Chapter 1 Introduction (11 pages) <https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262140539/a-small-matter-of-programming/|A Small Matter of Programming Perspectives on End User Computing By Bonnie A. Nardi>

Grabbed my copy from the shelf, and will do my best to at least follow along here... Is this book really 30 years old?

If anyone would like a digital copy of this book (hard to find), feel free to DM me. 🙂

The thing that I find most jarring in this chapter is the early 90s framing where computing devices are not yet ubiquitous, and still kind of an alien intrusion in many users' lives (there's a line about 'computers gathering dust' from disuse as people continue to use old manual processes). The thing that I find most relatable is a mention of users preferring to tediously execute repetitive steps to accomplish a goal instead of figuring out how to use the programming/automation tools they have access to.

Everything said so far resonates quite strongly with me, really excited for the next chapter

@Jacob Zimmerman some people were threatened by the growth of personal computers in the late 80’s/early 90’s I spent time in banks and libraries where terminal based system were commonly used by front line staff, but anything pc-based was very new

the resistance to programming was because of bad tools or that the manual alternatives were sufficient

I think there were a lot of factors that overlapped -- certainly many workplace systems were literal translations of existing paper forms and offered little in the way of opportunity, but I'd think that the novelty was as much of a factor. It's a huge leap to start thinking computationally. I remember my wife taking a required Excel class when getting her Masters' in Education in the 90s and watching her use a pocket calculator on the desk to sum a column instead of using

=SUM(A1..A10)

and (even more) her resistance to approaching the problem in this way.

End user = The opposite of a compiler or DSL writer (the "beginning/starting user"? prime mover alpha vs omega) Another connotation of endpoint is the end of a pipeline, that receives the most finished product

There have been a lot of HyperCard clones that have got approximately zero uptake and sank without a trace. It is a different world now.

Don't take the bait from the hypertrolls Stephen

I recently saw an upcoming small game making tool called Downpour (https://downpour.games/, also shared at the London meetup) where you create cards from photos and link them together with a bit of logic. It reminds me of some of the "magic" HyperCard unlocked.

Hypertrolls! I love it

The "just who are end users?" passage that Christopher screenshotted feels timeless. End users want to get work done whereas programmers want to work on interesting problems (and get work done). It reminds me of something I heard Jerome Hardaway say when I was first learning to code (paraphrasing): your users only really care that your website (1) works, (2) is fast, and (3) looks good—in that order.

Thanks for the reminder. Got distracted by work. Need to read second chapter.