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Hardware stores have mostly uninteresting tools -- Buckyballs are toys.

zardo 10y ago
>Hardware stores have mostly uninteresting tools My nephews don't think tools or random bits of hardware are uninteresting. I certainly didn't either. If you're of a mind to play, the world is nothing but toys.
- DanBC 10y ago
  Some adults will let their children use power tools. They'll make sure there's the discussion about safety, they'll do a bit of supervision. They'll hopefully include safety glasses. Everyone knows a drill is dangerous. No-one just hands a hammer drill to a six year old and leaves them to it. The regulator's point about the magnets is that the manufacturers didn't manage to stop them being sold in toy shops to children, and that even with the warnings parents were giving them to children as toys. And, even compared to random bits of hardware store: if you swallow a nail you're probably going to be ok. If you swallow magnets you're probably going to need medical help.
  - dpark 10y ago
    > if you swallow a nail you're probably going to be ok. As long as you're okay with sepsis from a perforated intestine, then sure.
    - DanBC 10y ago
      No, in most cases the child is going to be fine. This is exactly the point - swallowing a nail is a bad idea but is unlikely to cause significant harm. Swallowing a magnet doesn't look as bad as swallowing a nail (the magnets are smooth and shiny, sometimes round, and very small), but the consequences are usually worse.
      - dpark 10y ago
        I'm not sure I believe that. Depending on the size of the nail and how sharp it is, it could pass through, but could also puncture something along the way or get lodged. If a child swallows anything larger than a dime, the standard recommendation is to seek medical attention.
anigbrowl 10y ago
Complete nonsense. Most small boys (and some girls) are fascinated by tools, that's why there are play tools in toy stores so kids can pretend to be a construction worker or suchlike. Conversely I enjoy playing with magnets but I also find them useful for visualizing complex problems and as artistic tools for texturing paint. Maybe you didn't find physical tools interesting as a child but it's fallacious to assume that no other children do when there's abundant evidence to the contrary.

zardo 10y ago

>Hardware stores have mostly uninteresting tools My nephews don't think tools or random bits of hardware are uninteresting. I certainly didn't either. If you're of a mind to play, the world is nothing but toys.

DanBC 10y ago
Some adults will let their children use power tools. They'll make sure there's the discussion about safety, they'll do a bit of supervision. They'll hopefully include safety glasses. Everyone knows a drill is dangerous. No-one just hands a hammer drill to a six year old and leaves them to it. The regulator's point about the magnets is that the manufacturers didn't manage to stop them being sold in toy shops to children, and that even with the warnings parents were giving them to children as toys. And, even compared to random bits of hardware store: if you swallow a nail you're probably going to be ok. If you swallow magnets you're probably going to need medical help.
- dpark 10y ago
  > if you swallow a nail you're probably going to be ok. As long as you're okay with sepsis from a perforated intestine, then sure.
  - DanBC 10y ago
    No, in most cases the child is going to be fine. This is exactly the point - swallowing a nail is a bad idea but is unlikely to cause significant harm. Swallowing a magnet doesn't look as bad as swallowing a nail (the magnets are smooth and shiny, sometimes round, and very small), but the consequences are usually worse.
    - dpark 10y ago
      I'm not sure I believe that. Depending on the size of the nail and how sharp it is, it could pass through, but could also puncture something along the way or get lodged. If a child swallows anything larger than a dime, the standard recommendation is to seek medical attention.

anigbrowl 10y ago

Complete nonsense. Most small boys (and some girls) are fascinated by tools, that's why there are play tools in toy stores so kids can pretend to be a construction worker or suchlike. Conversely I enjoy playing with magnets but I also find them useful for visualizing complex problems and as artistic tools for texturing paint. Maybe you didn't find physical tools interesting as a child but it's fallacious to assume that no other children do when there's abundant evidence to the contrary.