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Additional scaffoldingKeep in mind that if students google the exact question above, they will get a link to this webpage with the answers. You should try to encourage them to search for ‘History of Desktop Publishing’, which will give students a lot of information. You can also scaffold them to search for ‘inventions in 1985 for desktop publishing’. They should find links like: The History of Desktop Publishing and Desktop publishing. |
Top answers for you and for the next task:
'Jobs and Apple introduced the first Macintosh computer in January 1984. This was the first personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI), rather than a command-line interface. Sounds technical - but it was really simplicity as poetry.
The next year, Apple released the Laser Writer. And Aldus Corp. (now Adobe) released Pagemaker 1.0.
Voila!
The combination of the Macintosh computer, the Laser Writer and Pagemaker allowed my little Montana weekly - and many other newspapers - to set type with improved quality, increased speed and reduced cost.
The desktop publishing revolution was born … I think Guttenberg [sic] smiled.'
(Extracted from 'Wilson: Thank you, Steve Jobs!')
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Additional scaffolding/ Visual impairmentAs another means of representation: You may want to find a video on the history of desktop publishing which may make it easier for students to understand how each of these inventions combine to create what we call ‘desktop publishing’. |
Ask students: What software product used today is a direct descendent of Aldus PageMaker?
(Answer: Adobe InDesign)
Conclude the topic for students.
The contributions of Gutenberg's hardware (invention of the printing press and moveable type) and Aldus's typefaces (invention of italic) to the printing revolution of the 15th century parallel the events of 1984.
Read aloud the following extract from Steve Jobs's Stanford University commencement address:
'I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to [learn calligraphy]. I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful. Historical. Artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture. And I found it fascinating. None of this had any hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backward 10 years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.'
(Taken from the article ''You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says' from the Stanford News)
This lesson sequence provides a case study for students in the impact of innovation, the circumstances that facilitate it, the potential within each of us to contribute to change due to our own unique experiences, and the importance of addressing benefits as well as risks in the development of new systems. The moment in history explored in the 'Learning hook' reveals the impact that can result when important elements work together.
Alternative or extension activityAs another means of representation: Many students are familiar with Facebook. They could research MySpace and could discuss similarities and differences between the two social networking platforms. For example, MySpace had the ‘Top 8 Friends’ feature—why doesn’t Facebook have this? Also, students could extend the discussion by researching and hypothesizing why MySpace lost popularity and Facebook continues to be most visited website. |
Lead a discussion with students about how they envisage these systems changing in the next 10 years. In small groups students report on innovations they anticipate.