Code junkies

I came across a couple of articles that I found interesting to the point of bringing them to your attention.
The articles are from December 1982 and March 1983, so really prehistoric stuff.

In practice in the first article Chris Reynolds, a university professor of "computer science", asserts that home computers do not create future IT experts, but future unemployed. He comes to say that: "the computer and the games at home will keep the unemployed future pleasantly engaged".

Reynolds says that these guys, who are studying alone, are not learning in the right way, doing everything on their own and are self-convinced that they are computer wizards. There is no one who evaluates their work, and that is really bad.
Their code is not elegant and above all their know-how is linked to that specific computer and they have great difficulty in switching to different languages and computers.

The second article by J. R. Bird answers and accuses arrogance good Reynolds, because according to Bird the fact of owning a computer and invest time in the study and it's a sign of interest in this topic and a certain openness of mind.
Certainly the academic courses improve the professional role of the "code junker", but certainly one does not exclude the other.

In fact, I found myself in the things said in the two articles.
For me it all started from the computer bought for home, on which I spent hours studying and hacking.
When I made my first job interview, the fact that I already knew how to program was an added value and I was hired.

Let me know what you think about it in the comments.

These are the articles:
December 1982
March 1983

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