Winter 1989 Volume 3 No. 1

Opposing Viewpoints: Should Public Funds Support Private UAW-Ford Academies?

Letter from Editor of Detroit News

March 1, 1990

Dear Ms. Hauben:

This is a response to the ques-

tions you raised in a telephone call

recently concerning the arrangements

between the Ford Motor Company and

the Garden City and Dearborn school

districts.

Two of our top reporters and an

editor have examined the material

that you gave us at the Detroit News

Dialogue '89 meeting last year. They

have reviewed the material with the

Wayne County Prosecutors' Office and

are satisfied that a public/private

partnership, such as this one, is not

unconstitutional.

It appears to us that this partic-

ular public/private partnership sup-

ports a worker training program and

that the intent of that is positive

in fulfilling that community need.

Our understanding, additionally, is

that most of the program content is

directed toward teaching basic Eng-

lish and arithmetic skills. Your

contention that the program should

focus more on teaching computer

programing is a valid criticism, but

(continued on page 2)

Table of Contents

Public Funds. . . . . . . . . . 1

Don't Replicate UAW-Ford School. 1

Their Walls Come Tumbling Down. 2

LETTERS TO EDITOR.. . . . . . . 5

Commodore County USA. . . . . . 6

The Spirit of Babbage.. . . . . 7

COCO Corner.. . . . . . . . . . 8

CAD/CAM/CIM.. . . . . . . . . . 9

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS .. . . . . 11

Don't Replicate UAW-Ford School

When Barbara Bush visited the UAW-

Ford training program at the Ypsilanti

Ford plant, ["First Lady Makes Friends

On The Line", Flint Journal, Feb. 23,

Page A2] she was quoted as saying "I

suspect people are going to copy them

all over the country."

Perhaps she didn't know that the

Ypsilanti project is part of a program

operating out of a headquarters build-

ing on Dearborn Public School prop-

erty. Each year, at least $100,000 of

Dearborn Public School funds are di-

verted from the needs of Dearborn's

school children to serve the private

interests of the world's second larg-

est corporation.

Also, the Ford-UAW Rouge Academy,

copied after the Ypsilanti Ford pro-

gram has been cited by the Wayne Coun-

ty prosecutor as in contravention of

the Michigan Constitution [Art. VIII,

Sec. 2]. Meanwhile, the Michigan De-

partment of Education has begun to

phase out $4-million in annual state

aid to Ypsilanti because of irregular-

ities in its adult education program.

The Michigan Constitution forbids

the use of any public education funds

to directly or indirectly aid a non-

public school such as the academy run

by Ford in Ypsilanti. That's why there

are taxpayers and people in Dearborn

and elsewhere who disagree that this

program should be copied all around

the country.

RONDA HAUBEN

Dearborn

(Reprinted from The Flint Journal,

3/13/90/ pg A8)

(continued from page 1)

this is a subject that is covered

often in our newspaper in a more

general way and in itself is not

sufficient reason to run a story.

Certainly there are some political

objections to public/private partner

ships in Michigan. These partnerships

are supported by Governor Blanchard

and, if there is a true issue here,

it seems to us it will emerge during

the gubernatorial elections this

year. Overall, our review of the

circumstances suggest that there is

no news to report on this issue at

this time.

With all best wishes.

Sincerely,

Robert H. Giles

Editor and Publisher

The Detroit News

615 W. Lafayette Blvd.

Detroit, MI 48226

(Editor's note: See vol 2 no 4 of the

Amateur Computerist for Prosecutor's

letter acknowledging that the non-

public school at the Ford Rouge En-

gine Plant operates in contravention

of the Michigan Constitution, Art 8,

Sect.2.)

Editorial: When Will Their Walls

Come Tumbling Down

The Battle Over Programming

Recently, on a computer bulletin

board called MNET in Ann Arbor, Mi,

there was an item posted asking for

opinions evaluating the 1980's.

"Item 8 entered Thur, Dec 28, 1989

(02:27) by lk

A look back at the 1980s

The 1980s are now history. When

you reflect on this time period, what

stands out? How will it compare to

the 1970s, 60s and 50s?"

There were 56 responses. (In our

next issue, we will sample some of

the responses.)

One response stands out, however.

It said: "#4 (sno) Fri, Dec 29, 1989

(17:09) Personal computers. Nothing

else matters."

With this response, we begin the

3rd year of publication of The Ama-

teur Computerist. And this year be-

gins the last decade of the 1900's.

The Amateur Computerist is the

child of the personal computer. It is

also the child of the battle over who

will be allowed to program the per-

sonal computer. This newsletter grew

out of the fight for computer program-

ming classes by workers at the Ford

Rouge Plant in Michigan. Recent devel-

opments make clear this fight has

significant national and political

ramifications.

