I worked in the field of quality of work life for several decades. During that time, I served as an outside consultant to the Bell System while it was undergoing major technological change.

Each time Bell Labs introduced a new system, the focus quickly turned to training workers to cope with it—often with confusing, counterintuitive keyboards, terminals that blew hot air into their faces, and other poorly designed equipment. Increases in productivity were all too often accompanied by increases in job stress.

 

In order to track case studies, literature, field notes, I used a manual card sorting system, popular at the time, the Royal McBee key -sort.  “Manual” being the operative term.  A thin rod, similar to a knitting needle could separate notched cards into categories.

People were starting to talk about the new personal computers.  They were great at databases and, beause I was working in a high tech environment, I thought it might be a good way to learn this new technology. 

So I visited the first, and for a while, the only computer store in Manhattan, Byte Shop, and brought home an Exidy computer.

What I really want to share about this story are not the details about the computer, but how I from it.  How I learned about learning.

It became my first foray into Skunk Works. 

 

 

I learned a lot about computers by mastering my own.  The echnology ws not at all intimidating. The Mechanics were familiar.  Data was stored on a Radio Shack casette recorder.  The same tapes that could hold music.  You loaded it by pushing the play button. 

 

Eventually,, I