Activity 1.2.2 Introducing App Inventor

Conclusion

1.       Step 8 mentions, “In App Inventor, a program is described partly in the GUI Designer and partly in the Blocks Editor.” How is this similar to Scratch? What information about a program in Scratch is not shown in Scratch’s scripts area? Where is it shown?

•  App inventor is similar to Scratch because it uses the block click and drag system to program. You cant see the costumes and where they are on the screen. It is shown in the sprites menu.

2.      The lead creator of the App Inventor project is Hal Abelson, an M.I.T. professor who is also the lead author of the book Blown to Bits (www.bitsbook.com/excerpts). Abelson says that we are entering a new era of personal mobile computing in which the average person can program their own mobile device. Abelson asserts that “personal mobile computing” is an important stage beyond the era of “personal computing” that was initiated by Apple’s Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976.

In what ways will mobile devices and the opportunity for the average person to program them change society?

• There will be a greater amount of people working on these apps for mobile will greatly increase the amount of app available  and the consumer base for app creation and editing software.