Following are some of the key

events that help explain the back-

ground of this fight.

In Spring of 1983, computer pro-

gramming classes were begun at the

Dearborn Engine Plant. The classes met

with eager interest on the part of

workers and continued to grow and

expand.

Classes ran smoothly and the pro-

gram expanded until Fall, 1985. Then,

despite the contractual, state, and

federal funding requirements to con-

tinue and expand the computer program

at the Dearborn Engine Plant, the

classes were cut back. These cutbacks

were opposed by students and the

teacher of the classes.

A hard fought battle ensued from

1985 until 1987 to keep the classes

going.

On February 4, 1987 a letter was

sent to officials of Ford, the UAW,

and the Dearborn Schools asking why

computer programming classes were

being cut out at the Ford Rouge Plant.

The letter contained a post script

which said:

"And we shouldn't be treated as if

we're doing something wrong. Why are

you trying so hard to discourage us

from continuing our programming train-

ing?"

Several names of UAW members fol-

lowed the post script. Despite contin-

ued opposition, computer programming

classes were cut out at the Ford Rouge

Plant.

Related Event 1: On October 11,

1987, a worker at GM's Delco Remy

division in Anderson, Indiana was

crushed by a robot and died. After

many delays and obstructions, the

Indiana Office of Safety and Occupa-

tional Health fined GM $6000 for the

incident citing inadequate train-

ing.(1)

Related Event 2: On October 29,

1987, the Chairman of the Michigan Job

Training and Coordinating Council,

Philip Power,(Chairman, Suburban Com-

munications Corp., Ann Arbor, MI)

testified to a subcommittee of the

Joint Economic Committee of the U.S.

Congress. As part of his testimony he

said:

"Foreign numerically controlled

machine tools can be 'unlocked' partly

because blue-collar workers can be

taught to do the necessary program-

ming, while American machine tools are

'locked' partly because blue-collar

workers cannot easily be taught the

necessary programming."(2)

Question: Why was a spokesman for

the State of Michigan telling the U.S.

Congress that American workers could

not be taught computer programming,

when workers at the Ford Rouge Plant

had proven this was untrue?

The Ford Rouge Plant in Dearborn,

MI was the pilot program, along with

the Buick City Plant in Flint, MI for

the introduction of what were to be

worker training programs to deal with

new technology. Yet at the Ford Rouge

Plant computer programming classes

were cut out despite petitions, let-

ters, and repeated other efforts.

Meanwhile workers were being killed

by robots, with poor training cited as

the cause.

Why the gap? In Rude Awakening,

auto industry analyst Maryann Keller

provides a helpful clue to the prob-

lem. After describing the death of

Donald Morris, a GM worker who was

crushed by a robot, she explains:

"Like many of his coworkers, Morris

had not received proper training in

robotics. While management was feeling

the pressure to improve quality and

productivity, the union was concerned

about protecting jobs and had combined

some job classifications to increase

flexibility. But training workers in

the new technology was a slow process.

In a period of three years, only about

10 percent of the work force had

enough training in the technology to

function even minimally. These were

assembly line workers, not computer

programmers. They didn't learn the

complex programming skills over-

night...."(Rude Awakening, pg204)

Workers at the Ford Rouge Plant who

had learned programming skills over-

night and wanted advanced classes,

proved that Maryann Keller's analysis,

like Philip Power's, was faulted. When

their petitions and letters to con-

tinue their computer programming

classes met with a stone wall of si-

lence from both union and company

officials, UAW members requested an

investigation into what had happened.

They wrote the following leaflet which

was posted around the Rouge Plant. It

said:

"UAW members have been fighting for

1-1/2 years against attempts to cut

out the classes in computer program-

ming held at the D.E.P. UAW members

contribute 17 cents an hour straight

time and 50 cents an hour overtime to

have these classes available. The most

critical point for UAW members is to

have training in high technology. How

can UAW members be trained in high

technology by cutting computer classes

out?"

"We contacted Ben Love, Chairman in

the Engine Plant, and he didn't give

any result. We contacted Roger

DeShetler and Eamon McClafferty, man-

agement in charge of training in the

Engine Plant. We contacted Bob King,

President of Local 600, and Ernest

Savoie and Peter Pestillo at Ford

Motor Co., and Don Liddell and Owen

Bieber at UAW. We sent letters every-

where. We are tired of being denied

benefits we're entitled to. We're

tired of being shuffled from one per-

son to another so as to cover up who

we're fighting. We don't know what

classes are being offered from one

course to the next. We ask for pro-

gramming in BASIC and they offer

PASCAL. We ask for PASCAL to be con-

tinued, they offer advanced BASIC.

