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Comment by fit2rule | Hacker News Reader

Want to know how to teach kids to use computers? Give them an 8-bit machine from the 80's, and all the books for the thing that you can find.

My kids have an old 8-bit machine .. and they love the thing. They can type in their own BASIC programs from tons of sources, or load up a hundred games and other educational apps from a disk that I know won't contain anything weird or offensive .. on a machine with no access to the Internet. Its a wonderful thing, hearing a 6-year old tell his 4 year old brother how to make a sound eminate with just a few SOUND and PLAY commands ..

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Great that it worked for you. Doesn't mean it will work for others.

Example: me. I had access to a computer, but couldn't comprehend the (foreign) lingo well enough to find the correct books in the (vast) library. My parents weren't into technology and couldn't help me. Had they understood the potential and had they given a few nudges, I would have started at 8 what I now started at 20. Many kids need guidance and encouragement.

The two methodologies aren't mutually exclusive. Maybe when this book comes out your kids will love it, perhaps even have a better appreciation for the concepts because of their experiences. Or, since Ruby is very different than BASIC, it might give them a glimpse into the variety of the world of computer programming.

Does a child receive a bicycle so as to get a glimpse into the variety of the world of human-powered locomotion?

Remember, "The Simplest Thing That Could Possibly Work."

Of course! Parents should give their kid a penny farthing as a first bike. It sure hurts when they fall off, but it builds character. Once they can brush themselves off and get back up, it's off to the factory!

I'm not quite sure what point you're making.

I think the point was that riding a bicycle is fun and that's a good enough for a child to ride a bicycle.

I've been thinking about the doing the exact same thing but have been afraid that the kids would ignore it and go back to playing Minecraft.

How about introducing them to ComputerCraft (http://www.computercraft.info/)?

If they already like Minecraft, they'll probably have a blast with it, and learn programming at the same time.

I think the most important thing is to make sure they have an ample library of software for the machine .. in my case, we have almost everything that was ever developed for the Oric/Atmos, and recently got it set up so that its very, very easy for the kids to play with ..

My kids complained about 'not having enough dots on the display' and "why are there no good games on it - like Super Mario", but once I showed them a few of the classics (Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy), they got right into it.

Most important of all, however: play with the machine with your kids, too. This is a great way to get them interested - you do the typing, they do the reading. ;)

Good luck!

Minecraft, at least on Raspberry Pi, has a full API. It's likely a bit complex to get going with, but you might find you can build a layer your kids would find "useful".

http://www.stuffaboutcode.com/2013/04/minecraft-pi-edition-a...

I've been thinking about that, especially as my son keeps trying to do things that the game doesn't support out of the box.

He set up an "honor system" store where people were expected to asynchronously trade (by dropping) some commodity for some other commodity and got upset at people "stealing".

Either this generation of kids will be the best citizens the world has ever seen, or the worst.

> Either this generation of kids will be the best citizens the world has ever seen, or the worst.

Both. Exactly as every past generation.

Than put more programmable constructs into Minecraft-like games, obviously. And no, Redstone doesn't count - stuff that celebrates ease of coding, not difficulty.

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