Comments on: Your Computer: Is it a Refrigerator or a Tablesaw? http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2007/03/14/your-computer-is-it-a-refrigerator-or-a-tablesaw/ tales of swimming upstream Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:22:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Patrick Gosetti-Murrayjohn http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2007/03/14/your-computer-is-it-a-refrigerator-or-a-tablesaw/#comment-5296 Patrick Gosetti-Murrayjohn Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:26:20 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2007/03/14/your-computer-is-it-a-refrigerator-or-a-tablesaw/#comment-5296 Hmm...I like the analogy--I definitely think of my computer as more of a table-saw than refridgerator. I think that's a common characteristic of Linux users. I think the basic analogy could even be extended through some details, and maybe a switch from tablesaw to power drill. There's all kinds of drill bits for different kinds of tasks--the plugins that make the drill work correctly for the particular task at hand. Bob Villa would know what plugins are available and needed for whatever job he's doing, just as we know what apps/plugins are available and needed for an instructional and pegagogical setting. That's part of the experience needed to make the power tool work, too. As an interesting connection, the O'Reilly 'Hacks' series ("PDF Hacks", "AJAX Hacks", etc.) are branded by having a different tool on the cover (a hammer and a ratchet wrench for PDF and AJAX, respectively). Hmm…I like the analogy–I definitely think of my computer as more of a table-saw than refridgerator. I think that’s a common characteristic of Linux users.

I think the basic analogy could even be extended through some details, and maybe a switch from tablesaw to power drill. There’s all kinds of drill bits for different kinds of tasks–the plugins that make the drill work correctly for the particular task at hand. Bob Villa would know what plugins are available and needed for whatever job he’s doing, just as we know what apps/plugins are available and needed for an instructional and pegagogical setting. That’s part of the experience needed to make the power tool work, too.

As an interesting connection, the O’Reilly ‘Hacks’ series (”PDF Hacks”, “AJAX Hacks”, etc.) are branded by having a different tool on the cover (a hammer and a ratchet wrench for PDF and AJAX, respectively).

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