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I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

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Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#101

Post by mlinhares »

sourcepluck wrote: post #42
mlinhares wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it good they don't know these differences? The fact we know is mostly due to poorly designed UX, not some high level concept that needs to be known. Modern phones are a much better UX for most people.

No, I think it's debilitating, disempowering, wholly unnecessary, and that it would be easily solvable if there existed a will to solve it. It's a cultural issue, not a technical one, I mean. I didn't mean in the first message simply knowing the difference between tabs and windows and a few other GUI bits and bobs, those were meant to be an example of a larger point. The larger point being the notion that it's fun an…

My mom doesn't want to be a "liberated computer user", she wants to use her phone to watch youtube, see pics of her grandkids and listen to music, she doesn't even care about having social networks. You're projecting your own personal interests into others, the world contains multitudes, not everyone wants to understand every little detail of how computers work.

For most people computers are like cars, they couldn't care less about how they work, as long as they can use them to take them from place A to place B.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#102

Post by konschubert »

modernerd wrote: post #68

A great hack that feels closer to Anjan Katta’s vision for what Daylight could become – that instead of VR or AR or projection, we end up putting high quality “natural” screens on more surfaces. This classroom timetable shows the utility of that, and it’s not so hard to imagine it extending to other interactive or non-interactive uses (meeting room reservation, digital store pricing, bus timetables, etc.).

That’s basically why I called my company “Invisible Computers”.

And it’s no coincidence that the first product is an epaper calendar :D

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#103

Post by bityard »

cududa wrote: post #41

> The problem is that my son’s mobile phone is governed by strict parental controls, making this daily lookup an unpopular chore on my side This was a neat project, but I feel like this is insanely overkill for a solution that is “whitelist the app required for school”. I sort of feel bad for this kid. I mean, I graduated high school in 15+ years ago and we had a website that we had to regularly check for assignments…

It sounds like you don't have a kid who is literally incapable of self-moderating their interaction with a screen. I'm not who you are quoting, but we do.

We've given him instructions, consequences, rules, expectations, strategies, time-boxing, support, and therapy. He still CANNOT have free access to an internet-connected screen or he will end up on some video site and doom-scroll tiktok videos and the like to the exclusion of everything else that is going on or what he SHOULD be using the device for. EVERY single time. Even if we tell him he's not allowed on those sites. If we give him even a little bit for a while, he'll throw a violent and long-lasting temper tantrum when we say it's time to be done with them. And again the next time we say no. Those short-form reels/shorts/whatever seem to have all the same properties of narcotics on his brain.

The ONLY thing that works is giving him free access only to devices with limited functionality. He can watch DVDs on the TV, he can play Wii, he can play thousands of games on his retro handheld gaming console. He is fine with those things and can easily self-moderate with those. He'll do those for a while and then eventually be done with them and go outside and play, or build something out of lego. That would NEVER happen if he was allowed access to a device that he can doom-scroll on.

I think we need to acknowledge that while today's digital consumption experiences are generally unhealthy for nearly everyone, there are some non-neurotypical minds that are absolutely defenseless against it.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#104

Post by adolph »

What is a word for this type of product? My spouse recently expressed an interest in "Skylight" and this has brought me down a rabbithole of displays for family coordination systems:

  * Skylight: https://www.skylightframe.com
  * Hearth: https://hearthdisplay.com
  * Cozyla: https://www.cozyla.com/
  * DAK Board: https://dakboard.com
  * MagicMirror: https://magicmirror.builders/
  * Mango Display: https://mangodisplay.com/
  * Echo Show 21: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDWWS127
The concept would be to eliminate leaks from the online calendars stemming from having to rewrite stuff onto the wall calendar.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#105

Post by prmoustache »

mfld wrote: post #4
BadHumans wrote: post #3

Kids are getting scheduling via apps now? The best thing my school ever did for me was give me a paper planner and teach me how to use it. I've finally reached that "back in my day" age. It's a neat project though. I wasn't aware Soldered existed so this is a nice find.

They still have a paper planner. :) But checking the app each morning is mandatory. And in my son's case, there are changes every couple of days.