There are no rights to grievance how

the monies are being spent. But the

letter of Understanding (in the 1984

UAW-Ford Contract) says: 'In view of

the Company's interest in affording

maximum opportunity for employees to

progress with advancing technology,

the Company shall make available ap-

propriate specialized training pro-

grams for employees.'"

"But this is not being provided. We

can't sit back and let happen at Rouge

what has happened at GM -- the whole-

sale closing of plants. WHERE IS THE

MONEY GOING? WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION DO

YOU WANT FOR YOUR MONEY? WE NEED AN

INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT IS GOING ON IN

THE UAW-FORD PROGRAM AT THE DEARBORN

ENGINE PLANT"

That investigation never happened.

Neither Maryann Keller, nor Phil

Power, nor any government official has

acknowledged that there is even a

problem. But there has been a care-

fully orchestrated propaganda barrage

to deny the desire and capability of

American workers to master the new

computer technology. Instead, the myth

has been created of widespread nonex-

istent illiteracy and of the need to

teach American workers to read before

they can learn to do computer program-

ming.

Why the distortions?

Management oriented spokesmen are

not interested in a workforce able to

deal with new technology. Rather they

are interested in job specific train-

ing to make workers more "adaptable"

so employers can tighten their control

over workers. Many tales have been

told of how U.S. companies have intro-

duced robotic equipment only to have

it malfunction. The workers who were

overseeing the equipment were often

denied the training and authority

needed to get the equipment to func-

tion effectively. Though Maryann

Keller's book Rude Awakening tells the

story of a worker who ends up being

killed as a result of this contradic-

tion, her conclusion is that manage-

ment should refrain from introducing

new technology, not that a broader

view of training is needed. She pro-

poses using the old technology of the

1950's more efficiently, as she claims

the Japanese do. Her solution is that

labor relations and job design used in

the U.S. be modeled after that of the

Japanese – essentially a return to the

pre 1930's style company unions that

were declared illegal by the National

Labor Relations Act. This prescription

for a return to the obsolete technol-

ogy of the 1950's, and to the obsolete

labor relations of the 1920's – is a

prescription for retrogression, not

for a solution to the problems of

developing technology.

The investigation called for by

students in the UAW-Ford program at

the Dearborn Engine Plant is still

needed. But it has become clear that

it was not just officials of Ford and

the UAW that were responsible for

cutting out computer programming

classes, but government officials in

Michigan and in the U.S. Congress as

well.

In 1989 the world celebrated the

200th anniversary of the fall of the

Bastille and the beginning of a new

era begun by the French Revolution.

In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down.

The victory of the French Revolu-

tion 200 years ago was the product of

new machinery which was being impeded

by obsolete political institutions. In

England, the divine right of Kings had

been successfully challenged and thus

the Industrial Revolution could bring

about a bloodless change in the polit-

ical institutions and power. In

France, new technology had rendered

the old system of a Divine King obso-

lete. But it took a revolution in

France, to sweep away the obstacles

preventing the use of the new ma-

chines.

There is a serious problem in the

U.S. today if workers' efforts to

learn computer programming can be

treated with such disdain not only by

officials of Ford and the UAW but also

by stock market analysts like Maryann

Keller and state spokespeople like

Philip Power. The personal computer,

however, is a wondrous new machine and

the brick wall denying computer pro-

gramming education to workers will

have to come down if modern technology

is to develop in the U.S. The investi-

gation requested by workers at the

Rouge plant was never conducted. But

Congressional Hearings demonstrate

that the problem is broader and wider

than Ford and the UAW and it involves

public officials also. It seems that

what is needed is an investigation

involving state and federal government

officials as well to understand how

this wall was created and how it can

be brought down.

(1) Maryann Keller, Rude Awakening,

N.Y., 1989, pg 203-4.

(2) "Competitiveness and the Quality

of the American Workforce," Subcommit-

tee. on Education and Health, 100th

Congress, pt 2, pg 20.

Philip Power is quoting from The Zero

Sum Solution by Lester Thurow.

LETTERS TO EDITOR

I would like to add an opinion to

the "History of the Computer" article:

there is a very important reason for

John Kemeny and others not to want the

computer to replace the teacher in

education.

The textbooks used today in schools

are so thick, wordy, boring and eso-

teric the teacher is virtually assured

a job just translating and explaining

the book into plain English. Take for

example the average algebra book. It

is written in confusing, highly spe-

cialized language (most of which is

not sufficiently explained within the

text) and the examples are so compli-

cated. This makes it useful only as a

review for experienced mathematicians,

and very unwieldy for those who only

want to learn.

This lets the teacher do something:

explain the concepts in the book to

his students.

