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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?

#91

Post by washadjeffmad »

talkingtab wrote: post #27

A Rasberry Pi. The number of things you can do with these cheap computers is astronomical. You can have a Debian Linux computer and then learn networking, programming, run your own small website. Then start on hardware. Connect up various hardware devices, maybe starting with just a fan. Turn on. Turn off. A second monitor, larger disks. Webrtc. On an on. You never know what kinds of things kids will like. They may l…

I've migrated a number of projects that didn't strictly require a Pi to ESP32/8266 and PandaBoard over the past few years. Depending on what you want to teach and how, there are lots of great SBCs to choose from.

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

#92

Post by seltzered_ »

ianseyler wrote: post #45
SuperHeavy256 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their website redesign is so unintuitive.

Agreed. Not sure what the status of the company is either. Their GitHub repos have been quiet for years.

There was a rather speculative article that went into what mightve changed from 2022: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32364631

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

#93

Post by tmaly »

hermitcrab wrote: post #9

Scratch is a gentle introduction to programming, aimed mainly at young children. I taught it to a range of children and all of them were able to create a simple game in under an hour.

Add the makey makey and it is a lot of fun with Scratch.

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

#94

Post by tmaly »

I think the Microbit is a nice starting point for kids 10-11.

You can code it with block programming, Python, or Javascript in the MS Makecode interface.

If you have two Microbits, they can talk to each other over the built in radio.

I have created my own remote control lego robot with two microbits, a breakout board, and two micro servos.

I think there are over 25 million units sold all over the world.

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

#96

Post by aaron695 »

code_Whisperer wrote: post #20

Depends on child's age, but here are some things from today that I would have probably found endlessly entertaining when I was a kid: Flipper Zero Raspberry PI SDR Not a computer, but still very relevant for inquisitive kids and adults: Amateur radio (an oldie but a goodie) Decent telescope Decent microscope

[dead]

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

#98

Post by INTPenis »

Sorry for being a pessimist but it's easy for us old farts to have a limited perspective and think that if we just present a young person with a system similar to what we had they will figure it out.

The problem with that perspective is that we didn't have anything else. A c64 was literally all I had. It was either that, or go out and play in nature.

So we had a much greater incentive to figure things out.

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

#99

Post by cm2012 »

I learned file systems by pirating games and having to find the cracked folder. Html from neopets. Port forwarding router stuff from hosting multiplayer games. Hotkeys from Starcraft. Etc etc. Give smart kids a fun goal and they will learn a surprising amount trying to achieve it.
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