Mi ddaru fi darganfod neithiwr bod ‘na meddalwedd newydd wedi cael ei ryddhau gan gwmni o Sir Fôn o’r enw ‘
Dysgu Gyda Sam‘. Cyfres meddalwedd sydd wedi cael ei adeiladu i helpu plant 3-6 oed dysgu Cymraeg. Sa’ chi’n dychmygu fy mod i o blaid y syniad, ac mi ydw i. Y broblem yw’r ffordd mae’r syniad wedi ei weithredu.
Yn anffodus, nid app, neu gwefan yw ‘Dysgu Gyda Sam’, ond CD-ROM ‘aml-gyfrwng’.
Ie, CD-ROM…
Mae’r ffaith yna yn ben ei hun yn ddigon drwg, ond mae’r cwmni yn datgelu ei bod wedi derbyn arian a chefnogaeth trwy raglen ‘Bauhaus‘ Menter Môn (sy’n cael ei chefnogi gan y Cynulliad), sydd yn fod i ‘Tanio Arloesedd’.
Ie, gwnâi adael i chi feddwl am hwnnw am foment bach…
O ddifri ‘rŵan… beth yfech?
Sut mae cwmni yn cael cymorth cyhoeddus (a grant o bosib) i ddatblygu cynnyrch ar CD-ROM trwy brosiect sy’n fod i helpu datblygu rhywbeth arloesol? Pwy yfech sydd dal yn coelio bod CD-ROMs yn arloesol? Mae’r cymeriad yn edrych yn dda, a dwi’n hoffi’r syniad, ond mae’r dewis i gloi’r peth mewn tri bocs CD-ROM am £35 fesul bocs yn mynd i ladd y peth a’r cymeriad. Mi o’n i yn rhan o’r genhedlaeth gyntaf i ddefnyddio CD-ROMs, ac o’n i yn meddwl bod nhw’n beth fwyaf dibwynt erioed. Tamaid bach o blastig oedd yn rhy haws i’w golli, a llawer mwy hawdd i’w dorri (ac ar y pryd yn ddrud iawn i’w ail-brynu).
Fel y mae o, fysa CD-ROM wedi bod yn arloesol 15 blynedd yn ôl, ond nawr ein bod ni yn yr oes ‘post PC’, gwe 2.0, appstoraidd ‘ma, di CD-ROMs yn dda i dawl o ddim. Beth sy’n synnu fi fwy yw, ar ôl edrych ar y specs, bod y peth yn rhedeg mwy neu lai trwy’r porwr we (mae’r gofynion yn dweud bod angen prosesydd 450mhz neu fwy – go ddifrif, gafodd hwn i’w greu yn y 90au?) ac yn angen oeliaf Safari 3.0 (o 2007) ac Internet Explorer 6.0 (o 2001) – a ddim sôn am Google Chrome.
Dwi’n meddwl nawr bod hi’n syniad da i mi ddweud bod Dysgu Sam ydi’r bobl anffodus sy’n derbyn fy sylw ar y pwnc ‘ma, a dwi’n ymddiheuro ymlaen llaw iddyn nhw os bod nhw’n teimlo fy mod i’n cyfeirio’r holl beth tuag atyn nhw. Dwi’n hollol sicr ei bod nhw’n bobl neis dros ben, ond maen nhw wedi cael ei gadael lawr. Maen nhw’n amlwg wedi mynd at Fenter Môn gyda syniad bach gwych, a doedd neb wedi gofyn iddyn nhw “fysa App ddim yn well?”. Mae Dysgu Gyda Sam wedi datgelu trwy ei thudalen Twitter i fy nghyfaill (a’n cyd-gyflwynydd ar y Haclediad) Sioned (@llef) bod nhw yn edrych mewn i greu app. Fy mhoen i yw ei bod nhw wedi methu allan ar greu rhywbeth sy’n wir arloesol trwy gloi ei hunain mewn i fformat sydd ddim hefo fawr o fywyd. Mae ‘na sibrydion trwy’r amser bod Apple ar fin cael gwared â gyriant CD o’i chyfrifiaduron, a fysa gweddill y diwydiant yn sicr i’w dilyn.