But if a computer were to be used,

it could be programmed with clear

language, a key to define unfamiliar

terms, and provide the student with

individual instruction. The computer

has the power to repeat concepts infi-

nitely until it is learned by the

student, and the computer has infinite

patience. This would be impossible

with a regular teacher. The teacher

would almost become superfluous! The

student could learn at his own indi-

vidual pace, making school a lot more

interesting. Only three or four teach-

ers would really be needed in case of

extenuating questions. And of course

a computer repair man!

It is obvious why teachers and

educational types would not want their

carefully setup system threatened.

SCOTT MCMAHAN

I just reread your newsletter (Vol

2, No 2-ed) for about the fourth time

particularly the article on the six

hour day by Jay Hauben. I believe that

the objective is a good one, but it is

going to be difficult to achieve.

Unions are going to have a hard time

in achieving their goals due to the

Internationalization of business. I

covered my thoughts on this subject in

my last letter. (See Vol 2, No. 3

"Automation will Probably Not Help

Labor" - ed) Also the situation today

versus the situation in England re-

sulting from the Industrial Revolution

is not quite comparable. The demand

for any kind of products before and

during the Industrial Revolution was

insatiable. This is no longer true. I

cite the automobile, the unlimited

expansion of the automobile market is

not possible due to its effects on the

environment, availability of fuels and

the problems with traffic congestion.

This is also true of other products

such as electronic equipment. The

market for TV's would also be limited

regardless of price as most people

even in Third world countries already

have these.

I would suggest that the future

market for goods and products are

mainly in the housing, highway, sew-

age, water plant, bridge and airport

construction. In all of these areas

the impact of the computer is rela-

tively limited. Also in these areas

since they affect the domestic market

the impact of the Unions could be

greater than in the Industrial Mfg.

Sector which is becoming more and more

Internationalized.

I also reread the article by Floyd

Hoke-Miller (Jobs: Hours and Sense,

vol 2, no 2-ed) and I believe that he

is correct as far as he goes. However

I still believe that the anticipated

impact of the computer on man must be

pragmatically studied by all to deter-

mine two areas; one how will the com-

puter affect man, and the second what

can we do to direct its effect to

benefit man.

To me it is clear that the computer

could potentially be a major factor in

reducing the workday. What is not

clear is how this could be achieved

within the current political and eco-

nomic framework.

You keep mentioning the sit-

downers.* I believe their history is

interesting and its study could be

productive providing we can apply what

we learn to the current situation. I

am not sure that much can be applied.

I believe that one of the reasons the

sitdowners won was industry suddenly

realized that they could be more prof-

itable by embracing Unions. I believe

that with a one dollar raise to labor,

two dollars was passed to the con-

sumer. Also they

made labor the scapegoat for high

prices. Labor is still the scapegoat

but Industry no longer needs to cater

to labor as they did during prior

years. Labor is going to have a real

tough battle to maintain what they

currently have. If labor should tempo-

rarily win a battle industry will

probably move more of their work over-

seas.

Dave Pollack

(* Editor's Note: See editorials in

vol. I, no's 1-3)

I read the Amateur Computerist

April Edition.... Keep up the good

work and I wish you well.

Article Ideas:

In one issue of Time magazine the

entire issue was devoted to the socio-

economic changes currently happening

in Russia. Included in this issue is

a section devoted to the prospects of

upcoming computer hackers in the So-

viet Union. Read it, summarize it, and

report on it.

Rebuttal

(The article on free speech...

-ed)* made me sick. I don't believe in

unlimited access of information to

everyone. I realize we live in a

"FREE" society but, there are certain

things which can and must be kept

secret. Let's take a moment and look

at Russia.... Have you seen the Rus-

sian Space Shuttle? Does it look fa-

miliar or remind you of anything? Did

you know the Russians have recently

invented FUSION? (Hmmm maybe they read

the science section of the Detroit

News. They explained it in great de-

tail.)

Back in my high school days the

boards were full of text files on how

to build explosives, rip off pay-

phones, and gain illegal entry into

computer systems. Did you know that

computer hackers racked up over $1

MILLION in illegal unpaid phone calls

last year? Unlimited information in

the wrong hands can cause disaster.

The average computer geek is 14 years

old. He spends most of his time on his

modem downloading files from all over

the country (usually by phreaking.)

Where do you think the little rug rats

got the info on how to make illegal

phone calls? Gee, maybe they read the

posts on our boards. Information is a

valuable tool but, too much informa-

tion can lead to destruction.

( Continued on next page )

Sensitive information should only

be given to “MATURE” adults. You are

a youngster and think as the radical

youngster does. Immature computer

geeks shouldn't have information on

how to build Atomic-Bombs. Think about

it.... I am for the free trade of

information but, we must be respons-

ible into whose eyes and ears our

information falls.

