Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site fortune.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!hpda!fortune!phipps
From: phipps@fortune.UUCP (Clay Phipps)
Newsgroups: net.micro,net.research,net.cse
Subject: Re: Should Universities Explore The Cutting Edge?
Message-ID: <2869@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Apr-84 01:05:57 EST
Article-I.D.: fortune.2869
Posted: Tue Apr  3 01:05:57 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 30-Mar-84 03:01:37 EST
References: <3595@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 57

I would think that IBM PCs would be more than adequate
for many undergraduate computing courses, if you had enough of them (PCs).

They are certainly adequate for "intro to programming" classes.

I doubt that any of the programs assigned in the "intermediate programming" 
classes that I assisted with (at the Univ. of Maryland in 1978)
occupied more than the equivalent of 64KB of memory on the UNIVAC 1100
machines in use at the time.  These programs were either punched on cards
or typed on DECwriter IIIs, by the way.  If faculties still want to teach Pascal
as a first language, as I believe the UofMd now does, 
I should point out that you can get a really huge program into a 128KB IBM PC 
running the UCSD p-System; I have one interactive program 
that occupies 2400 lines of source code in over a dozen (15 now ?) 
separate compilation units, organized consistently with information hiding
principles.  You could fit a small compiler project into that kind of space.  
How much code do you expect a student to be able to write 
for one of many classes in a single semester, anyhow ?

Furthermore, you can let students hack around
with toy operating systems in assembler and crash only their own machines
rather than some expensive multi-user machine like a pdp-11/40 or 45
that has to run stand-alone for such a course (to allow crashes).

All you architectural chauvinists should keep in mind
that "computer architecture" is often a junior or senior-level course
in many schools, so the students won't know the difference
between 8088 and 16032, anyhow.

The liberal arts people just want to write their papers
and maintain modest data files, I suspect.  A Z-80 can be used for that,
so an IBM PC should suffice.  Maybe someone can even write a humane 
word-processor or editor for them, or scrounge some Macintoshes.
Computer science people need to write papers, too.
I would bet that most still use typewriters for this;
I watched the sun rise over a typewriter more times than I like to remember.
The faculy will probably be reading better papers as a result
of widespread computer usage.

Once more powerful and less expensive machines become available,
retire the PCs to the student union for use in writing term papers
or playing "Zork"-alike games.

If we can give undersupported undergraduates an alternative
to punch cards and typewriters now, then DO IT NOW !
The freshmen of today may have dropped out in disgust 
by the time sexy 16032 or 68020 machines become available
at the right prices.

[Comments, umcp-cs!mark & co. ?]

-- Clay Phipps

-- 
   {allegra  amd70  cbosgd  decwrl!amd70  harpo  hplabs!hpda  
    ihnp4  megatest  nsc  oliveb  sri-unix  ucbvax!amd70  varian}
   !fortune!phipps