Services
Spiral Notebook Blogs
Advertisement
Less Is More: Sometimes We Can Do Great Things with Fewer Things
By Ron Smith
1/15/07William of Ockham was a fourteenth-century logician and Franciscan friar in England. He came up with the lex parsimoniae, or the law of succinctness, which says entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity. Occam's razor, as it came to be known, states that when given two equally valid explanations for a phenomenon, one should embrace the less complicated. Or, as architect Mies van der Rohe famously said, "Less is more."
At about the same time, on the other side of Europe, a bishop representing Pope Benedict XI was sent to find the best painters in Italy. There was to be an important commission offered in the Vatican, and the Pope wanted the only very best artist to do it. The bishop told Giotto, who was among the first Renaissance painters and was famous for his skill and his tendency to be a hermit, that the Pope wanted to make use of his services and asked him for a drawing to send to the Pope. At this, Giotto took a sheet of paper and a brush dipped in red paint, and with a twist of his hand drew such a perfect circle that it was a marvel to see. Then, with a smile, he said to the bishop, "There's your drawing." As if he were being ridiculed, the bishop replied, "Is this the only drawing I'm to have?" "It's more than enough," answered Giotto. "Send it along and you'll see whether it's understood."
What a perfect demonstration of Occam's razor. Giotto got the job.
Fast-forward a few centuries. I was having a conversation with a friend some years ago, before personal computers were so ubiquitous. We were discussing the merits of a new typewriter that was touted by its manufacturer as a "word processor." It was very expensive, more than a basic PC costs today, and we wondered aloud if it was worth it. Then he said, "You know, a pencil is a word processor, it's just slower than some others." I've come back to that conversation many times, in many situations. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in names and definitions that we forget that what is at the real heart of the matter is very simple. It was Occam's razor all over again.
Recently, I paid a visit to a friend of mine, the principal of local middle school, to show him some of my experiments with Linux. I brought a computer, a flat screen monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse, and set up a temporary office in his office. For years I had been searching for a better operating system for myself, and possibly for use at school. I had long ago given up on Windows, and had been recently concentrating on the Apple OS. It still left me with a feeling of powerlessness, because the developers only allow users to do a limited number of things, and those only with permission. I wanted something much more flexible. When researching different open source answers, I was looking for: 1) ease of operation and administration; 2) availability of applications; and 3) community support for trouble-shooting and expansion.
I turned on the box, an ancient (five years old) Dell PC that I had bought for next to nothing. It was a dirty beige and it made lots of, well, unique noises. As the computer roared to life, a brand-spanking new version of Linux lit up the screen. It looked very modern, with a beautiful splash screen and icons for the latest and fastest applications decorating the desktop. I started up some of the programs. This computer was lightning fast! It had everything one could want in a brand new computer. I explained to my friend that this was open source software, and that it was free.
My friend, the principal, was speechless. He called in some of his teachers to look at the computer I had brought, and they, too, were astounded. They all wanted to touch it, as though it might impart some of its magic to them. They tried it. They were hooked. I explained that this little computer, less than what any of them had in their own classrooms but more powerful, and was loaded with free software, software that they could use at their school. Less was more!
Glen's question about printer
Submitted by Ron (not verified) on June 13, 2007 - 21:04.
Glen,
It depends on what operating system you are using, but basically, you have to add the printer using the computer's preferences. The printer has an IP, which you must use to identify it to the computer.
how can I get my second computer to recognize a new Canon MP600
Submitted by Glen (not verified) on June 13, 2007 - 08:29.
My two computers are connected together by Linksys. Problem is I have a new Canon MP600 printer on the main computer and can not get the second computer to recognize the printer.
What do I do to get both computers to print on the computer. It worked when I had an Epson printer, but I had the second computer hard disk wiped clean.
Can you help me?
I bought my first computer
Submitted by Ron Smith (not verified) on January 21, 2007 - 17:48.
I bought my first computer seven years ago. I had been a photographer, and I used (I still have them) three wooden cameras. I am as technical as I have to be. I, too, want the thing to just work. I'm using Suse 10.1 (10.2 has just been released), but I started with Ubuntu. Both are very easy to install, and they recognize peripherals readily.
The problem with Windows, and to a lesser extent Mac OSX, is twofold: first, they are expensive--to buy, to add other programs to, to maintain; second, they require a great deal of "geekness" to realize their full potential, and the only way to get help is to go, hat-in-hand, to the company masters. Linux, by contrast, was born out of the idea of community. I don't need to know how to do everything with the OS, just what I want. When my needs change, I look to the community for answers, and I have never been disappointed. The only really "proven" thing about Windows is that it is a security nightmare!
I often use the car analogy when I teach web design. I, too, just want to put the car in drive and go. It is a basic tenet of usability, best explained by Steve Krug in his book Don't Make Me Think (http://www.sensible.com/chapter.html ). Linux is a bullet-proof, solid operating system that makes sense. Indeed, Brazil, which has recently become energy independent, too, has gone entirely open source (http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,61257,00.html ).
We here in the United States seem wedded to big corporate interests because we always have been. Third-world countries are taking the lead precisely because they cannot afford to buy expensive American products, so they opt for free alternatives. I have often challenged school administrators to try something new, only to be told that change was not in the cards because, "That's the way we've always done it". It seems to me that that is the absolute worst reason to do anything.
try Ubuntu and Edubuntu
Submitted by Isaac (not verified) on January 19, 2007 - 06:20.
try Ubuntu and Edubuntu version, Linux for human beings.
My question is whether Linux
Submitted by Ken Messersmith (not verified) on January 18, 2007 - 20:44.
My question is whether Linux has gotten easier to install and use. About 5 years ago I tried to instiall Linux and found that it would not automatically recognize my printer, scanner, camera, etc. like Windows does. You had to be pretty geeky to make it work. I also tried out the free Office clone and the Photoshop wannabe and they did not have the functionality I was used to getting with Windows.
It would be great if schools could use a free OS and software but it will have to get much easier to install and use before I will convert.
If someone would walk into my office with a fully loaded computer and I could plug in my printer, camera, scanner, and other devices and have them work out of the box just like my Windows machine, I would be interested. Until that time I plan to stay with my proven software.
I would be interested in hearing from a "non geek" who has made the free stuff work.
I think the idea of Linux is
Submitted by Randy (not verified) on January 18, 2007 - 19:39.
I think the idea of Linux is great - but applying the less is more analogy might not be so great. From my late-adopter perch I still see Linux as something that innovators are using but have yet to see it filter down to the masses. I am a computer user much like I am a car user - I do not spend hours pimping my ride or with my head under the hood. I get in, turn the key and drive. Every 3000 miles I get an oil change. That's how I want to use computers - turn them on and they work. If Linux is at that point I'm ready to adopt - however if I still need to be a big problem solver in order to use it, I'm just not ready to take that time. I appreciate the innovators taking all this on - and I hope eventually it will reach the late adopters (and even the laggards). I'm all for a custom OS that will save schools money and allow greater access to great technology for all (ALL!) students.
Post new comment