A tool that's become second nature for most of us.
In my computer classes I often find myself comparing computers with cars. Whether we’re talking about buying a computer or maintaining one the analogy’s apt. One thing that I don’t often talk about, however, is how they’re both tools. This may seem obvious but it bears some thought. David Lee King blogged about the computer as tool back in August. Like a car, the computer is a tool. Both help us to accomplish goals. The functioning of both are sometimes (OK, often times) not completely known to us. We may have to take both of them to a shop if they stop working.
Even more importantly, a computer is nothing more than a tool. For students in a basic computer class that’s sometimes hard to see; the computer is too much of an unknown quantity. We don’t know much about how cars work either but they’re a commonly accepted tool and we offer classes to teach people how to use them. Computers becoming just a tool in people’s minds will take time; in the interim we can offer training that demystifies computers, showing users that if they can drive to their local library they can check their email as well.
