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Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

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Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#71

Post by f1shy »

jl6 wrote: post #26

I don’t think this experience is available any more. The missing ingredient is not the technology, but the motivation/reward. In the 80s/early 90s, fiddling with that system setup earned you an interactive audiovisual experience that you simply couldn’t get anywhere else, not even on TV. Today, there is very little that kids haven’t already seen on YouTube, or that can’t be played at the click of a button. It was an…

This is true. But note that is the case for anything, not only learning about computers. Accepting this as the status quo means accepting our kids to be amoebas. But must not be the like that, youtube can also inspire to do things, like sport, or also learning about computers. I have good examples around me. Guidance is everything.

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#72

Post by boringg »

Taikonerd wrote: post #56
em500 wrote: post #32

There is no a modern day equivalent. Not because of availibility of hardware or software (both better hardware and better software are widely available at trivial costs nowadays), but because the world around us has changed. Specifically, the experience needs to compete against the limitless other distractions from the internet. Here's a simple simulation of the 1980s experience: https://virtualconsoles.com/online-em…

This, unfortunately, is the truth. But that begs the question: what are 11-year-old computer nerds doing now? Modding games? Building complicated machines in Minecraft?

Robotics is my guess

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#73

Post by pan69 »

Your kids are most likely interested in things you are not interested in. It's understandable that you want your kids to have a great experience growing up and develop fond memories of their childhood like you were able to do.

Rather than trying to find something that replicates your childhood memories for them, why let them find those themselves? I'm sure your parents brought a computer into the house, but was that so that you could have the same childhood experience growing up with computers like they had? For them that computer was probably just a tool, for you it end up becoming a world. Or maybe your parents brought that computer into house because they thought it might become important to be exposed to.

I would suggest that you expose your kids to things like science, art, technology and engineering (high level) and let them decide what they find interesting, what clicks with them. Then all you have to do is support them where you can.

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#74

Post by PenguinCoder »

ilaksh wrote: post #3

Modern: Building games in Roblox? You could get a Raspberry PI (or any computer with an emulator) or a real 80s computer. Set the PI up with whatever emulator. And maybe a book like this one https://colorcomputerarchive.com/repo/Documents/Manuals/Hard... Getting Started With Extended Color Basic. Or set up a normal Linux without installing a GUI. Or set up an emulator with DOS Box. Or install nothing but Unity/Unreal…

Don't let your kids get exploited by Roblox.

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#75

Post by fortyseven »

Why just there be something like what we had? What did like-minded kids do before the 1980s? Phreaking? Electronics? Ham radio? Miniature railroads? It will find them, whatever it is. The hacking spirit is not limited to the domain of computers.

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#76

Post by musicale »

anta40 wrote: post #25

I wonder if this article is somehow related: " https://www.gamesindustry.biz/machine-code-is-for-kids-artic... " TLDR: The author (a game developer who started with BASIC on ZX Spectrum in the 80s) asked if there's a modern equivalent of BASIC with "little to no abstraction". In the past, it used to be the BASIC-asm combo.

On a Raspberry Pi you can still run RiscOS and program in BASIC and assembly language.

And the Pi has all those nice GPIO pins.

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#77

Post by musicale »

mmoskal wrote: post #11
ochrist wrote: post #8

Well, apart from RPI - that has already been mentioned - you could look at the BBC microbit: https://microbit.org/

For the game angle https://arcade.makecode.com may be more of a fit. You can even build a cabinet. Disclaimer: worked on both.

This is very cool!

makecode.com looks interesting - I'm surprised I hadn't heard much (anything?) about it until now.

From the web site, it is kind of hard to figure out what it is - it looks like MakeCode proper is a Scratch-like blocks language, but then there seem to be tutorials based on various languages and environments on multiple platforms, including micro:bit?

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#79

Post by doublepg23 »

candiodari wrote: post #69
em500 wrote: post #32

There is no a modern day equivalent. Not because of availibility of hardware or software (both better hardware and better software are widely available at trivial costs nowadays), but because the world around us has changed. Specifically, the experience needs to compete against the limitless other distractions from the internet. Here's a simple simulation of the 1980s experience: https://virtualconsoles.com/online-em…

Exactly, this means we are living in a very weird period in history. Right now there are people who know a lot about computers, for the sake of "they looked cool in the 80s/90s". People born in the 70s and 80s are ~5-15 years removed from pension or disappearing from the workforce. Already there are no 20 year old and few 30 year old geeks. 3% of us are disappearing every year. And that's just not going to stop.

>Already there are no 20 year old and few 30 year old geeks.

lol, lmao even.

Re: Ask HN: Whats the modern day equivalent of 80s computer for kids to explore?

#80

Post by Clubber »

sys_64738 wrote: post #21

Computers were the most technically advanced and innovative thing a kid would see in the 80s. All their friends at school would be talking about them in some form or another. There was no distractions with smartphones or the internet either. Not so much nowadays so those times are gone.

I often look back at how fortunate I was to be a kid during those times. It was truly wondrous for me.

Edit: Just caught your username.

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