Bulletin Number One 1986

United College Microcomputer Laboratory The personal computer The computer, invented a scant forty years ago, has heralded the Second Industrial Revolution, to free mankind from drudgery. Its use has permeated the entire human society, and is affecting the lives of all people on earth. To technology-hungry Southeast Asia, it is at once a prime example of high technology and a major vehicle for the transfer and upgrading of all technologies. The first computers are giants in size, weight, and price ， but only midgets in performance, and must be shared by many users because of cost and complexity in operation. Advances in microelectronics now make available the personal computer, aimed at the individual user. The personal computer features a keyboard, one or two floppy disk drives, and a screen, all within hand's reach of the human user. The user of personal computers, which are completely self-contained, exercises complete control over them without interference from others. Most significantly, the personal computer has broken fresh ground for new ， ultra user-friendly application software, greatly reducing learning effort. Truly a general-purpose tool, it has already taken over the office automation movement, displacing special-purpose wordprocessing and bookkeeping machines. At The Chinese University many students take many courses related to the use and the design of computers, and many students acquired computer skill before entering the University, often by themselves. But over fifty per cent of undergraduates in Hong Kong have not been properly exposed to computers. Yet Hong Kong needs these students to man the computers to survive and to prosper, and our students must become computer-literate. The y all need wordprocessing, if only to hand in neater reports. They all can benefit from database management and spreadsheet computing, in daily life , in academic work and research. Moreover, a knowledge of machine computing opens up intellectual vistas and lend a decided edge in job-hunting upon graduation. Un i t ed College Microcomputer Laboratory (UCMCL) United College has long been concerned with the computer literacy problem, as it engendered both the Electronics Department and the Computer Science Department on campus. When the personal computer became available, it soon entered the offices and homes of College staff. The College office and United College library also gained valuable experience through the loan of two personal computers from IBM Corporation in 1983 to experiment i n office computing. In 1984 ， when Professor C.Y. Lee was the Acting Head, the College held a New Year Panel Discussion on computer usage, and decided that the College can help students to take advantage of the computer revolution. The free availability of computer time thus represents a new direction in the College's unstructured education programme. The College applied to the United College Endowment Fund Committee, and received a HK$1.7- million grant to establish the United College Microcomputer Laboratory. The Laboratory, carpeted with sound-absorbing ceiling, occupies 145sq.m., displacing the previous reading room in Wu Chung College library. After a period of intensive study and planning, the Laboratory came into use on 9th September, 1985 at 9.09a.m .， but it was officially opened on 25th October ， 1985 ， during the United College 29th Anniversary celebration, by Sir Run Run Shaw, Chairman of the United College Board of Trustees and Mr. Wong Wan-tin, Trustee and Vice-Chairman ， United College Endowment Fund Committee. 10 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS