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FYI, the first public release of Scratch was in 2007 [1], so that's really a more accurate border. I'm aware of this because I started using Scratch in 2008. I'

FYI, the first public release of Scratch was in 2007 [1], so that's really a more accurate border. I'm aware of this because I started using Scratch in 2008. I'm a computer science student in college now, and I've had a couple of internships. From my experience, Scratch was a great start. I learned a lot from it, and I really credit it with getting me into the field, although I likely would have irregardless of Scratch. Either way, I don't think that it necessarily will be bad for toys to replace tools. [1]: https://web.archive.org/web/20070120041500/http://scratch.mit.edu/about.html https://web.archive.org/web/20070120041500/http://scratch.mi...

smogcutter 9y ago
That’s really encouraging to hear. Thanks for correcting the date, too. Something I’ve been thinking about since posting: imagine yourself in a sort of Victorian/steampunk world that runs on gears etc. What would you give young people to start getting them literate in the machines? I figure it would be a toy: something like a meccano set. You’d want composable, easily understood parts that are simple to connect, and interact in predictable ways. What you wouldn’t do is drop the kids off at a half-working tool and die shop and tell them to go make some gears. Maybe that’s qbasic.
- craftyguy 9y ago
  > What would you give young people to start getting them literate in the machines? Erector set[1]. It's a toy, but not super obvious how the parts are supposed to work together. (unless now they give advanced instructions for constructing things..) 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set
  - smogcutter 9y ago
    Yup, same thing as meccano. Now that I think about it I had an erector set growing up, beats me why meccano came to mind first. I missed out on lego robotics, but those look really cool too.

smogcutter 9y ago

That’s really encouraging to hear. Thanks for correcting the date, too. Something I’ve been thinking about since posting: imagine yourself in a sort of Victorian/steampunk world that runs on gears etc. What would you give young people to start getting them literate in the machines? I figure it would be a toy: something like a meccano set. You’d want composable, easily understood parts that are simple to connect, and interact in predictable ways. What you wouldn’t do is drop the kids off at a half-working tool and die shop and tell them to go make some gears. Maybe that’s qbasic.

craftyguy 9y ago
> What would you give young people to start getting them literate in the machines? Erector set[1]. It's a toy, but not super obvious how the parts are supposed to work together. (unless now they give advanced instructions for constructing things..) 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set
- smogcutter 9y ago
  Yup, same thing as meccano. Now that I think about it I had an erector set growing up, beats me why meccano came to mind first. I missed out on lego robotics, but those look really cool too.