Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Once stripped of all the extras, the great majority of computers systems we use are CRUD. And that is okay.

We invented computers to compute, i.e., to calculate things. 1+2=3 and so on.

We also learned that computers are good at storing information. We put information in the computer, it is there. We can later retrieve the information. If we want, we can update or change the information (I have a new area code (again)). And, we can delete the information. No longer needed. I need the computer’s storage for something else. That last one isn’t as important these days as computers seem to have unlimited storage capacity.

Hence, we had the CRUD system: Create, Retrieve, Update, and Delete.

Microsoft Word is a CRUD system for words. Excel is a CRUD system for finance and database and whatever other ways we use Excel. PowerPoint is a CRUD system for presentations. We go on and on. Jira is a CRUD system for developing software. Facebook is a CRUD system for telling our friends things. Twitter is a CRUD system for telling our friends short things. YouTube is a CRUD system for videos.

Most of us, most of the time, we use these basic CRUD systems. That is fine. Electronic creation, storage, changing, and deleting information is quite helpful. Imagine a world where everything was stilled stored on paper.

Still, I think we should understand what we are doing with the computer: it is just a big, fancy CRUD system.