12 JANUARY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE
ONEOFTHEpast criticisms of computing education has been that
it focusestoo much on ‘dull’ aspects such as spreadsheets, which
puts off students from selecting technology subjects.
In my schooldays, we were fortunatetohaveacomputer lab at
all. But with around 20 PCs for700 students, we didn’t get to use it
much. And as Microsofthad only recently launched its core Office
apps when Iwas aschoolgirl, Inever had the chance to sit through
these ‘dull’ lessons, being taught how to master Excel spreadsheets.
And how Iwish I’d had that opportunity.There have been
countless occasions in my working lifewhere advanced Excel skills
would have been aboon. Instead, I’ve managed to pick up the basics
by using spreadsheets over the years, but I’m aware that tasks that
would take an Excel whizz afew seconds take me fartoo long.
I’ve also often hadthe nagging feeling that those of my
colleagues who are great at Excel are almost like members of an
Regrets, we’vehad afew –and not learning advanced Excel skills isoneofthe biggest.
Andwe’re also having second thoughtsaboutupgrading to thelatestphone everyyear
RANTS&RAVESS& S
clusive club,getting invited to meetings and given
pportunities to work on projects partly (or mainly)
because of their spreadsheet skills. I’ve generally
dismissed those thoughts as baseless, but arecent
post on Twitter from an academic going by thename
of Andyou R. Shockedconfirmed my suspicions.
“Students often ask me what skills will help them in
.Sometimes Itell them ‘get good at spreadsheets’.
nk Iamjoking. Iam100%not joking. Any industry.
Any position. Being aspreadsheet god is transferable knowledge.”
This led to several examples of people benefitting from being in
this eliteExcel club I’d imagined, including one whose firm“promoted
someone to vice-president because of his ability to do pivot tables.
(Seriously.That’s what the announcement from HR said.)”
Aclinician friend of mine wasrecently bemoaning his latest
group of medical students, who were bemused by theidea of
recording the core data theywere gathering in aspreadsheet they
had created themselves. Theythought someone would just do
that forthem, pointing out it would take them ages to try and
work out how to use Excel.
Youcan bet if one of that group was an Excel master,theywould
be inundated with job offers as soon as they’d qualified. All Ineed to
do now is become apivot tables genius, and expect to see me as VP
of amajor corporation some time soon.
LASTMONTH,MYcolleague James Archer subtly threw shade at
me foressentially claiming phones are symbols of status (Rants &
Raves,Shopper382). While Iwas referring to how having the latest
phones is useful foratech journalist wanting to appear with their
finger on the pulse,Istillbelieve phones are status symbols.
OK, theyaren’t as flashy as aFerrari, but with the iPhone 11 Pro
costing north of £1,000, they’re no longer devices you get on a
whim, unless you’re suitably well-heeled or willing to go intodebt. As
such, having the latest flagship phone paid in full is definitely one
waytoshowcase you’re not lacking in the moneydepartment.
But despitethis, I’m against this idea of needing the latest and
greatest device every year.Where once the new iPhone or Samsung
handset brought in desirable features and performance hikes, the
current crop of flagship devices feels iterative.Aslightlyimproved
amera system is nice,but even budget phones offer
decent smartphone photography these days, and
serious pic snappers will likely opt foraDSLR anyway.
As such, Ifeel this 12- or 24-month upgrade cycle
ssomewhat depressing. And with Extinction Rebellion
cking up astink over climatechange,I’m getting
easingly keen on the idea that we don’t need new
p,whether we buy them or not, to pop up annually.
I’d rather phone makers took longer to come up with devices
that are really innovative,such as aproper modular phone that’s full
of recyclable andreusable parts. Or adevice that boosts aphone’s
functions, allowing it to boot Windows 10 alongside Android to
become apseudo mini PC that can be plugged intoamonitor.
Thereare plenty of patents that showcase potentially weird and
wonderful additions, yet we never see them, probably because
hardware makers are churning out yet another mild upgrade.
Iknowsomeinnovation is limited by thedemands of business
and bottom lines. But if one looks at how the Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3were pushed to their limits before being replaced,
there’s an argument the same could be done with phones, with
increased lifecycles leading to more innovation and less
environmental impact. Status symbols, be damned.
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olllyyyyer
