to login, check a directory, edit a file, and run the sequence >>analysis programs on unix or VMS. Anyone who is doing a sequencing >>project MUST learn to the machine. So they do. >> >>Bill Pearson > >A short reply: > ... stuff omitted ... >Biologists typically do not login frequently enough to keep up with all the >minor changes that are made to the system. The analogy of riding a bike, >using a power tool etc - People don't change the position of the handle bars, >the brakes and pedals since the last time you rode it. > >Research scientists typically spend several weeks or months in the lab >gathering data (ligating, running gels etc), then turn to the computer. >"Ah, now what did I do last time?....". If they remember, it sometimes won't >work anyway because someone has 'improved' something. So the PERCEPTION of >many (certainly not all) is that computers only make life harder, and that >programmers etc only seek to find new ways of confusing users. > >Cary O'Donnell I disagree. My experience is that laboratory scientists are always using their computers. Most of the time is devoted to word-processing, but people are always doing something with the computer. As electronic mail and other network applications become more widespread, usage will increase. The problem is that most users never bother to invest the time to learn what the computer can do for them. For example, most people who have access to databases use them for two things only: searching for sequences similar to their own sequences, and retrieving sequences. With just a little extra sophistication, the user could also be addressing questions such as: - What other genes have been cloned in the species I work with (eg. source of probes, examples of codon usage) - What other genes have been cloned that are associated with the biological problem I am working on (eg. heat shock, photosynthesis) - Do the transit peptides of thylakoid proteins have characteristics that distinguish them from the transit peptides of plastid matrix proteins? ... etc. Databases aside, the computer can do lots of other things for the molecular biologist. There are programs for managing clone collections, designing oligonucleotide primers (an everyday occurrence now), calculating the sizes on unknowns on gels, assigning RFLP's to map positions, mapping restriction fragments. Molecular biologists are the biggest bunch of whiners in science. Physicists, astronomers, ecologists, population geneticists etc. have recognized that they can't function without being able to work with computers. The didn't complain, they learned to use an important tool of their trade. The computer is the ultimate general purpose machine, if you have some understanding of how to use it. With the expansion of the matrix of biological knowledge, there is, and will be in the future, too much important information out there to ignore. However, the benefits of this 'general purpose machine' are only available to those willing to put in a little effort to understand it. I maintain that the things a user needs to learn are quite small: - how to organize your data in directories, and the file-name syntax that goes with them - 15 or so basic commands for moving, copying, deleting, and listing files - use of a screen editor - use of a mailer - use of online help Can somebody tell me why the above is so hard to learn? Do you let people use your HPLC without fairly lengthy training? The reason people get so frustrated with computers is that they want to start NOW, without learning anything. In the long run, it's a lot easier to simply take a 1 afternoon course, or read a high-school level book on using your operating system. =============================================================================== Brian Fristensky | Department of Plant Science | Can you say University of Manitoba | Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 CANADA | CHICKEN UBIQUITIN, CHICKEN UBIQUITIN frist@ccu.umanitoba.ca | CHICKEN UBIQUITIN, CHICKEN UBIQUITIN, Office phone: 204-474-6085 | CHICKEN UBIQUITIN, CHICKEN UBIQUITIN FAX: 204-275-5128 | CHICKEN UBIQUITIN, CHICKEN UBIQUITIN... ===============================================================================