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> I'd put the top more or less at the rise of Linux, the BSD's and similar systems. I'm not sure the two compare so well. Kids that fiddle with Linux do so out

> I'd put the top more or less at the rise of Linux, the BSD's and similar systems. I'm not sure the two compare so well. Kids that fiddle with Linux do so out of curiosity. For the other kids, the closest you'll ever get to config file fiddling might be when they're forced to use Linux -- which could happen, for instance, when their techie parent refuses to have a Windows box or a Mac in the house. By contrast, take any household with a Windows box and a few kids. The latter will want to play games on the former sooner or later.

Yetanfou 8y ago
I'd rather compare it with one family which bought their children a box of Lego or a similar construction toy while the other gave them access to a scrap heap with broken mopeds and lawnmowers. The Lego-endowned kids will make interesting constructions which don't really serve any purpose but stimulate their creativity while the scrap-heap kids repair the mopeds and build go-karts with the lawnmower parts, maybe one of them puts a chain saw engine on a skateboard or something similar. This also stimulates their creativity with the added advantage of them gaining access to a whole world of possibilities while teaching them skills which can - and often will - be of benefit later in life. Nothing against Lego, mind you, but I know from personal experience which of the two gives more satisfaction in the end, at least for kids resembling the one I was.
- hopler 8y ago
  I think it was Marvin Minsky (but not sure) who blamed LEGO for displacing Meccano and destroying engineering culture in USA. All the complaints about kids toys being too dumbed down have been played out before. Edgar Dijkstra complained that Americans were so rich that American so-called computer scientists built and played with computers too much instead of doing computer science that the Europeans did.

Yetanfou 8y ago

I'd rather compare it with one family which bought their children a box of Lego or a similar construction toy while the other gave them access to a scrap heap with broken mopeds and lawnmowers. The Lego-endowned kids will make interesting constructions which don't really serve any purpose but stimulate their creativity while the scrap-heap kids repair the mopeds and build go-karts with the lawnmower parts, maybe one of them puts a chain saw engine on a skateboard or something similar. This also stimulates their creativity with the added advantage of them gaining access to a whole world of possibilities while teaching them skills which can - and often will - be of benefit later in life. Nothing against Lego, mind you, but I know from personal experience which of the two gives more satisfaction in the end, at least for kids resembling the one I was.

hopler 8y ago
I think it was Marvin Minsky (but not sure) who blamed LEGO for displacing Meccano and destroying engineering culture in USA. All the complaints about kids toys being too dumbed down have been played out before. Edgar Dijkstra complained that Americans were so rich that American so-called computer scientists built and played with computers too much instead of doing computer science that the Europeans did.