The kind of software you can write on an 8-bit micro just looks pathetic to kids who were raised on iPhones. Teaching kids to write application software is a lo

The kind of software you can write on an 8-bit micro just looks pathetic to kids who were raised on iPhones. Teaching kids to write application software is a long and painful slog, because of the huge gulf between expectation and reality. Removing the screen is the essential concept that makes the micro:bit such a great teaching tool. Moving the turtle in Logo is deathly boring, but blinking an LED or turning a motor with code is weirdly magical. Micro:bit is remarkably similar to the programmable badges you get at conferences like Defcon, which is no accident. It's tremendous fun to have a little gadget that you can tinker with and show off to your friends. Kids are natural hackers. Every time they grok a basic concept, they have twenty different ideas about what they could do with it. The micro:bit isn't a primitive computer - it's the brain of a robot, it's a burglar alarm, it's a fitness tracker, it's a million different things just waiting to be built. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35824446 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35824446