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Youth may benefit most from the digital expansion of resources and human connections. In Being Digital, Nicholas Negroponte points out the implications that computers will have on children with different learning styles: "We may be a society with far fewer learning-disabled children and far more teacher-disabled environments than currently perceived. The computer changes this by making us more able to reach children with different learning and cognitive styles." (198) School teachers may fear that technology is turning today's youth into a video-game generation, destroying the linear, standardized focus and passivity of the traditional classroom, but this means we can also take advantage of the technology to achieve what educators consider productive goals. If Bobby focuses better with a joystick or a mouse in his hand, don't apply force to condition him out of these tendencies; put him in front of a Macintosh and set him free on the internet. Negroponte, too, articulates this goal of liberating education from the uncomfortable confines of classrooms and textbooks: Tomorrow, people of all ages will find a more harmonius continuum in their lives, because, increasinly, the tools to work with and the tools to play with will be the same. There wil be a more common palatte for love and duty, for self-expression and group work. (221)
With the growing complexity and accessibility of computers to young minds come new arenas for new types of architectures. Despite first reactions, computer programming requires a surprising amount of creativity and grace. A program that runs smoothly runs well. Negroponte writes: Computer hackers young and old are an excellent example [of work and play joining hands.] Their programs are like surrealist paintings, which have both aesthetic qualities and technical excellence. Their work is discussed both in terms of style and content, meaning and performance. The behavior of their computer programs has a new kind of aesthetic. These hackers are the forerunners of the new e-xpressionists. (221) Though elusive, bits lend themselves to new forms of structures. A traditional architect requires a strong background in engineering, but no one would say that architecture is a purely logical practice. Architecture is a form of art. One can think of bits as bricks; in order to construct a program, one must understand the foundations of structural integrity, which may adhere to specific regulations, but on the grand scale, vision plays a large role. Thus we have the new role of cybertecht.
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