Michael George III

(*Editor's Note: This letter is in

response to "Computers and Free

Speech", Amateur Computerist, vol 1 no

The Spirit of Babbage

Chapter ONE

In the beginning The Spirit of

Babbage created the software and the

hardware.

And hardware was expensive and

lowtech; and incompatibleness was on

the face of the hardware.

And The Spirit of Babbage said, Let

there be a micro, and there were

micros.

And The Spirit of Babbage saw the

micro, that it was good: and The

Spirit of Babbage divided the Micro

from the Mainframe.

And The Spirit of Babbage called

the micro Mark 8, and the Mainframe he

called the IBM.

And the evening and the morning

were the 1st day.

And The Spirit of Babbage said,

there be a firmament in the midst of

the common elements, and Let it divide

the transistors from the ICs.

And The Spirit of Babbage made the

firmament and divided the common ele-

ments which were ICs from the common

elements which were transistors: And

it was so.

And The Spirit of Babbage called

the Firmament history. And the evening

& the morning were the 2nd day.

And The Spirit of Babbage said, Let

the common elements from recent his-

tory gather together unto one place

and let the clubs appear: and it was

so.

And The Spirit of Babbage called

the new clubs, homebrew clubs; and the

gathering together of the common ele-

ments Zilog: and The Spirit of Babbage

saw that it was good.

And The Spirit of Babbage said, Let

the Hardware be programmed after Jac-

quard's kind: and it was so.

And the Hardware was programmed:

and The Spirit of Babbage saw that it

was good.

And the evening and the morning

were the 3rd day.

And The Spirit of Babbage said, Let

there be microcomputer companies to

divide the 4 bit from the 8 bit micro-

processor, the 8 bit from the 16 bit

microprocessor, and the 16 bit from

the 32 bit microprocessor.

And let them be for the existence

of versatility in the world: and it

was so.

And The Spirit of Babbage made two

great companies, the greater company

to dominate the business world, and

the lesser company to rule the

graphics world: and The Spirit of

Babbage made the competition too.

And The Spirit of Babbage set them

in the Fortune 500 to make sure they

could be versatile: and The Spirit of

Babbage saw it was good.

And the evening and the morning

were the 4th day.

And The Spirit of Babbage created

the Altair, which stored data on paper

tape, And every Commodore Pet which

stored data on cassette tape after his

kind: and The Spirit of Babbage saw

that it was good.

And the evening and the morning

were the 5th day.

And The Spirit of Babbage said, Let

the Amateur Computer Clubs bring forth

the microcomputer, which stored data

on disks, called Apple: and it was so.

And The Spirit of Babbage said, Let

us make IBM PCs in our own image,

after our likeness, and let them have

dominion over the Altair with paper

tape storage, and over the Commodore

Pet with cassette tape storage, and

over the Apple with disk storage.

So The Spirit of Babbage created

the IBM PCs in his own image, in the

image of The Spirit of Babbage created

he it; XT and AT created he them.

And The Spirit of Babbage said,

Behold I have given you every program-

mer, who are in the clubs, and of

every piece of software, who wrote all

of the pieces; to you it shall be

meat.

And to all of the other computers

with paper tape for storage, and to

every computer with cassette tapes for

storage, and to every computer with

disk drives for storage, wherein they

work, I have given all pieces of soft-

ware for meat: and it was so.

And The Spirit of Babbage saw ev-

erything that he had made, and, be-

hold, it was very good. And the eve-

ning & the morning were the 6th day.

Chapter TWO

Thus the hardware and the software

were finished, and all the host of

them.

And on the 7th day The Spirit of

Babbage ended his work which he had

made; and he rested in the seventh day

from all the work he had made.

But The Spirit of Babbage rested by

playing computer games on all of his

creations.

And The Spirit of Babbage decided

to bless this day by creating a place

for him to play computer games peace-

fully. And The Spirit of Babbage said,

Let there be a Charles Babbage Insti-

tute. And there the Spirit of Babbage

awaits.

To be Continued...in the future.

Michael Hauben

COCO Corner

It is time once again to venture

into the dim light of the CoCo Corner.

This month I do not have a program for

you, since I would like to take time

out to point to some of the features

the COCO has that the owner's manual

does not discuss but that can be dis-

covered by a little trial and error.

The thing I mentioned last install-

ment about the screen color is very

useful, if only to get people's atten-

tion. Screen 0,1 will make the screen

a color I named Infernal Orange.

Another semi-useful command is poke

113,0. WARNING: Poking this in has the

same effect as turning your computer

off and back on again. The best prac-

tical use for this feature would be in

a security system for a program. Sup-

pose the password is "jungle" and you

want the program to self destruct if

the proper password is not supplied.