Y ffordd orau i wneud y peth yma fysa i lansio app ar gyfer iOS/Android, gyda gwefan HTML5. Mae’r cymeriad newydd yn un da, a fysa plant wrth ei bod yn syth. Mae natur dyfais gyda sgrin ail-gyffwrdd yn meddwl bysa plant wedi gallu dechrau chwarae yn syth, yn hytrach na disgwyl i Fam neu Dad rhoi’r peth yn y cyfrifiadur, disgwyl iddo lwytho a gwylio nhw tra bod nhw’n eistedd o flaen y cyfrifiadur gyda’r llygoden (dwi’n wastad yn clywed storiâu gan rieni am sut mae ei phlant 3 oed yn gallu gweithio ei iPhones a iPads yn well na nhw).
Mae Menter Môn wir angen ail-ystyried beth maen nhw’n meddwl gyda ‘arloesol’. Tydi CD-ROMs heb fod yn arloesol ers dros 15 blynedd nawr, ac mae’r person ddaru un ai cynnig bod Dysgu Sam yn datblygu CD-ROM, neu ddim yn cwestiynu ei dewis nhw o’r fath technoleg angen ateb cwestiynau pwysig dros ben. Mae hwn unwaith eto yn cysylltu lan gyda’n hoff bwnc llosg am sut bod y Llywodraeth a sefydliadau yng Nghymru ddim yn deall technoleg, ac yn cael ei thywys o gwmpas gan rhyw foi mewn siwt grand. Storiâu fel sut oedd y Cynulliad dal yn defnyddio NT 4 am flynyddoedd (oherwydd cytundebau), methiant llwyr S4C i gadw lan gyda darlledu ar y we a’r we gymdeithasol, a thrafferthion y Lolfa i gael e-llyfrau Cymraeg ar y Kindle.
Mae Cymru mewn peryg o ddisgyn yn ôl ar y fath datblygiadau, ac yn disgyn yn bellach yn ôl ar ddatblygiadau yn y Gymraeg. Yn fy meddwl i, mae bodolaeth ac iechyd yr iaith yn dibynnu ar ein gallu ni i greu cynnwys newydd mewn ffordd sy’n gweithio gyda’r dechnoleg dda ni’n defnyddio nawr. Y gwir yw, os bod pobl yn parhau i ddatblygu technoleg ar blatfform hen fel CD-ROMs, mae angen iddynt roi terfyn arno nawr. Mae Google, Apple a chewri’r byd Technoleg yn mynd a ni lawr y llwybr tuag at y Cwmwl. Os bod rhaglenni fel Menter Môn ddim yn helpu gyda’r newid ‘na, maen nhw’n gwneud cam ar y bobl maen nhw’n ceisio cynorthwyo, ac yn fwy difrifol, yn gwneud cam ar ddyfodol Cymru.
Dwi’n mynd i orwedd lawr nawr.
B
Hefyd – os bod Dysgu Sam neu Fenter Môn eisiau ymateb i beth dwi di ddweud, dwi’n hapus i ddiweddaru’r erthygl (gwnâi ddangos unrhyw ymateb ar y gwefan ‘ma, ac os dwi’n anghywir, gwnâi cyfaddef ac ymddiheuro yn gyhoeddus). Y rheswm dwi mor flin am y peth yw fy mod i’n cymryd technoleg o ddifrif, a dwi’n teimlo’n sâl yn gweld syniadau da del Dysgu Sam yn cael ei gadael lawr gyda dewisiadau technoleg sâl. Os bod chi eisiau siarad gyda fi, dwi ar gael trwy’r ffurflen sylwadau, trwy e-bost neu trwy twitter (@bryns).
So, I found out last night about the launch of a new educational product by an Anglesey based company called ‘
Dysgu Gyda Sam‘ (Learning with Sam). This is a series of educational programs devised to help 3-6 years old learn Welsh (before we go on, let’s just set aside whether or not you think teaching Welsh to kids is a good idea – I happen to think it is). So, you might think I’d like this idea, and in principle I do. The problem has to do with the implementation.
Y’see, they’ve not launched an app, or a website… they’ve done it on CD-ROM.
Yeah, you heard me… a CD-ROM.
This in itself is bad enough, but the company proudly states on their website that they got help and support by the Welsh Assembly Government backed ‘Menter Môn’ (an Anglesey Business Development Quango) to make this. What’s more, the support came as a result of Menter’s ”Bauhaus Project” (which aims to foster innovation and new products from companies on the Island).
