After a year plus of having written this, I'm finally seeing his view become more and more mainstream. Heartening!
https://twitter.com/o_guest/status/842794088315404288 …
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
By "I prefer" I mean to say that my experience has taught me people need to learn these things and represent them internally so they can actually be productive. IDEs are great and I would never stop people using them. But some concepts are simple and must be internalised.
In the same way you want to remove training wheels because the impair learning how to ride a bike properly, there are moments in which na IDE should be avoided to promote learning. After you've learned to ride a bike, adding training wheels doesn't impair your learning.
The metaphor only stretches a certain amount. But I think it's a basic pedagogical point.
I'm with, I believe, @.worrydream and probably @.EdwardTufte and maybe Alan Kay – I think most of our cognitive potential comes from the cognitive tools we use. IDEs are _cognitive tools_, as much as algebra, group theory, or knowing logical fallacies.
They're not a crutch any more than algebra is. I'd go as far as to say society and the cognitive tools it grants us are what distinguishes us from "prehistoric" humans. The hardware's barely changed. But the tools make us more.
And this is why I am very frustrated with the tooling that exists around contemporary software engineering. I think it's extremely poor, and an enormous hinderance to our abilities.
So – I'm not a Matlab user, and it may well be a dreadful IDE! There are lots of poor cognitive tools out there that lead us astray and stop us thinking well (eg, powerpoint & pi charts). But cognitive tools themselves, and IDEs in principle, are not the problem. IMHO.
And also – I do agree that you might get some benefit / insight from forgoing powerful cognitive tools (eg, algebra) for a while to see what happens. But I don't think it's generally good advice.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.