You could use a subroutine like:

1000 rem: PASSWORD SUBROUTINE

1010 a$ = "JUNGLE:

1020 LINE INPUT "PLEASE SUPPLY THE

PROPER PASSWORD:"; B$

1030 IF A$ = B$ THEN RETURN ELSE

POKE 113,0

Which would cause the program to be

erased from memory in the event some-

one put the wrong password into the

computer.

Suppose, though, that you need even

more security than that. You may have

programs that you only want certain

people to use! You may not want them

to fall into the wrong hands, whoever

they may be. The best thing to do

would be to create your own version of

Basic. This is not as hard as it

sounds, and even the most beginner of

programmers could accomplish it.

The Basic and EXTENDED BASIC of the

COCO-2 are located in the poke areas

32768 to 49151. To see what it looks

like, use the following line (print #-

2, can be used in place of print to

feed the information to your printer).

For A = 32768 To 49151 : PRINT CHR$

(PEEK(A)), A: NEXT A

This will print the character that

is being held in the numbered location

in your memory, then print that loca-

tion for your reference (You'll need

it in a second). To change something,

find the numbered location for it,

then use the poke command to poke in

the ASCII number for the letter you

want to put into that location. That

sounds a little rough, but it isn't.

Here's an example: Suppose I wanted to

change the command THEN to XMEN. First

I go to the list and find out THEN

occupies the numerical position 43775

to 43777. Now I simply figure out the

ASCII (which, incidentally, stands for

the American Standard Code for Infor-

mation Interchange) for XMEN, which is

88, 77, and 67, 78 respectively for

the letter. The only drawback for this

procedure is that you cannot change

the final letter of each word. But, to

get xmen poke in, I use the command:

POKE 43775, 88:POKE 43776, 77:POKE

43777, 67

And the computer ceases to have the

word THEN in its vocabulary. You can

go on and on and change all the words

you need for a completely new and

unique programming language (named

after yourself if you prefer). Numbers

could be used in place of letters, But

they would be a nuisance to try to

remember even if they offered greater

privacy.

Your new language should be incor-

porated into a program you should save

securely, since every time your com-

puter is shut off the memory reverts

to normal. You can use this program to

load your new language into the memory

before you begin to use your computer

each time you start it up. Only people

with your special program could use

any programs you write. I suggest you

put all the numbers to be poked into

a data statement, followed immediately

by the ASCII number to be poked into

that location. Use two variables in

your Read statement, and poke the two

numbers after they are read.

Before I go, I would like to pro-

duce living proof that my closing sal-

utation is the truest law of computer

science: Last issue, I inadvertently

placed the statement screen 0,1 on the

wrong line. Mr. Mike Hauben pointed

out my mistake when he translated my

program into IBM BASIC (which stands

for Beginners All-purpose Symbolic

Instruction Code). The screen on which

the x, y, h, and v values for my

graphing program are erased when the

screen turns Orange. Of course, they

aren't supposed to be. The correct

location for the screen 0,1 is di-

rectly after the cls located in line

168 (and directly before the print

statements). Line 170 should be de-

leted from the program completely. Now

that you have that information, the

program should run more smoothly.

Next time, be with us as the COCO

CORNER delves into how to place char-

acters on the screen using not SET OR

PRINT @,BUT POKE! And the amazing

calorie counter for those of us who

are not mathematical geniuses but who

still need to watch our weight. As

I've proven myself, remember:

COMPUTERS ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THAT

WHICH IS PUT INTO THEM.

SCOTT MCMAHAN

CAD/CAM/CIM

"CIM...Confusion"

What is CIM? As an acronym, CIM

means Computer Integrated Manufact-

uring, which I thought originally

meant combining computers with the

tools of manufacturing (which really

in fact is CAM). Instead CIM should

have been called either CIB, (Computer

Integrated Business) or stay as CIM

except with the new meaning Computer

Integrated Management. That's because

CIM really seems to be linking com-

puters to management more than to the

shop floor and is a manager's plan for

going beyond optimizing the manufac-

turing function. Its ultimate role

(some say) is to optimize the busi-

ness. Besides not knowing what the

words behind the letters CIM stand

for, many people are divided on what

CIM actually is. Because of this many

people are confused. They have differ-

ent ideas of what CIM is. Some think

it's the factory of the future, a

technological wonder that is made up

of basically all robots/computers and

as few people as possible. Some people

believe that CIM is a process where

there will be a coordinated partic-

ipation of computers in all phases of

the manufacturing enterprise: the

design of the product, the planning of

its manufacture, the automatic pro-

duction of its parts, automatic assem-

bly, and, of course the computer-con-

trolled flow of materials and parts

through the plant. There are others

who think along the lines that CIM is

a long-term business strategy that, to

be effective and affordable, must be

implemented in stages, and is in fact

a strategy and not an end-product.

