This ease of comparison has proven useful, as has the ability to adjust, copy and paste phrases easily and rapidly, when appropriate. The need for adequate back up and storage has never been more obvious, though. I have witnessed tears when a full disk of reports has been irretrievably damaged or lost by colleagues. The frailty of data storage systems can cause major difficulties for students as well. Draft essays and major projects are far too valuable to be lost.to poor backup, though some staff have wondered if the cry of 'I've lost my disk' could too easily become 'The dog ate my homework' of the 1990s.
Computers are here to stay, at least until something else or better comes along.
Multimedia technology has considerable government and arts industry support and a growing number of artists are including this technology in their repertoire. In any healthy arts curriculum computers have an easily justifiable presence. While, it is impossible to ignore the issue of the expense of their inclusion, they should be appreciated as a major development in the areas of photography, printmaking and media studies just as the study of word processing, spreadsheets and databases have been incorporated into other areas. One of my major concerns about computers centres on the cost of their inclusion in the curriculum, in terms of both time and money. I have lost track of the time I have spent, outside of regular working hours, developing my skills and knowledge in this area.