On 10 May 2007 at 13:41, Richard wrote:
It was the genesis of:
- computer based/assisted/automated instruction
- interactive chat
- messaging areas
- online gaming
- massive multiplayer gaming
- graphical gaming
So yeah, it was tremendously influential.
My question mostly related not to the recreational use, but rather to
the first of your points--the instructional value. I seem to
recall that the original plasma terminals were freakishly expensive
and that time on the system was no bargain either.
I remember that Plato was Bill Norris' darling and there was a push
to get it used anyway it could be used. In particular, I remember
that some internals subjects at CDC were programmed as Plato courses
(e.g. "Everything you never wanted to know about 6RM") but that any
useful level of detail simply wasn't there.
I thought about all of the time and money that went into the rather
anemic courseware and figured that it would have been cheaper for
management to give Jitze Couperous a sheaf of plane tickets and put
him up at 4 star hotels to give hands-on insruction on the subject.
I'll rephrase my question as "Was the CAI delivered by PLATO worth
the investment?"
Cheers,
Chuck