1 Computer people talk a lot about the need for other people to become 'computer- literate', in other words, to learn to understand computers and what makes them tick. Not all experts agree, however, that this is a good idea. 2 One pioneer, in particular, who disagrees is David Tebbutt, the founder of Computertown UK. Although many people see this as a successful attempt to bring people closer to the computer, David does not see it that way. He says that Computertown UK was formed for just the opposite reason, to bring computers to the people and make them 'people-literate'. 3 David first got the idea when he visited one of America's best-known computer figure, Bob Albrecht, in the small university town of Palo Alto in Northern California. Albrecht had started a project called Computertown USA in the local library, and the local children used to call round every Wednesday to borrow some time on the computers there, instead of borrowing library books. Albrecht was always on hand to answer any questions and to help the children discover about computers in their own way. 4 Over here, in Britain, Computertowns have taken off in a big way, and there are now about 40 scattered over the country. David Tebbutt thinks they are most successful when tied to a computer club. He insists there is a vast and important difference between the two, although they complement each other. The clubs cater for the enthusiasts, with some computer knowledge already, who get together and eventually form. an expert computer group. This frightens away non-experts, who are happier going to Computertowns where there are computers available for them to experiment on, with experts available to encourage them and answer any questions they are not told what to do, they find out. 5 David Tebbutt finds it interesting to see the two different approaches working side by side. The computer experts have to learn not to tell people about computers, but have to be able to explain the answers to the questions that people really want to know. In some Computertowns there are question sessions, rather like radio phone-ins, where the experts listen to a lot of questions and then try to work out some structure to answer them. People are not having to learn computer jargons, but the experts are having to translate computer mysteries into easily understood terms the computers are becoming 'people - literate'. According to David Tebbutt, the purpose of Computertown UK is to______.