Computers and Mice – Mister Rogers Neighborhood

One of my core memories as a kid was when I watched the Mr. Rogers' episode about how crayons were made[0]. I came home after my first week of 1st grade, Grandma making dinner in the kitchen, my Mom getting ready for work. On the days it rained, which were many in the PNW, I would spend my afternoons coloring and watching reruns of Mr. Rogers'. My Grandma had begun recording episodes of Mr. Rogers' to VHS when I was barely even a year old for me to watch when I was older.

Still with the fresh smell of crayon and marker on my hands from school, I grabbed my blue tin cookie can full of crayons from my room, stopping by the gigantic office desk where our brand new Hewlett Packard computer and Deskjet 500 printer lived. Barely tall enough to reach the front paper hopper, I snagged a sheet of paper, sandwiching it between my index and middle fingers.

I popped in the VHS, seated in front of our Magnavox with crayon tin and paper in hand. The episode began and a core memory was made. That distinct crayon smell in combination with that episode will always stay with me.

I left software to become a grade school teacher last year and I have Mr. Rogers' and a shortlist of male teachers to thank for planting the seed of curiosity and play some decades ago.

0. https://youtu.be/MWAhnVYUPZo?si=kdg7-iY0Wcd8IRne

From the episode: "You know, your own imagination is far more wonderful than any computer could ever be. You know why--you're a living human being, and a computer is just a machine. Human beings are far more wonderful than machines!" -Fred Rogers

I appreciate that a computer has become such a wonderful tool for realizing ideas that come from my imagination.

Here's a version of the website from the video: https://web.archive.org/web/20001203204700/http://www.pbs.or...

I didn't appreciate, or even notice it at the time, but he had legit jazz musicians backstage.

maybe today's technology will become a fad and people outside of Hacker News will rediscover the joys of imagination.

It's funny how reality is distorted for those who pursue profit at any cost: https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/03/zuckerberg-declares-the-end-...

I wonder, are smart glasses being thrust upon us, or is society just picking them up like tablets, which were once awkward to use?

Stuff like this brings tears to my eyes. Not so much the mouse subject matter, but how the values brought by this show are now in short supply, and it saddens me to think Rogers' efforts are becoming obsolete to modern people.

A few examples I noticed, but not all in this episode are: Promoting high self-esteem, expressing a love of life, advocating for using your imagination, addressing people with respect, settling for something if it isn't perfect, and belief in the good in humanity.

It's such calorie-dense goodness, and he keeps it consistent and almost candid, even on long camera shots.

That 1998-era website with mouseover graphics seems more functional, intuitive, and faster on a 30 year old PC than any framework-laden digital dreck produced today.

How did he plug in the PS2 mouse and have it work instantly? Normally you had to reboot the system for the PS2 mouse to be recognized, or worse, it would freeze the system.

Kudos to the designer of the web site back then. Very cool.