I got to learn to code using the school’s BBC Micros (and later, Archimedes), a sibling’s VIC-20 and a CPC6128 at a time when my peers had Atari STs and Amiga 5

I got to learn to code using the school’s BBC Micros (and later, Archimedes), a sibling’s VIC-20 and a CPC6128 at a time when my peers had Atari STs and Amiga 500s (my family were a lot poorer). I loved all of them in different ways. And while the unique hardware architectures were interesting, for me the really exciting part of this era was that computing was something you did/made at least as much as you consumed. Modern consumerist computing habits make me a little sad (but I still love my iPad Pro). Typing in pages of BASIC you didn’t understand is one level. Writing your own code and making something new is another. And pretty much every single owner in the U.K. engaged in that process, there were books, TV series, it was part of the school curriculum until the age of 14 that everyone had to some coding, you name it. The first book I used on BBC BASIC was an Usborne book that they’ve now made available for free download (the first one is my first book): https://usborne.com/gb/books/computer-and-coding-books https://usborne.com/gb/books/computer-and-coding-books Consider the age group it targeted, and the fact it was about 50 pages long. Where is today’s equivalent? Well, Usborne has some newer titles: https://usborne.com/gb/books/browse-by-category/science-and-technology/computers-and-coding https://usborne.com/gb/books/browse-by-category/science-and-... They look pretty OK, but only one seems to get into the nitty gritty, and I’ve never seen them in the coding section of my local bookshops in London. I wonder if there is even the smallest appetite for these in families any more. It feels like coding as a kid only ever happens if it’s a family trade (a parent codes), or has a teacher who wants their class to explore what’s possible a bit. My niece was told she was too young to learn to code at 12, but I learned BASIC and was diving in deep at the age of 11… The fact Harvard CS50 might be a first experience of building software for a bunch of people starting at University is slightly depressing (despite it being a very polished course).