I’ll also pause so you can enjoy that little irony.
Seriously… what the hell? (I did have something stronger there, but it wouldn’t translate well)
How does a company get publicly funded help (and possibly grants) develop a CD-ROM product under a project aimed to foster innovation? Who the hell still considers CD-ROMs to be innovative? The character they’ve developed seems to be quite good, but their decision to lock all this up in a 3 part series of CD-ROMs (with the associated books) for £35 each will (in my view) kill the product and the character. I was part of the first generation to be exposed to ‘educational’ CD-ROMs, and I can tell you that they were utterly useless. They were shiny bits of plastic that were all too easy to lose or damage (and at that point quite expensive to replace).
In its current incarnation, the product would have been innovative 10 or 15 years ago, but in this grand and shiny post-PC, web 2.0, Appstore future we now live in, CD-ROMs just simply don’t cut it. What’s even more startling to me is that the whole system (based on what I can deduce from the tech specs on the site) works through the browser (the minimum system specs calls for a 450mhz processor as a minimum – seriously, was this developed in the 90s?), and requires Safari 3.0 (released in 2007) or Internet Explorer 6 (released in 2001) as a minimum – with no mention of Google Chrome.
I should probably add at this point that Dysgu Sam are the unfortunate victims of my simmering rage at this issue, and I appologise to them in advance if they feel that this is a direct attack against them. I’m sure they’re really lovely people, but they’ve been seriously let down. They’ve clearly gone to Menter Môn with a sound concept, but have been let down by people at multiple stages who should have asked “is a CD-ROM really the best way to go?”. To their credit, Dysgu Gyda Sam did respond via their Twitter page (@dysgusam) to one of my Haclediad co-presents Sioned (@llef) that developing a mobile app is one of the ideas they’re investigating. I fear though that they’ve missed out on an opportunity to develop something truly innovative by locking themselves into a format that has no future. Rumours continue to abound that Apple plans to drop optical drives from their range, which the rest of the industry is sure to follow if it turns out to be true.
The ideal way to launch this kind of a product would have been as an iOS/Android app, with a tie-in website. The character they’ve created would have been instantly engaging, and the kinaesthetic nature of touch-screen devices would have meant that kids would be able to interact with it all by themselves, rather than having parents supervise a 3yo trying to use a mouse (I’ve spoken to many tech-savvy parents who are still amazed by how easily their very young children are able to pick up and use touch-based devices unaided).
Menter Môn needs to seriously re-consider their definition of the term ‘innovative’. CD-ROMs have not been an innovative technology for well over 15 years now, and the person who either guided Dygsu Gyda Sam down the CD-ROM avenue, or didn’t question their use of an outmoded technology has serious questions to answer. To my mind is further evidence for my pet rant on how Governments and Institutions in Wales haven’t a clue when it comes to technology, and seemingly get led down the garden path by sharp suited sales guys. We’ve seen that WAG was using Windows NT for years (as a result it seems of a support contract stipulation), S4C’s complete inability to get going on streaming/web based TV and social media (something they’re only just starting to rectify), and Y Lolfa’s troubles in getting Amazon to release their books on the Kindle store.
Wales is falling badly behind on this type of innovation, and falling further behind on such innovations in Welsh. To my mind, the future health and the existence of the language depends on our ability to produce modern and relevant content in a way that fits with new consumption models. Anyone still developing CD-ROMs or such anachronistic media should pack it in. Google, Apple and the tech giants are leading us merrily towards the cloud, and if innovation programs like the Menter Môn’s Bauhaus project isn’t fostering *that* kind of development, then it’s failing the people of they’re trying to help, and more importantly, the future of Wales.
I’m going to lie down in a dark room now.
B
P.S.
In the event that Dysgu Sam or Menter Môn want to come back to me with a response, I’d be happy to update this article (I’ll give your responses a full airing, even if I’m completely wrong and have to retract the article — infact, I sincerely hope I’m wrong). The reason for my ire is simply that I take technology seriously, and I’m deeply frustrated when I see nice ideas like Dysgu Sam’s being let down by poor technology choices. You can reach me in the comments field, by email (see the ‘About’ page, or through my twitter page @bryns)
