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I'm always an optimist. I believe kids growing
up with access to these resources will retain
more of their curiosity in adulthood. It makes me
a little envious, frankly.
Sometimes I get mail from kids telling me they
want to be like me when they grow up.
But when I look at what is going to be possible
in the next few years, I wish I were a kid
growing up now.
The natural
choice -
wherever life
leads you.
The Importance of Reading
Bill Gates
When I look at what technology is beginning
to offer children, 1 wish I were a kid again.
Children start out with lots of talent and
curiosity. They are built to explore the world and
figure out how they fit into it. They devote
amazing energy to things of interest. Some kids
can recite dozens of crazy dinosaur names, for
example.
As they get older, children lose some of their
curiosity. This is unfortunate because in today's
world a person with a curious mind can go
further.
When a child's questions are answered in an
engaging way, the questions keep on coming.
This is one reason attentive teachers and
supportive parents are so important.
But if an adult is too busy or can't answer a
question, or if a textbook fails to meets a child s
particular needs, curiosity often withers. When
curiosity is frustrated time after time, the
pleasure and incentive to learn may be lost.
I've held on to some of my childhood curiosity
but I wish I had more of it. I'm sure a lot of
people feel the same way about themselves.
Children worldwide today can look forward to
tools that help sustain curiosity by satisfying it
in deeply engaging ways. These "multimedia"
tools are just now becoming available as people
finally figure out how to marry the strengths of
the computer with the enormous need for better
education.
A multimedia computer can play interactive
titles that combine text, pictures, motion video
and sound. "Interactive" means a title is
organized in such a way that the person using
the computer controls what he or she sees and
hears.
For example, a girl wondering about the solar
system could use a title that let her choose any
planet or moon she wanted to study. She could
see photos, listen to narrations, examine
diagrams and read details. If she didn't know
something, such as the difference between a
planet and a moon, she could look it up.
In order for this to work, abundant
information must be available almost instantly.
Today this is most often accomplished by storing
information on CD-ROMs, which are identical to
audio compact discs except that they also provide
text, pictures and video.
But within a few years, most multimedia
information will be delivered by high-speed
information networks connecting every school
and business as well as most homes. These
networks, known collectively as the
"information highway" hold the promise of
delivering virtually unlimited quantities of
information.
I know there is scepticism. There was a
backlash against the original computers in
schools because they were drill-oriented. The
computers really weren't used to impart
knowledge. Instead, they just tested knowledge.
This put the computer in a negative role, which
did little good.
But when the computer can satisfy curiosity
and make learning fun, the possibilities get
exciting.
Kids enjoy a sense of prowess. They are proud
to know more about something an admired adult
does. A computer can feed that sense of
accomplishment by reminding the child how
much he or she has learned - and encourage
more study.
Positive reinforcement unleashes a desire to
find out more. Even 3-year-olds can be rewarded
with surprises such as characters that pop up on
the screen and applaud them. Kids get a blast out
of that.
I'm always impressed when I watch toddlers
play with great titles, like the Living Books
series published by Broderbund and Random
House. With just a little practice kids who are
hardly old enough to string sentences together
can use a mouse to explore friendly worlds —
clicking here or there on the screen to see what
happens.
Multimedia tools won't replace teachers and
parents any more than textbooks do, nor will
they make reading any less important that it is
today. But pictures and sounds add immensely to
the educational experience.
Many schools already offer at least a few
computers, and PCs are invading homes in
impressive numbers. Recent surveys indicated
that about a third of all U.S. households have a
PC. In homes with a teenager, half have a PC.
This is a worldwide phenomenon. In Korea
and Taiwan, for example, more than a quarter of
PC sales are for homes. Around the world, people
buy more personal computers than automobiles.
Not every family can afford a computer now
but falling PC prices may eventually rival those
of televisions. Schools, libraries, government
offices and community centers will have
abundant computers so that no child is deprived.
8
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Q. As the father of a teen-ager who, in my opinion,
spends too little time reading as opposed to
programming, I wonder if you would speak to the
benefits of gathering information by reading (in all
kinds of media) and the benefits of aquiring good
reading skills? - Stephen J. Ransford
A. It is pretty unlikely that people will become
knowledgeable without being excellent readers.
