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We use it to teach kids to code. It's OK, but the screen is way too limited for it to be much fun. It is crying out for a good colour screen that can show more

We use it to teach kids to code. It's OK, but the screen is way too limited for it to be much fun. It is crying out for a good colour screen that can show more than one character at a time. Also, debugging is a pain. They need some sort of event log that can be inspected on the pc

mavhc 10y ago
In some ways the limitations help, don't have kids wanting to program Quake 7. I use mu, the micropython editor, it shows the error messages on the PC when connected via USB, instead of trying to read them scrolling across the display
- monk_e_boy 10y ago
  I've taught close to 500 kids how to code on them. The number one thing they want to do is show better graphics. Number two is sound. For me, [stepping through the code] I would expect as a normal part of coding. Not having it seems to hark back to some primitive time.
  - Avshalom 10y ago
    The problem is that if you let them have good graphics their artskills start getting in the way of the programming.
    - jpfed 10y ago
      My son is obsessed with PICO-8, and he does indeed spend more time making music and drawing sprites/maps than he does coding.
    - monk_e_boy 10y ago
      We do things like scroll your name - one character at a time is rubbish. Then we do a digital pet (think tamagotchi) and again, with a low pixel count this is crap. They want to draw unicorns or fish or bunnies. None of this is possible. After that they want it to beep when the pet is hungry. No can do. All pretty basic stuff.
      - clort 10y ago
        you can't wire a speaker to an output pin? if I recall on the Apple II, the speaker was a single bit on/off .. I played games that had music playing concurrently with the onscreen action and even speech! I understand about the pictures though and I can understand if they kept it simple on purpose to prevent them from being able to download a picture and show it.. I work in a school and while we have a 3d printer on loan from a local company, in the main kids want to print a Voldemort, not something they made themselves..
        mavhc 10y ago
        You can do that, it supports music, and speech http://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/speech.html http://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutoria...
  - drivers99 10y ago
    Speaking of sound, I played around with a BASIC stamp kit[1] and it was pretty cool that it supported polyphonic sound[2] easily, so I was able to program music with harmonies on it right away. It's also fun for creating DTMF signals such as dial tones, busy signals, and dialing numbers. (Personal note: I've had a lot of fun doing sound on computers from the PC speaker (1 voice square wave), to the SAA1099 as found on the Game Blaster and optional add on for the Sound Blaster (12 voices square wave, 6 per chip), the BASIC stamp mentioned above, or most recently generating wave forms with math (adding sine waves together) and outputting it to DirectX which I learned from Handmade Hero day 007 through 009.[4]) [1] This one exactly: https://www.parallax.com/product/90005 https://www.parallax.com/product/90005 [2] Two frequencies per pin with FREQOUT command: http://www.parallax.com/go/PBASICHelp/Content/LanguageTopics/Commands/FREQOUT.htm http://www.parallax.com/go/PBASICHelp/Content/LanguageTopics... [3] http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/SAA1099 http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/SAA1099 [4] https://www.youtube.com/user/handmadeheroarchive https://www.youtube.com/user/handmadeheroarchive
- Avshalom 10y ago
  Even still a little 128x64 display like many of us cut our teeth on with graphing calculators probably wouldn't have hurt.

mavhc 10y ago

In some ways the limitations help, don't have kids wanting to program Quake 7. I use mu, the micropython editor, it shows the error messages on the PC when connected via USB, instead of trying to read them scrolling across the display

monk_e_boy 10y ago
I've taught close to 500 kids how to code on them. The number one thing they want to do is show better graphics. Number two is sound. For me, [stepping through the code] I would expect as a normal part of coding. Not having it seems to hark back to some primitive time.
- Avshalom 10y ago
  The problem is that if you let them have good graphics their artskills start getting in the way of the programming.
  - jpfed 10y ago
    My son is obsessed with PICO-8, and he does indeed spend more time making music and drawing sprites/maps than he does coding.
  - monk_e_boy 10y ago
    We do things like scroll your name - one character at a time is rubbish. Then we do a digital pet (think tamagotchi) and again, with a low pixel count this is crap. They want to draw unicorns or fish or bunnies. None of this is possible. After that they want it to beep when the pet is hungry. No can do. All pretty basic stuff.
    - clort 10y ago
      you can't wire a speaker to an output pin? if I recall on the Apple II, the speaker was a single bit on/off .. I played games that had music playing concurrently with the onscreen action and even speech! I understand about the pictures though and I can understand if they kept it simple on purpose to prevent them from being able to download a picture and show it.. I work in a school and while we have a 3d printer on loan from a local company, in the main kids want to print a Voldemort, not something they made themselves..
      - mavhc 10y ago
        You can do that, it supports music, and speech http://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorials/speech.html http://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutoria...
- drivers99 10y ago
  Speaking of sound, I played around with a BASIC stamp kit[1] and it was pretty cool that it supported polyphonic sound[2] easily, so I was able to program music with harmonies on it right away. It's also fun for creating DTMF signals such as dial tones, busy signals, and dialing numbers. (Personal note: I've had a lot of fun doing sound on computers from the PC speaker (1 voice square wave), to the SAA1099 as found on the Game Blaster and optional add on for the Sound Blaster (12 voices square wave, 6 per chip), the BASIC stamp mentioned above, or most recently generating wave forms with math (adding sine waves together) and outputting it to DirectX which I learned from Handmade Hero day 007 through 009.[4]) [1] This one exactly: https://www.parallax.com/product/90005 https://www.parallax.com/product/90005 [2] Two frequencies per pin with FREQOUT command: http://www.parallax.com/go/PBASICHelp/Content/LanguageTopics/Commands/FREQOUT.htm http://www.parallax.com/go/PBASICHelp/Content/LanguageTopics... [3] http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/SAA1099 http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/SAA1099 [4] https://www.youtube.com/user/handmadeheroarchive https://www.youtube.com/user/handmadeheroarchive
Avshalom 10y ago
Even still a little 128x64 display like many of us cut our teeth on with graphing calculators probably wouldn't have hurt.