THE ELECTRONIC IDENTITY
                                by
                          Robert Parson

                Binary-- It's only ones and zeros
       "That does not compute."-- Robot from Lost in Space

     We've been struggling with technology since the beginning of 
time.  Imagine prehistoric man trying to explain the wheel to his 
friend.
     "Well, you see, it goes around and around and around."
     "So, what's it good for?"
     (Scratching head) "I don't know.  I'm sure we can make it do 
something.  But it will make our lives easier."
     I don't know how many times I've sat in front of the monitor 
looking at an extraordinary piece of software or watching some new 
gadget do it's thing and thinking "it goes around and around and 
around, but what's it good for?"
     Very often in the computerworld, something comes along which 
is similar to the first wheel: hardware or software waiting for 
something to do.
     Computers are suppose to make our lives easier, aren't they?
     Many of our problems in dealing with computers can be traced 
to the conflict between logic and intuition.
     Logic tells us that in order to get from Point A to Point D, 
we must start at A, move to B, go to C and end up at D.
     Our intuition tells us that if A is here and B is there, then 
D must be over there, and we'll skip C.
     Computers know only what they can see.  If they don't see it, 
then it must not exist until it can be seen.  Despite that, we've 
been trying our best to beat these infernal machines into 
something that remotely resembles our way of thinking.
     The first real success was the WordStar Command Set.  Even 
though it's a fairly complicated series of commands to learn, they 
do resemble the way a touch typist would want to set up the 
keyboard for fast efficient entry.
     Then we got mice and icons.  We were just one or two clicks 
away from doing what we wanted to do.  But to do that, we needed a 
graphic interface.  Unfortunately, most graphic interfaces are slow 
and clunky.  In addition, an icon isn't worth a thousand words; 
graphic interfaces don't make sense when editing text.
      But where are we going?  What are we doing to make computers 
more easier to use?
     The answer is: There is no answer.
     I think differently than you do.  How can I expect something 
that works for me to work in the same way for you?  Most everyone 
I know that uses a text editor (as opposed to a word processor) 
uses QEDIT.  But I use VDE.
     Those of you who use ProComm or Q-Modem raise your hands.  
I'm not in that group, either.  I use Telix.
     There is absolutely nothing wrong with those programs.  I just 
prefer the ones I use because they are closer to the way I think 
and work than those others do.
     Meanwhile over in the Interface Wars:
     Microsoft and IBM are battling over Windows and OS/2.  
Microsoft is fending off a moderately successful version of DOS 
from Digital Research.  Apple is giving us System 7.  And 
Commodore is in there somewhere with the latest operating system 
for the Amiga.
     Our favorite interfaces are being defended quite vigorously.  
Which one is best?  All of them.
     There is no reason at all for a DOS user to turn his or her 
nose up at the Amiga.  It's a perfectly valid platform and 
interface.  The person using an Amiga is no less computer 
literate than a DR DOS user.
     He just prefers the Amiga because it's logic is closer to his 
way of thinking.
     There's room for all of the current interfaces and then some.  
Many of them will fall to the wayside because there aren't enough 
people that think in the same manner.
     The important matter is that work is being done and in the 
most efficient manner possible for that person.
_______

     I'm sure we all agree that the future involves a high degree 
of computer literacy.  It's important that our children learn how 
to use them (in fact I hardly get to use mine anymore: my four 
year old uses it more than I do).  Computers belong in the 
classroom.
     Many grocery stores offer programs in which they will donate 
a computer to the local school district when X-number of that 
grocery store's receipts are saved and turned in.  This is a fine 
start but at the same time I personally find it insulting.
     In the past couple years my community (population 75,000) has 
received TWO computers from the grocery chain that offers this 
program.  This chain is making several million dollars a year in 
my town alone and they think donating one computer a year makes 
them good corporate citizens.  They're spending more money on 
ADVERTISING the program than they are in actually carrying it out.
     If they want to be REALLY good corporate citizens and help 
the next generation learn how to compute they can do any number of 
things, all at a fairly low cost.  Here are my suggestions:
     Donate 2% of gross profit to the schools to purchase computer 
equipment.  Makes for a nice tax break as well.  This particular 
chain spends much more than that on advertising and marketing 
already (they could use only two colors in newspaper ads instead 
of three)
     Donate all their old equipment when they upgrade to new.
     Encourage employees to donate time to teach Lotus 1-2-3 or 
WordPerfect or whatever.
     I'm sure there are other good ideas out there.  But those are 
just a start.


                                          (C) 1992 Robert Parson