Looks like a very chaotic school.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#106

Post by maccard »

ericd wrote: post #95
ben_w wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is cash the only thing that gives that benefit? Or was cash just a convenient low-risk mechanism because the pocket money parents give to their kids is in small enough units that they can afford for their kids to waste it or straight up lose it? If the latter, I suspect even games with internal currencies would provide the same learning opportunities. And I don't mean micro-transactions here, I mean like the SimCity…

I think digital money is just too abstract for kids, and even adults struggle with comparing amounts and truly grasping their significance. Handing over a stack of bills just feels a lot more significant than swiping your card, which is the same whether you’re buying a $5 coffee or a $5000 tranche of a home renovation. With cash, you have a lot of the stuff in your hand, and then you have less vs none.

> I think digital money is just too abstract for kids, and even adults struggle with comparing amounts and truly grasping their significance. Handing over a stack of bills just feels a lot more significant than swiping your card, which is the same whether you’re buying a $5 coffee or a $5000 tranche of a home renovation. With cash, you have a lot of the stuff in your hand, and then you have less vs none.

But, that's how the world works. What major bills are you paying that you pay c cash for in the last decade? All the more reason to teach kids to operate in this way.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#107

Post by f1shy »

arrowsmith wrote: post #75
dagss wrote: post #73

Kudos to the parent for setting clear limits to their kids cell phone use. Most of us on HN can be grateful for having been able to fully develop our faculties in an age where instant dopamine shots weren't available 24/7. Looking at kids growing up now and stories from teachers in classrooms it's dystopic IMO. A 1/3 of teachers' time spent battling for attention against TikTok. Teenagers sitting together and not giv…

> Teenagers sitting together and not giving each other proper attention because of constant interrupts from Snapchat. Why are phones allowed in the classroom? When I was in school, if you were caught looking at your phone in class, or if the phone made a noise from your pocket/bag, it would instantly be confiscated - no second chances. If phones are causing problems in school, maybe the school could try establishing…

I was in the school many years ago. The cell phone was still not invented (for other 10 years). But having ANY electronic gadget was no-go. Like, parents being cited, whole program...

When did that change?! A shame.

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#109

Post by aftbit »

arrowsmith wrote: post #75
dagss wrote: post #73

Kudos to the parent for setting clear limits to their kids cell phone use. Most of us on HN can be grateful for having been able to fully develop our faculties in an age where instant dopamine shots weren't available 24/7. Looking at kids growing up now and stories from teachers in classrooms it's dystopic IMO. A 1/3 of teachers' time spent battling for attention against TikTok. Teenagers sitting together and not giv…

> Teenagers sitting together and not giving each other proper attention because of constant interrupts from Snapchat. Why are phones allowed in the classroom? When I was in school, if you were caught looking at your phone in class, or if the phone made a noise from your pocket/bag, it would instantly be confiscated - no second chances. If phones are causing problems in school, maybe the school could try establishing…

I got my phone taken away in high school once because my dad called me during the lunch hour to ask me for a number on an insurance card that was in my wallet. I was sitting outside eating, answered the call, read him the number, and hung up. About thirty seconds later, a teacher came outside, took my phone away, and gave me a detention.

I wasn't disrupting class or distracting myself at all. This was on a dumb phone, taking a call from a parent. I argued against the detention and was told that my school had a "zero tolerance" policy for cell phone use under any circumstances, just like weapons.

What changed?

Re: I replaced my son's school timetable app with an e-paper

#110

Post by toyg »

arrowsmith wrote: post #86
jeroenhd wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You managed, good for you! Thankfully, we got it better, and kids these days have it even better. I don't see how that's a bad thing, every generation should strive to make things better for the next ones.

I don't think it's "better" to make kids check a multitude of ever-changing apps and screens just to find out their timetable for the day. What on earth is the point? When I was a kid we just had the same timetable repeating every week. It changed once a year, at the beginning of the academic year, meaning that within a few weeks I knew it from memory and didn't need to keep looking it up. In the extremely rare event…

> make kids check a multitude of ever-changing apps

Hey, it's perfect to train the next generation of Deliveroo riders and Uber drivers...

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