Besides all of this, some people think

CIM is reachable now (and have so

called examples of CIM in operation in

plants. But these have not been very

reproducible.), while others think of

CIM as a plan, which will be reachable

in the future.

To sum this up, two participants in

a round table discussion in a recent

issue of Manufacturing Systems, Warren

Hinze, and Tom Carpenter echo my con-

fusion. Warren Hinze said "I don't

think there is a good definition of

CIM, and that's one of our big prob-

lems. Here we are sitting around a

table, discussing what CIM really

means and that points up the problem.

If we can't agree, no wonder people

are confused." Tom Carpenter said

something to the same effect, "Let's

face it, each of us has an idea of

what CIM is but we don't really know

what the collective truth is - and

that's what we're trying to sell. I

don't even think what we're selling is

CIM, I think it's CIB - computer inte-

grated business. They've all got to be

tied together into that famous

misinformation center. We are trying

to get profitable performance through

the appliance of all this technology."

"CAM...The Solution"

While CIM is still a set of ideas

in the planning stages, CAM is real.

CAM stands for Computer Aided Manufac-

turing, which can include programmable

automation and adaptive control sys-

tems of machines. What CAM really does

is link the computer to the means of

manufacturing, in effect increasing

quality and quantity of the product a

company is manufacturing. CAM is re-

ally just the latest automation tech-

nology.

"CAD...The Catalyst"

CAD can be thought of as one of the

starting points for the evolution of

CAD/CAM...CIM. CAD stands for Computer

Aided Design, which means the use of

the computer to assist in the design

of an individual part or system. The

CAD process involves two basic steps:

the design of a model with computer

graphics and computer analysis of

that model. Many CAD systems also

include kinematics programs for ani-

mating motion of robot manipulators

and other mechanisms. After a part or

system is designed with a CAD program

one can print or plot it out.

"CAD/CAM...The Liberator"

CAD/CAM is the combination of the

electronic drafting qualities of CAD

directly linked to the automation of

CAM. The digital data that results

from the CAD process is directly sent

to the computer running the CAM pro-

gram which then translates the digital

data into instructions that make sense

to the robot or machine. It used to be

that after a product was designed,

either electronically or by hand, the

blueprint had to be read and trans-

lated into instructions by a person so

that the worker or machinery could

produce the product. In a sense

CAD/CAM is eliminating the middle-

person of old.

"Analysis"

In order to understand the source

of the confusion surrounding CIM, it

is helpful to realize that there are

two points of view on what production

is; one is from the worker and the

other is from management. The actual

shop-floor worker's point of view is

that of hourly workers doing the "pro-

duction"; while the manager's under-

standing of "production" is the things

that management does, like planning,

directing and controlling the work and

the workers, ordering materials, etc.

Most of the articles I have read have

had the M in CIM from the manager's

point of view.

My point of view is that from one

who is knowledgeable about computers.

When someone who knows a great deal

about computers studies CIM, he does

not find much that relates to his

knowledge of computers. So CIM raises

suspicions over whether or not it

mainly has to do with computers in

manufacturing. Since it does not seem

to directly relate to computers in

general, it must be something else.

And in CIM's case, that turns out to

be management.

I had a basic understanding of what

CAD and CIM were, but I didn't know

what CIM was. It intrigued me because

I thought that CIM might be the high-

est level of technology. I thought CIM

would be the combination of computers

with machinery to improve production

for today's world. The CAD/CAM parts

of CIM are this already but the rest

of CIM, or what makes CIM different

from CAD/CAM first appeared confusing

to me. But, now I'm coming to realize

that CIM is really a management tool

for controlling the work force as if

they were part of the machinery. To me

this is an attempt to return to the

time before unions. Which means that

the promise of CAD/CAM for better

production is not what CIM is about.

by Michael Hauben

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

Part V

1900 PRINT"BECAUSE THE COMPUTER"

1910 PRINT"IS AN ALL PURPOSE MACHINE"

1920 PRINT"THEREFORE THE BASIC PRO-

GRAMMING LANGUAGE"

1930 PRINT"BEGINNER'S"

1940 PRINT"ALL-PURPOSE"

1950 PRINT"SYMBOLIC"

1960 PRINT"INSTRUCTION"

1970 PRINT"CODE":PRINT

1990 PRINT"IS STILL BASIC"

2010 REM THIS VERSION IS FOR AN IBM

COMPATIBLE COMPUTER

4900 END

5000 REM SUBROUTINE

5005 LOCATE 20,1

5010 LINE INPUT "Press Return to Go

On"; A$

5030 CLS

5050 RETURN

John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz pre-

dicted that there would be a need for

a generation who understood the actual

computer – its limitations and poten-

tial. And they created the programming

language BASIC to make it possible for

students to be able to gain that nec-

essary knowledge. Then when big compa-

nies like DEC (Digital Equipment Corp)

or IBM refused to develop the home

computer there was a body of people

able to take on the battles to make

the home computer a piece of everyday

technology. And it was the BASIC in-

terpreters for both the Altair 8800

and the early Apple computer that made

machines viable and attractive to the

mass market.

