[HN Gopher] Computers and Mice - Mister Rogers Neighborhood
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Computers and Mice - Mister Rogers Neighborhood
Author : colechristensen
Score : 70 points
Date : 2025-03-11 16:15 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (misterrogers.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (misterrogers.org)
| mdwhatcott wrote:
| From the episode: "You know, your own imagination is far more
| wonderful than any computer could ever be. You know why--you're a
| living human being, and a computer is just a machine. Human
| beings are far more wonderful than machines!" -Fred Rogers
|
| I appreciate that a computer has become such a wonderful tool for
| realizing ideas that come from my imagination.
| heywoods wrote:
| It really is amazing isn't it? I teach 4/5th grade where many
| in this cohort are behind in reading/writing due to the
| pandemic. It was an uphill battle to get the approval to
| incorporate AI in my lesson plans but admin quickly changed
| their tune after they saw the engagement and improvement in my
| students after using AI to generate images. While many of us
| adults, find prompting and chat based AI's cumbersome, it has
| been a boon for my student's writing skills. The tight feedback
| and reward loop text based image generation provides between
| what is nestled in their minds and what the AI creates is
| incredible. The iterative and interactive nature of the product
| compliments and reinforces the foundational writing skills
| introduced at the 4/5th grade.
|
| Specifically the skills of: 1. Research skills 2. Varied
| sentence structures 3. Transition words and phrases 4. Editing
| and revising 5. Voice and tone 6. Descriptive language
| dcsommer wrote:
| Yet I feel that AI gives such instant gratification that the
| boredom and struggle required for imagination is short-
| circuited and atrophies.
| heywoods wrote:
| One of my core memories as a kid was when I watched the Mr.
| Rogers' episode about how crayons were made[0]. I came home after
| my first week of 1st grade, Grandma making dinner in the kitchen,
| my Mom getting ready for work. On the days it rained, which were
| many in the PNW, I would spend my afternoons coloring and
| watching reruns of Mr. Rogers'. My Grandma had begun recording
| episodes of Mr. Rogers' to VHS when I was barely even a year old
| for me to watch when I was older.
|
| Still with the fresh smell of crayon and marker on my hands from
| school, I grabbed my blue tin cookie can full of crayons from my
| room, stopping by the gigantic office desk where our brand new
| Hewlett Packard computer and Deskjet 500 printer lived. Barely
| tall enough to reach the front paper hopper, I snagged a sheet of
| paper, sandwiching it between my index and middle fingers.
|
| I popped in the VHS, seated in front of our Magnavox with crayon
| tin and paper in hand. The episode began and a core memory was
| made. That distinct crayon smell in combination with that episode
| will always stay with me.
|
| I left software to become a grade school teacher last year and I
| have Mr. Rogers' and a shortlist of male teachers to thank for
| planting the seed of curiosity and play some decades ago.
|
| 0. https://youtu.be/MWAhnVYUPZo?si=kdg7-iY0Wcd8IRne
| tapoxi wrote:
| I have a fond memory of that episode too. My 2-year-old
| daughter has been watching Daniel Tiger (a modern Mr. Rogers
| spinoff) and I showed her that episode so she would understand
| where all this comes from. She was just as mesmerized as I was.
| ipython wrote:
| Nothing to add here other than to say thank you for becoming a
| teacher. Our world needs more "community helpers" like you.
| wffurr wrote:
| I just watched that episode on PBS Kids this week with my 2 and
| 6 year old.
| iJohnDoe wrote:
| How did he plug in the PS2 mouse and have it work instantly?
| Normally you had to reboot the system for the PS2 mouse to be
| recognized, or worse, it would freeze the system.
|
| Kudos to the designer of the web site back then. Very cool.
| gosub100 wrote:
| You might be confusing it with COM port mice on DB-9
| connectors. I seem to remember those had to be set up and the
| machine rebooted.
| bombcar wrote:
| Shot swapping mice and keyboards COULD damage some systems -
| but most, if they booted with it connected, could be
| disconnected and readded.
|
| Also why "no keyboard detected-press F1" - it wants you to
| connect a keyboard and then press F1.
| donnachangstein wrote:
| That 1998-era website with mouseover graphics seems more
| functional, intuitive, and faster on a 30 year old PC than any
| framework-laden digital dreck produced today.
| initramfs wrote:
| maybe today's technology will become a fad and people outside of
| Hacker News will rediscover the joys of imagination.
|
| It's funny how reality is distorted for those who pursue profit
| at any cost: https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/03/zuckerberg-declares-
| the-end-...
|
| I wonder, are smart glasses being thrust upon us, or is society
| just picking them up like tablets, which were once awkward to
| use?
| CozyCardigan99 wrote:
| Here's a version of the website from the video:
| https://web.archive.org/web/20001203204700/http://www.pbs.or...
| dehrmann wrote:
| > CozyCardigan99
|
| A green user for a single joke?!
| dehrmann wrote:
| I didn't appreciate, or even notice it at the time, but he had
| legit jazz musicians backstage.
| mysterydip wrote:
| I think that sums up a lot of what he did. For example, every
| word in the script was carefully considered and rewritten for
| maximum understanding of his audience, which I didn't even
| notice when watching but can definitely appreciate now as I try
| to explain things to my own children.
|
| https://kottke.org/18/06/freddish-the-special-language-miste...
| crawsome wrote:
| Stuff like this brings tears to my eyes. Not so much the mouse
| subject matter, but how the values brought by this show are now
| in short supply, and it saddens me to think Rogers' efforts are
| becoming obsolete to modern people.
|
| A few examples I noticed, but not all in this episode are:
| Promoting high self-esteem, expressing a love of life, advocating
| for using your imagination, addressing people with respect,
| settling for something if it isn't perfect, and belief in the
| good in humanity.
|
| It's such calorie-dense goodness, and he keeps it consistent and
| almost candid, even on long camera shots.
| oldnetguy wrote:
| I want to know what computer he was using. It looks so familiar
| but I can't tell which computer it was.
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