Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct
activities. A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow
should free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite
different from saying that all ought to know how to program one.
Leave that to people who havechosen programming as a career. While
programming can be lots of fun, and while our society needs some people
who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repair and violin-making.
Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult,
and it gets easier all the time as programs become more "user-friendly".
Let us assume that in the future everyone is going to have to know how to use a computer
to be a competent citizen. What does the phrase learning to use a computer mean?
It sounds like "learning to drive a car", that is, it sounds
as if there is some set of definite skills that,
once acquired, enable one to use a computer.