In 1986 Offsite Educational Services purchased Commodore 128s. Machines were sent throughout the city. I was traveling from site to site for the Waterways Project and was asked the East Harlem Music School to install their computers. Students began by using Bank Street on their new computers which was set up in the most secure room in the building. It was there that they held their Waterways' writing classes.
Robert Purvey wrote in the site magazine, This Vs. That:
Good morning everyone.
It’s time and we have to get going.
My fingers are tight,
and I’m a little sleepy.
There’s noise in this room
that is getting into my head.
Someone is here,
but I don’t want to turn around.
My back hurts
and I think it’s cold in here.
The computer is on
and it’s writing something
I don’t understand.
So why should I listen?
Why is it that everyone tries to talk at the same time?
I feel ok today,
but it’s going to be a long one.
This room is very much filled.
Who am I to say,
but if I had my way
I would take all these computers to another room.
This computer sounds like a ping-pong game.
There are a lot of people coming
and going in this room.
Why am I doing this?
Wanda Arvelo wrote Sounds
People speaking and laughing.
I hear people breathing.
The sound of the typewriters being used is a click
that starts off low and gets louder.
I hear the banging on the table.
It sounds like music in my ears.
There’s a sound that has my attention,
but I can’t describe it.
It feels like cool air blowing through a crack of a window,
the sound of a line printer.
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