.IF DSK1.C3
   ^^^^^^TEXTWARE, SOFTWARE, and ELSEWHERE

   

       OR What's Going on in 99-Land!
       

               

       ^^^^^^^^^T.I. Articles by Jack Sughrue

       

       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^LOGO LUNACY

 
       

       "So far in your three years of computer reviewing you have managed to
   ignore the most important language in existence," so chastised a teacher
   friend of mine recently.  I knew what was coming, but I asked her to
   explain anyway.  (I'm one of these people who thrive on maschistic guilt
   trips.)

       "Logo," she explained.  

       "Yes?"

       "Logo, you idiot!  You never write anything about Logo in any of your
   reviews."

       "I try not to."

       "I was right.  You are an idiot."

       "As you say."

       "Do you mean to say you are NEVER going to write about Logo?"

       I saw the time had come. "Not if I can help it."

       "What!"

       Just exactly what was said by her after that is not suited for a
   family publication such as this.  In a watered-down version she accused
   me of being against God, country, Mom, and apple pie.  I was definitely a
   Communist and probably a child molester to boot.

       

       Actually, hers was a conservative reaction.  In some teaching circles
   I would probably not be alive to contrive these sentences.  

       Logo has become a cult.  A Cult.  A CULT!  Logo is thought of by many
   educators and parents as THE ONLY CORRECT WAY.  Like many religious
   freaks who feel their religions are THE ONLY CORRECT WAY down the path of
   righteousness, the Logo Loonies (as they are known by computer educators
   whose approach is more flexible) have no room in their hearts for
   teachers who wish to use the classroom computers for Computer Assisted
   Instruction (CAI), programming, games, adventures, word processing, data
   bases, testing, flashcards, spreadsheets, whatever (unless it is devised
   through Logo).  

       Don't get me wrong: I like Logo.  I use it in my classroom.  I play
   with it at home.  I believe it to be a profound language.  I even work in
   an excellent school system that has Logo only in the elementary
   curriculum.      

       There is a boat missed here by the Logo Loonies, though.  They miss
   the boat because have chosen to be blind to all except Logo.  They choose
   to be (and, worse, make others be) computer illiterates through
   training.
   

       Now that that has been said, I will finally get around to Logo for
   the T.I.  There are two, Logo II being more profound with many more
   features.  But either Logo I or II is better in many ways that most of
   the other Logos on the market.  (For one thing, the T.I. version has tile
   graphics which none of the others have.)

       

       Rather than describe Logo in detail, however, I would much prefer to
   discuss two books about Logo which I think are good.  (There are at least
   a half-dozen really good Logo books out which are suited for the T.I.
   I'm selecting these two because the kids in my fifth-grade class prefer
   these two over all the others.)

       

       K-POWER which was not around too long before being sucked up by its
   parent magazine (the inane FAMILY COMPUTING), put out a few solo items.
   One of them was a book called LOGO FUN ($5.95, Scholastic).  

       This is a perfect starter (beyond the manual and accompanying
   programs).  It's simple and direct and has specifics for all the Logos on
   the market.  This is a good chance to make comparisons.

       As LOGO FUN goes through the writing and editing features of Logo, it
   establishes through example some excellent skills to build upon.  The
   student who step-by-steps it can hope to come out of the book a pretty
   good beginning programmer in an exciting language.  Logo's strength, of
   course, is the way it teaches logic.  This book really builds on that
   strength.  The examples are very dramatic and really appeal to the
   youngsters.  So whether you are using this cartridge at home or in school
   or for the child side of your adult self, this is the probable best
   starter.

       

       Once you have completed beginninghood and are ready for the Big Time
   run right down to your local T.I. store and buy A LITTLE BIT OF LOGO
   MAGIC by Donna Bearden ($13.95 hardbound).  As I don't have a T.I. store
   in my neighborhood I sent to PERMA-BOUND, Vandalia Road, Jacksonville,
   Illinois 62650 for my copy.  I believe it is in paperback form (also
   8X11) from the Reston Publishing Company, Reston, VA, at a much cheaper
   price, but my copy was to be used in a classroom and needed the hard
   binding.

       This book is subtitled ADVENTURES FOR INTERMEDIATE PROGRAMMERS.  Very
   apt.  It is teriffic.  Brad Foster's wizard and dragon illustrations
   delightfully enhance the text on every page.  It is a gem of a book that
   uses Logo in far better ways than most people use it: elaborate designs
   with simple shapes; patterns, tessellations & optical illusions; spider
   webs and other magnificent designs; questions, quizzes & quotations;
   fractured fables and customized cliches; and, finally, an adventure in
   the Dark Forest.  Those are the almost-self-explanatory chapter headings.
   

       A BIT OF LOGO MAGIC assumes you know something about Logo, so it
   doesn't go into the tiny little specifics of LOGO FUN, but it does give
   you some excellent and very dramatic programs, which, like so many of the
   good Logo programs, are extremely small for what you get.

       If you do any programming at all but have yet to try Logo be prepared
   for a few sleepless nights.  Logo IS addictive.  And you will be
   astounded at how little is needed to create very large things.  To
   perform some of the Logo graphics tasks in BASIC, for example, would be
   so long and boring your toes would drop off.  And excecuting the program
   would be so S  L   O    W !!!  Logo takes minutes to program many things
   and seconds to execute.  Logo is better than almost any programming
   language at repeat tasks.      

       

       So now that you can buy Logo II at much reduced prices (and Logo I at
   extremely reduced prices on the used market), I would highly recommend
   getting it.  It's fun!  It's for adults, too!  And with these two books
   your Logo World will be wide open to you.

       

       (Caution: though you may learn to love Logo [I did.] you must beware
   of the Logo Loonies.  Don't fall victim to their sales pitch.  There are
   other worlds for computer kids to grow into.)

       

       I'm glad I finally wrote this review.  Maybe the pressure will be off
   now, and I can go back to my classroom computers in peace (and I'll have
   to look into the Reston/Prentice Hall catalogs to see what other T.I.
   goodies they might have hidden in their warehouses). 

       

   [Jack Sughrue, Box 459, E.Douglas, MA 01516]

       ***********

       

       If any newsletter editor prints these articles, please put me on your
   mailing list.  Thanks - JS

 
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