Name: Anonymous 2010-08-07 15:52
A computer is like a violin. You can imagine a novice trying
first a phonograph and then a violin. The latter, he says, sounds
terrible. That is the argument we have heard from our humanists
and most of our computer scientists. Computer programs are good,
they say, for particular purposes, but they aren't
flexible. Neither is a violin, or a typewriter, until you learn
how to use it.
— Marvin Minsky, ``Why Programming Is a Good Medium for Expressing Poorly-Understood and Sloppily-Formulated Ideas''
first a phonograph and then a violin. The latter, he says, sounds
terrible. That is the argument we have heard from our humanists
and most of our computer scientists. Computer programs are good,
they say, for particular purposes, but they aren't
flexible. Neither is a violin, or a typewriter, until you learn
how to use it.
— Marvin Minsky, ``Why Programming Is a Good Medium for Expressing Poorly-Understood and Sloppily-Formulated Ideas''