Ask HN: Is there a modern “power on to basic” computer, for kids to learn on?

Post by User23 » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 3:34 AM UTC

codebolt wrote: post #184

nicolashahn wrote: post #23

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I upvoted this but I need to reiterate my support. When I was a kid, I was heavily into video games and had a burning desire to create my own. However, the options for doing so were not great. One of my middle school teachers tried to introduce us to programming via creating Space Invaders in perl, which went as well as you might imagine. There were a few GUI game making applications that were all terrible and extrem…

You think you had it rough, at 15 I taught myself C/C++ Win32 programming with COM and early DirectX versions from textbooks and online tutorials. I'm thankful now though, as most modern frameworks are a breeze to learn by comparison. Looking back it was a bit like learning to swim by jumping in the deep end of the pool. It certainly gave me the confidence that I can figure stuff out, even in a new domain. And it's g…

Post by romwell » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 3:44 AM UTC

armadsen wrote: post #300

romwell wrote: post #293

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This sounds really good! Also of note: it was made by the creator of Voxatron (the only game I know of that really explored voxels), and is available as a $5 add-on to that. Wikipedia page told me of a pocket computer preloaded with PICO-8: Pocket CHIP[1]. It seems to be exactly what the OP was asking for. Alas, the Kickstarted company went belly up, failing to deliver all the preorders. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/…

I have a Pocket CHIP. It’s really cool. Comes preloaded with PICO-8, some other software (a synth, etc.), and a dead simple graphical launcher. But under the hood it’s running full on Linux. I got the Swift compiler installed and running on mine, for example. Really too bad that the company went under.

Post by teddyh » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 6:11 AM UTC

itomato wrote: post #227

teddyh wrote: post #171

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I understand, in a sense, what you mean (since I am of an earlier generation than the one which learned programming on that particular platform), but why should that necessarily be true? Hasn’t it always been the case that the current generation skips learning about useless lower layers used by older generations? How could it be that the layers you grew up are the special ones which are still useful, when all the lay…

Despite being an open language, Swift (and Playgrounds) is an effort to usher children into the Apple tent. BASIC (essentially any 3GL) never wore such a veil. To suggest discrete logic and IC-level assembly compares to issuing commands via the LEGO Mindstorms protocol perfectly illustrates the chasm between learning and understanding.

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 6:33 AM UTC

Post by Jaruzel » Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 7:05 AM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #172

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #93

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Kids have it too easy today, they don't have to work very hard to get decent computing experiences, and its not like they have to do any programming at all to have fun. It is also super easy to get addicted to just consuming all the time. It is quite depressing. My kid is still a toddler, but I think I might put a stripped down CLI-only computer in his room when he reaches 5 so he can at least play with it if he want…

Kids like you had it way too easy. When I was young you had to solder your own components together to make a calculator. Kids like me had it way too easy. When they were young they had to look things up in log tables and use slide rules. Etc. back to hunting wild beasts and digging vegetables out of the frozen ground