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• Thursday, September 14, 2006 08:29 PM

  The hard truth: Your knowledge is obsolete, Mr. Brin

  I clearly remember the last time I got flat. Was six, seven years ago. It so happened that my father was in the car at the time.

  I pulled out the jack, popped it under the edge of the car's bodywork, and started to wind.

  "No no son!" My dad's face distorted with incredulity. "What are you doing!" Gesturing with his hands. "The jack's gotta go under the front or back of the axle! You'll tear that panel off you keep going!"

  No, Dad. Sorry. Your knowledge of cars is obsolete.

  My Dad was doing his doctorate in a computing discipline in the late 70s, and we spent time together coding in, yes, BASIC. I'll never forget those hours we spent coding our "Pirates" game. They were the foundation of my career in IT.

  But would I insist on teaching _my_ child BASIC?

  You're kidding, right?

  BASIC teaches nothing but bad programming habits that, if you wanted to extend your skills, would all have to be broken.

  Kinda like putting the jack under the axle. Useful way back when, but please don't try that in a modern sedan.

  My knowledge of BASIC, emotionally resonant though it is, is obsolete.

  There are a dozen fantastic interpreted scripting languages that would not only be more useful and fun to teach, but would impart all the same lessons that I learned from BASIC, without all the negatives.

  How much of your essay, Mr. Brin, is simply a refusal to upgrade your own skills before attempting to make your child ready for the world that is, rather than the world that was?

  —shannonr Read shannonr's other letters
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