The experience I have had teaching

over the past few years is reminiscent

of David Ahl's experience with DEC.

Computer education has grown to stress

word processing, or using a spread-

sheet, or some other application which

will "be useful in the world of work."

At the Michigan Association of Com-

puter Users in Learning Conference

that I spoke at in March, 1987, I

heard educators say that where their

schools used to have 10 programming

classes, now there were only two and

those were threatened with being cut

out. And at some schools, the BASIC

programming language has been cut out

altogether. The statement that "people

don't need to learn to program" is

reminiscent of Ken Olsen, President of

DEC, when he said "I can't see any

reason that anybody would want a com-

puter of his own." But the computer

language BASIC was the basis for the

development of the personal computer.

Kemeny, in the 1960's explained:

"Only if we manage to bring up a

computer-educated generation will

society have modern computers fully

available to solve its serious prob-

lems. While computers alone cannot

solve the problems of society, these

problems are too complex to be solved

without highly sophisticated use of

computers." ( Mam and the Computer,

p80)

Kemeny's prediction of the value of

BASIC proved true. When the big compa-

nies wouldn't develop the home com-

puter, the hackers and hobbyists who

had learned from his work went on and

took up the challenge.

People who've taken my classes have

said programming in BASIC has given

them a background to go onto robotics

or CAD/CAM training or to run a com-

puter driven machine. The weakness of

our classes was not that they taught

programming in BASIC (or in PASCAL),

but that we didn't understand the

history of the fight. For it is only

from that history that it will be

possible to know how to go forward in

developing and applying computer tech-

nology. Just as BASIC was the founda-

tion to develop the personal computer

EDITORIAL STAFF

Ronda Hauben

William Rohler

Norman O. Thompson

Technical Editor

Michael Hauben

The Amateur Computerist invites

contribution of articles, programs

etc. Send submissions to: R.Hauben

P.O. Box 4344, Dearborn, Mi.

48126. Articles can be submitted

on paper or disk in ASCII format,

(IBM or Commodore.) One year

subscription (4 issues) costs

$5.00(US). Add $2.50 for foreign

postage. Permission is granted to

reprint any article herein,

provided credit is given.

– because it succeeded in demystifying

and customizing the computer – my

prediction is that knowledge of BASIC

will be the foundation for people who

continue to develop and expand com-

puter technology as it gets applied to

machinery. The computer is, as the

name BASIC reminds us, an all-purpose

machine, not a dedicated word proces-

sor or spreadsheet or database. There-

fore, to be able to contribute to the

development of the computer, knowledge

of BASIC or another programming lan-

guages will be crucial.

In the early days of the automo-

bile, people needed to know how to

drive their cars and how to make the

needed repairs. And the driver could

determine where he wanted his automo-

bile to go. It wasn't that his automo-

bile was preset to take him from home

to work, or from home to the doctor.

He could take his car for a drive in

the country, he could use it to visit

people off in places where there were

yet no roads. The automobile was flex-

ible enough to be used by its owner in

ways that served his life and his

needs. Similarly, Henry Ford intended

that the automobile serve the farmer

-- in doing the work the farmer needed

done.

The personal computer is a machine

that is similarly flexible. Its use

can be personalized by each individual

or each business. But to do so, one

must be able to program it or other-

wise to find the software that will

accomplish what one wants. The hard-

ware of the computer is far in advance

of the software at the current stage

of technological development. Henry

Ford was able to develop the automo-

bile because there was a milieu of

people tinkering with engines and

other mechanics necessary for the

technological development of the auto-

mobile. In a similar way, the personal

computer could be developed because

there were electronics hackers and

tinkers willing to develop and ex-

change information to make technologi-

cal development possible.

We are now at a stage where the

uses of the personal computer need to

be developed. To do so, it is neces-

sary that a broad strata of people,

particularly those who will be using

computers in their workplaces, be

trained in a simple programming lan-

guage like BASIC. That will begin to

make it possible to develop particular

uses of the computer. It will also

make it possible to troubleshoot the

programs that have been developed when

something goes wrong.

As David Ahl points out, there is

a great deal of misunderstanding about

the nature and potential of the per-

sonal computer. "We are dealing with

one of the most important concepts and

tools developed by man," he says, "and

yet some continue to hope they can

check it off as they do driver educa-

tion or typing." (Creative Computing,

Nov. 1984, p 164)