Thinking Tech

Let's get this straight up front: this post is not about sex.

About 30 years ago, when I sat down at the keyboard of the Radio Shack TRS-80 (affectionately known by those of us who used it as the TRASH-80), someone showed me how typing

>10 PRINT "BOB PALMER"
>RUN [ENTER]

Would print my name on the screen. And

10 FOR I = 1 to 100
20 PRINT "BOB PALMER "
30 NEXT I

Would print my name 100 times. Likewise, adding a simple semi-colon (;) to the end of line 20 would print my name across the 80 character screen until the space ran out, then wrap the line to the next line, and so on.

I was hooked. I didn't have to wait for the test results, or the cookies to bake. I got to see right then, right now the effect of my creation.

SecondLife is like that. You can create stuff and see the effect right now. Make a cylinder, apply a bark texture to it, you have a log (or a tree trunk). Upload graphics. Cut out things on Photoshop. Play around. Upload music.

Part of the attraction in SL is that you can see the result now without having to cut the wood or wait for manufacturing.

Still has its attraction.