____________________________________________
Computer engineers need to go back to school
By Takuma Suzuki
Japan is in the throes of information technology (IT) fever.
All over the country, people are heading out to take classes
on how to cope with the so-called IT Revolution.
But writer Shumon Miura* objects to this fascination for computers simply because they don't work.
*Shumon Miura is a renowned author and novelist, who also served as Chairman of many commitees
and organizations, such as the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Arts Council and the National Curriculum
Committee. [The editor]
"Personal computers are defective products.
I'd love to see Japan's talented engineers come up with something better
than what we've got," the 75-year-old writer says.
"What do you do with a personal computer if you pull it
out of the box and don't know how to use it? To learn how
to use a car, you have driving schools, probably because
it can be a life-saving matter, but for computers, there's
nothing. You could always look at those big, fat manuals
that come with the computers. But those manuals are written
by people who know what they're doing. For the average person, they're useless.
"Whatever way you look at it, the personal computers we
use nowadays are defective. If computers were judged by
the same standards as cars, computer companies would go
broke because they'd be sued for selling faulty products.
Recall them all."
Miura argues that computers are too complicated for most people's needs.
"They have too many functions. For the average family,
personal computers only need to be able to do about a third
of what they can do. That means that when the other two
thirds of unnecessary functions come into play, basic functions are undermined. It stinks!
"Then, you have those handbooks companies try to pass
off as manuals. They're about the right size for making
a robot. All the important stuff is written in the back
of the book. It's extremely thoughtless.
"Computers are trouble from start to finish.
And they always break down for no apparent reason."
Miura, a former director general of the Cultural Agency,
says that current brouhaha [def.: uproar; confused disturbance far greater than its cause merits]
about IT is unfounded.
"Computers are made by the United States and Japan has
an inferiority complex toward the U.S. That means the Americans
can make these ridiculous machines, then make fools out
of people who can't use them and Japanese will go along
with it. We've just listened to everything the Americans
have said and started this IT Revolution. What's happened
is that computers once reserved for professionals have got
smaller and are now used by ordinary people," Miura says.
"Japan's greatest contribution to technology has been to
create instruments like videos or faxes that anybody can
use and use easily. Technicians should be thinking about
that sort of thing now."
"I don't think patents are tying
engineers up from doing something to make computers easier
to use, so why don't they do it?"
Miura laughs at the IT classes that people have been flocking to across Japan.
"They're probably not bad to stop old folks from going
senile. But if that is all the classes are good for, they
should be packaged that way. It's harder to learn how to
use a computer than to learn the rules of Japanese chess.
"I've got a computer in my office and every time something
goes wrong with it, I call in a kid who knows what he's
doing and he fixes it. But, the trouble is, he only returns
the computer to the state where I can use it again and never
explains how or why a problem occurred. What I'm getting
at is if it's difficult for a computer expert to explain
why something has gone wrong, how much harder is it for
the average person to understand? That's why I always feel
depressed when it comes time to work on a computer."
© 2005 The Mainichi Newspapers Co.
Under the copyright law of Japan, use of the above article, except for personal and noncommercial purposes,
is prohibited without the express written permission of the Mainichi Newspapers Co.
Dear reader: your feedback to us is always appreciated. Please send your comments and suggestions, or even submit your own articles here.
Read more articles: click here.
|
