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Disclaimer; I have raised my kids with my computer collection, which means we've done all of the following and found great rewards: Just get an old, retro, 8-b
by fit2rule 8y ago
Disclaimer; I have raised my kids with my computer collection, which means we've done all of the following and found great rewards:
Just get an old, retro, 8-bit computer to use to teach your kids computers. Seriously.
Something like an Amstrad Spectrum +3. Or maybe a CPC6128. Or an Amiga - although all of these machines can easily be used only as games-machines, the documentation for creating software on them is a high-value read. My kids love the +3 and the stack of 80's magazines with type-ins and machine-code tutorials. These are awesome, still, 30 years later and with a few modern accessories, are simply awesome systems - and they will still teach your kids to program, and to manipulate computers, in ways beyond the reach of the average consumer-bot. By way of an 8-bit machine, new students can learn all the components of computing, and immediately apply it to bigger/newer/contemporary things.
Of course you have to appreciate the aesthetic.
So another thing you can do is load up an old laptop with antirez' wonderful LOAD81:
http://github.com/antirez/load81.git http://github.com/antirez/load81.git
We have a Toshiba tough-book running puppy booting directly to LOAD81. This is a modern version; and has the bonus of being a Linux-machine behind the curtains, to boot. Another great avenue.
And then, if you can find it, you could do the cocktail thing and get a PocketCHIP .. mine sits in the drawer, wrapped in its 3d-printed keyboard, ticking away .. so I'm still using it. But its pretty much the 'pocket boot to basic' ideal, since it comes with PICO8 already ready already.
(OpenPandora, DragonPyra: same deal; probably a fair bit more expensive though...)
The key thing is: as long as there is a compiler on-board, you can 'boot your kids to basic'. If you get results with a new-school retro-rig (OricAtmos+Cumulus ForeveR!), or if you just re-purpose an old laptop with auto-boot to load81, there are definitely options for this ethos ..