LP+Computer+and+High-tech+Industries


 * Standard 4. ** Students will understand the diverse ways people make a living in Utah.
 * Objective 3.** Examine aspects that have broadened Utah’s economy.
 * Indicator a.** Assess the development of heavy and high-tech industries.


 * Lesson: Computer and High-tech Industries **


 * Vocabulary:**
 * Product obsolescence
 * Technological advancement


 * Questions for this Lesson:**
 * What is product obsolescence? How does it apply to the computer industry specifically and to economics in general?
 * How does constant change impact the computer industry and the employees who work in that industry?
 * Why does the high-tech industry require adaptation, innovation, or the death of a product line?


 * Instructional Activities:**
 * Read about the “roadometer” on page 109 in the Utah Journey textbook. Why do many call this the beginning of Utah’s technology industry? Have a class discussion about the need for innovation and adaptation when it comes to most products that drive an economy.
 * Show students this video clip about Pong (developed by Nolan Bushnell who attended the U of U) [] to get them thinking about technology that once seemed “cutting edge” and is now obsolete. Then, have students brainstorm about other things that are now obsolete because of technology. Explain about product obsolescence.
 * Using the following excerpts from Pete Peterson’s book “Almost Perfect: How a Bunch of Regular Guys Built WordPerfect Corporation” engage in a class discussion about innovation, adaptation, and eventual obsolescence and the difficulty of predicting where technology and computers will take us next.
 * Background: WordPerfect was an Orem, Utah company that at one time (late 1980’s/early 1990’s) dominated the computer word processing software market. The bestselling version of WordPerfect was based on the “DOS” operating system. This was function key based (pre-Windows). WordPerfect was late getting a Windows based product (based on “GUI” or point and click icons) to market. Microsoft was able to capitalize on this and increase their market share of Word (their word processing program).
 * Excerpts from Almost Perfect for class discussion:
 * “In January [1990] Microsoft offered to make us a beta test site for Windows 3.0. We accepted their generous offer, but did little more than look Windows over. In hindsight, it is easy to see we should have done much more right away. At the time, we could justify not doing a Windows 2.0 version in favor of completing WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, but it is now difficult to defend our further delays. Unfortunately, we did not have any experienced Windows programmers inside the company to form a development team, and there were not many outside the company to recruit.”
 * “In May Microsoft shipped Windows 3.0, and our worst fears became a reality. Just at the time we were decisively winning in the DOS word processing market, the personal computing world wanted Windows, bugs and all. To make matters worse, Microsoft Word for Windows was already on dealer shelves and had received good reviews. That little cloud on the horizon, which had looked so harmless in 1986, was all around us, looking ominous and threatening.”
 * “We on the Board had no one to blame for the delays [releasing a Windows based version of WordPerfect] but ourselves. The project directors we had chosen were inexperienced managers, and they made the mistakes inexperienced managers make. They were prone to overly optimistic forecasts and had trouble chewing people out when they missed their deadlines. Another of our mistakes was that we waited too long to add new programmers to the project, always thinking we were so close to a release that we did not have time to train additional programmers and get any significant help from them. We also took too long to make our experienced DOS programmers get involved. They could have helped a little more, but we had a hard time convincing them that the Windows project was more important than anything else. With sales still going up, many thought things were going too well to be concerned.”
 * “A low point for the company occurred in late January at Demo 92, an annual industry conference hosted by Stewart Alsop where software companies showed off their new products. Devin Durrant, our marketing director for WordPerfect for Windows [a Windows based version of WordPerfect had finally shipped in November of 1991], had been invited to participate in a product shoot-out with Microsoft Word for Windows and Amí Pro from Lotus. At my suggestion, Devin used a lot of his time to stress our file compatibility across different computer platforms. The other demonstrators used their time to show off their flashiest features. Alan, Clive, Duff, and I were all there to see Devin get ripped apart by the other presenters as well as by the audience.”
 * Assign students to design some technological device that will make a current item that they use on an everyday basis obsolete. Have students prepare a presentation about their product as if they were pitching the product to a potential customer.

Enrichment:

Have students demonstrate innovation by creating their own smart phone/tablet app. Here is a link to award-winning student apps: []


 * Assessment:**
 * Student presentations.


 * Materials / Resources for Teachers:**
 * The Utah Journey pages 252-253, 267-269, 285, 287, 289, 292-293, 295


 * Materials / Resources for Students:**