Computer Literacy:

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and
catastrophe." (Wells, 1920)


As the computer has gained acceptance and widespread application
in the workplace, the gap between the computer literate and
illiterate has become more profound.  Those who fail to develop a
facility with the computer will constitute the lowest tier of the
workforce.  A subtle, but pervasive fear of technological
displacement persists among many work groups.  The merest
suggestion of a change in the technological status quo in the
workplace can provoke a "Luddite reaction" among the group whose
tasks the system is meant to facilitate.  This is particularly
true if the proposed change is perceived (accurately or not) as a
threat to jobs or power centers.  

The reaction of many educators to the interactive video
technology constituted precisely that kind of Luddite reaction. 
As a response to the failure of those reactionary educators to
recognize that interactive video was simply a format for an
electronic book, another teaching tool to supplement the skills
of the individual, Arthur Clarke rightly suggested that: "Any
teacher who can be replaced by a machine -- should be" (Clarke,
1984).  As a result of this teapot tempest, the development and
implementation of constructive interactive video applications was
constrained, and its effective contribution to the education
process was significantly diminished.

In expecting the cooperation of a target user group, system
developers must be careful to solicit the contribution of the
group to the development process, and to avoid discounting the
necessary role of those users in the application itself.  The
initial negative reaction of the architecture profession to the
CADD technologies was in response to a perceived threat to the
design process.  This was exacerbated by the fact that those
early systems were expensive and had fairly crude graphics
capabilities.  As architects began to participate in the CADD
development process and the technological capabilities became
more sophisticated, appropriate systems did evolve.  As a result,
CADD has become not only a cost effective production tool, but a
powerful design tool for architects.  The profession has been,
and will continue to be, well served by those architects who
asserted themselves in this technological development process. 
As to those who continue to fear that they might be replaced by a
machine -- they should be.

<ffile17>   Active/Reactive Postures
<ffile19>   Cautions
<bfile36>   Technological Solutions to Preservation Needs
<cfile55>   Effectiveness of Interactive Video