Parents must be beginning to think that they see computers everywhere they turn. At Live ‘95, the recent consumer electronics show at Earl’s Court, the computers were taking over. Eager children poured in with their parents in tow and soon set about examining the latest developments.
Perhaps the most significant development was the extent to which teachers would have seen much that was familiar to them. . Microsoft went overboard to captivate the home market. Will teachers at the BETT 96 technology show, I wonder, be invited to sit in a revolving, smoke-filled tower to see the future Windows 95?
One difference in the hordes thronging Earl’s Court was the gender mix - overwhelmingly male. Among the small numbers of women present were several promoting products clad in costumes of a kind not traditionally seen at computing shows aimed at education.
More encouragingly, many of the parents present were interested in the educational potential of computers and, in particular, the Internet. Their answers came from, in the main, the Internet providers rather than companies like RM and BT who have bolted on educational extras to services like the World Wide Web.
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