No benefit? Maybe you mean that you prefer an Android tablet? I didn't have a computer until I was 18. The internet wasn't much of a thing until I got to college. Every day I think about how amazing it would have been to have access to so much free information when I was a kid.
on the flip side, I am quite certain that most of my peers spent their hours primarily on youtube, facebook, and aim. they seemed to take pride in how little they understood the workings of their entertainment devices.
today I hear a lot of parents talking about how they are putting off getting a family computer/tablet for as long as possible and how they intend to severely limit screen time once they finally get one. it makes me sad to think that these children will miss out on all the great learning experiences I had with my computers, but I'm not sure the parents are necessarily wrong, especially with the current buzz around social media and mental health.
> on the flip side, I am quite certain that most of my peers spent their hours primarily on youtube, facebook, and aim. they seemed to take pride in how little they understood the workings of their entertainment devices.
People, kids especially, love wasting time. All that changes is how they do the time wasting.
How many people are interested in how cars work vs just use them to get around? Computing is just ubiquitous now but people who really care about how they work are still a small minority.
But a C64 is a very different beast from a ipad or even a rpi. I think the percentage of owners back then tinkered with them as well as just loading up games was much higher.
I haven't heard of a single kid in my son's classes who has tried programming. The thing is just a TV/mobile game console.
Thank god they haven't hit facebook yet, at least the ones I know.
Teachers giving homework printed on paper makes it easier for the student and parent to know what homework there is to be done.
And printing from tablets? Come on. I don't know about Android tablets but it ain't easy from an iPad.
My kids aren't living in some tech backwater - we have more than enough computers from 8 to 64 bits they could do something useful with.
But there is no upside to me having to buy each of them an iPad - not for me or them. Even iPad games are just stupid free-to-play-pay-to-speed-up-progress games. All the kids give each other for birthday these days are itunes cards that get spend on 'gems'.
The whole thing is a disaster. Get off my lawn.