Multimedia systems are beginning to use video and
sound to deliver information in compelling ways, but
text is one of the best ways to convey details.
I try to make sure I get in an hour or more of reading
each weeknight and a few hours each weekend. I read at
least one newspaper every day and several magazines
each week.
I make it a point to read at least one newsweekly
from cover to cover because it broadens my interests.
If I read only what intrigues me, such as the science
section and a subset of the business section, then I
finish the magazine the same person I was before I
started. So I read it all.
Q. What books do you enjoy? - A number of readers
A. Biographies and autobiographies interest me
because it's amazing the way some lives develop. For
example, it's fascinating to read Napoleon's own views
of what he did. He had an unusual opportunity at the
end of his "career" to reflect at length on all he had
done and these reflections make interesting reading.
Business figures such as Alfred P. Sloan Jr., the
former chairman of General Motors, intrigue me. His
book, "My Years at General Motors," is one of the best
books about business.
Sloan dealt with issues such as organizing,
measuring progress, dealing with risk and keeping
individuals in his organization challenged and
productive. He understood his business in a rational
way that I find inspiring.
Sloan represented an instance of the best rising to
the top, but it doesn't always work that way. The most
talented people don't necessarily end up in the most
critical positions. It always interests me when an
organization doesn't have the right feedback loops to
draw out its talent.
I read the most about scientists. The purity of their
thinking makes them very attractive. I dreamed of
becoming a scientist once, and my hobbies include
biotechnology, understanding evolution, the brain and
DNA. I also enjoy reading about economics.
My favorite recent fiction book is "A Lesson Before
Dying" by Ernest J. Gaines. My favorite best-seller is
"The Shipping News" by E. Annie Proulx.
Q. What kind of computer do you have? - Wei Huang,
Seattle
A. My only computer is a 486 laptop, a kind you buy
off the shelf at a computer store. I will probably
upgrade to a Pentium laptop when they become more
common.
My laptop has 12 megabytes of RAM, an acronym for
'random access memory'. It also has a 240-megabyte
hard disk, which lets me store about 60,000 times as
much information as there is in this standard
newspaper column. This disk is fairly small by today s
standards.
I use a laptop because it is portable. On the road I
can connect into Microsoft's computers from almost
any place in the world using the laptop’s built-in
modem.
At home and in the office, the small machine slips
into a docking station which connects it to a full-size
monitor, keyboard and mouse.
A couple of years ago I started using a high-speed
telephone connection, known by the acronym ISDN, to
connect to Microsoft's computers from home. This
connection lets me send more than 100,000 bits of
information (about four pages of text) per second to
and from my laptop.
In the future the high-speed transfer of large
amounts of digital data will be very important. At work
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Q. A co-worker of mine mentioned that she leaves her
computer on all the time. She says that "since I read
that Bill Gates does it, it must be right." Is this true?
- Michael Alladio, Kaiserslautern, Germany
A. Some people leave computers on for weeks or
months at a time. I don't because I carry my computer
with me.
If your computer stays put, leaving it on reduces
wear and tear on electronic components. But turning it
off saves electricity and causes a simple diagnostic test
to run when the machine is restarted.
Evolving technology will help resolve the quandary
of whether to leave a computer on or turn it off. An
emerging standard, called Energy Star, lets computer
equipment 'idle' with almost no power consumption,
and yet turn on instantly when needed.
Questions may be sent to Bill Gates by electronic mail. The
address is askbill (AT) microsoft.com. (Be sure to use the
“at" symbol on your keyboard for the "AT" in parentheses.)
Or write to him care of The New York Times Syndicate,
122 E. 42nd St., 14th Floor, New York, N Y. 10168. Please
include your name, city and country whether you
communicate electronically or by postal service. Questions
of general interest will be answered in this column. Bill
Gates regrets that unpublished questions cannot be
answered individually.
© 1995 Bill Gates @ =
T.,T 4 <
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Sixty years ago I knew everything;
now I know nothing; education is a
progressive discovery of our own
ignorance.
Will Durant
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