Monthly Archives: July 2014

PADDs, not the iPad

Posted on 2014-07-21 by Graham

Alan Kay says that Xerox PARC bought its way into the future by paying lots of money for each computer. Today, you can (almost) buy your way into the future of mobile computers by paying small amounts of money for … Continue reading →

Posted in futurology, UI | Comments Off on PADDs, not the iPad

The reasonable effectiveness of developer tools

Posted on 2014-07-20 by Graham

In goals upon goals upon goals, I suggested that a fixation on developer tools is misplaced. This is not to say that developer tools are unhelpful, nor that they can’t have a significant impact on our work. Consider the following, … Continue reading →

Posted in software-engineering, tool-support | Comments Off on The reasonable effectiveness of developer tools

Goals upon goals upon goals

Posted on 2014-07-15 by Graham

As I read Ed Finkler’s piece on losing excitement in technology, I found myself recognising pieces of my own story. The prospect of a new language or framework no longer seems like a new toy, an excuse to stay up … Continue reading →

Posted in futurology, philosophy after a fashion | Comments Off on Goals upon goals upon goals

Intra-curricular activities

Posted on 2014-07-04 by Graham

I’m apparently fascinated by the idea of defining curricula for learning programming. I’ve written about how we need to be careful what we try to pay forward from the way we learned in the past, and I’ve talked about how … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, advancement of the self, books, edjercashun, learning | Comments Off on Intra-curricular activities