Have you tried PICO-8? https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php Not a computer but I think embodies a lot of the open-ended creativity of the Apple II.
PICO-8 is awesome, and you can run it on lots of inexpensive hardware for even more awesome!
Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
31–40 of 244 posts
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#32I think the problem here is that the world has moved on a lot since some of us kids were amazed at what we could make machines like an AppleII do with basic (and assembler and peek and poke). I remember being amazingly proud of myself for getting an ascii version of Space Invaders working. I could, as a 10 or 12 year old, make something for myself that kinda looked like and was way more fun (for me) to play that _lit…
Are you aware of Nintendo Game Builder Garage? [1,2]
My youngest daughter was begging me to get this for her when it came out. She spent ages in earlier years trying to figure out doing stuff with the MIT Scratch offline editor. She's not super keen on text-based programming yet (my elder daughter is and solidly resists my typed FP propaganda in favour of hand-typed OO programming), but these kind of visual programming environments do teach real agent-based algorithmic concepts.
I'm not saying your advice isn't better than something along these lines, but it's good to be flexible in terms of what advice you offer and be encouraging rather than prescriptive.
[1]: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/game-builder-garage-sw...
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#33I was thinking of making my kid's login auto-run a fullscreen VICE C=64
Here's another approach https://github.com/jackdoe/programming-for-kids
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#34Maybe you can consider to buy a Nintendo 3DS?
There's this prominent French artist who makes his creations on that device: https://twitter.com/Kekeflipnote/status/1487872156629413888
The device itself is not meant for professional work, therefore should be suitable for beginners and kids but obviously it is powerful enough to be used as a primary tool by a recognised artist.
The software he is using is Flipnote Studio 3D:
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-3DS-download-softw...
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#35I had a similar problem a few years ago. While I never found the perfect machine here is how I have been introducing my now 10 year old son to the world of computers: - I bought him a Kano computer kit when he was about 7. The kit retailed for about $250 at the time and a kid could assemble it "like LEGO". It came with educational software that introduced him to programming languages, etc. (Unfortunately I do not thi…
When I was around your son's age, my parents introduced me to computers by getting me a LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 2.0 set for Christmas in 2001. My favorite thing in the world was the Exploration Mars expansion.
The "hacker" community around Mindstorms was huge in the 00's. After the RCX was reverse engineered, all sorts of language support appeared. BrickOS for C and C++, lejos for Java, NQC, etc. I bumped into lejos in a section on Mindstorms toolchain options for Macintosh in one of my dad's MacWorld magazines. He helped me set it up and that's where I started learning Java.
It was a life altering gift for me if there ever was one. The first large event that set me on my current path.
I honestly kind of miss the silly hacker/spy/matrix-y aesthetic of computing in the early 00's. It was fun when I realized those LEGO Spybotics kits could be targeted by some of the Mindstorms tools. Everyone in elementary school thought I was going to be an evil genius. Now I build storage virtualization systems. Oh well I guess.
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#36I think the problem here is that the world has moved on a lot since some of us kids were amazed at what we could make machines like an AppleII do with basic (and assembler and peek and poke). I remember being amazingly proud of myself for getting an ascii version of Space Invaders working. I could, as a 10 or 12 year old, make something for myself that kinda looked like and was way more fun (for me) to play that _lit…
My 7yo is absolutely thrilled by scratch on Lego Mindstorms Robot Innovator [1]. The physicality of it is engaging. Granted, I'm generally a very restrictive parent about mobile/console gaming.
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#37Color Maximite II boots into BASIC, good graphics library, fast interpreter.
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#38[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#39Don't rule out a normal laptop loaded with whatever software you want
Sure, but what is that software?
LOAD81:
http://github.com/antirez/load81
Pretty much the bees knees to run on older laptops ..
Re: Ask HN: How can I make a “kid's computer” today as good as an Apple II?
#40MS Word can be lots of fun and is easy to get started with. For sure let them design their own birthday invitations and so on. I had a lot of fun as a kid playing Minecraft and building Redstone contraptions. Minecraft does invite tinkering with texture packs, mods etc. So I'd say just go with a basic windows install on a normal PC.
Redstone seems like a great way to start learning programming Not that far of a leap to doing small hardware stuff.