4 ms·

those of us who live by the motto "Anything worth doing is worth obsessing over" will immediately recognize this kid as one of ours. i offered in the reddit th

by joshu 15y ago

those of us who live by the motto "Anything worth doing is worth obsessing over" will immediately recognize this kid as one of ours. i offered in the reddit thread to buy him an actual claw machine. they don't look that expensive. anyone know an arcade machine dealer in LA?

pbhjpbhj 15y ago
>i offered in the reddit thread to buy him an actual claw machine. they don't look that expensive. anyone know an arcade machine dealer in LA? // Success can ruin things.
newobj 15y ago
yeah, you are seriously missing the point if your instinct upon seeing this is to buy him a claw machine.
- larrys 15y ago
  What is the difference between buying him a claw machine and giving him money for college? Did he earn the money for the college or did the publicity about what he is doing get him the money for college? Taking it one step further what if someone comes along and wants his input on a real arcade and wants to call it "Caines Arcade". Is that also missing the point?
  - newobj 15y ago
    it's not about "earning" or "rewarding". your kid says "look dad, i built a clock out of paper". do you respond "that's great, let me buy you a real clock so you don't have to mess with that paper anymore." or do you respond "that's great, let me take you to the machine shop so you can machine some gears and take this thing to the next level/get you a breadboard and some electrical bits so you can work on digital clock/etc etc"
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- joshu 15y ago
  i am seriously missing the point how?
  - newobj 15y ago
    the kid is a hacker and tinkerer. perhaps the most moving part of the story is the myriad clever ways he approximated all the things he wanted to do. why reward that with giving him the "actual thing"? it may show your generosity as a benefactor but it does nothing to continue to stoke the flames of hacker in him. donate some breadboards and electrical components, parts for a receipt printer, stuff that will allow him to continue to improve his approximations and simultaneously continue to tickle his mind (in learning how these things work).
    - joshu 15y ago
      Or he could take learn how it works by looking inside or keeping it working. Or he uses it to start a business and learns new things there. You seem pretty condescending and narrow-minded.
      - newobj 15y ago
        He doesn't need a joshu "real" claw machine game to start a business because he's already started a business. I'll take your personal assessments of my character under consideration, thank you for the input.
        joshu 15y ago
        Oh god, are you jealous of the 9 year old? It sure is important to you that he not get anything.
        newobj 15y ago
        Are you a dad joshu? Just curious. The emotions I feel towards this kid are highly protective ones. He was seemingly happy in his own little world of tinkering and barking for customers. Now the adults have to swoop in and make it a spectacle. It will change him for sure. This kind of spirit in a kid is dangerously easy to snuff out. So yes, I'm going to react strongly when people like you are proposing to helicopter in and give him things that may obviate his innate desire to create. I'm all for him getting "assistance", especially a school fund, I'm not pretending there is any virtue in artificially keeping his head dunked in the tank of East LA austerity, but for god's sake don't short circuit his quest for building an arcade just because you have the financial wherewithal to do so.
- tptacek 15y ago
  Right way to express an opinion on the parent comment: "That's a nice thought. Have you considered ${XXX_OTHER_GIFT_IDEA} instead? That would better nurture the tinkering impulse this kid has!" HN way to express the same opinion: "You don't get it and probably don't know what it's like to be a dad." One dad to another: you'd do your kids a favor to teach them to default to the first kind of response.
joezydeco 15y ago
Someone just donated a pinball machine to Caine: http://twitpic.com/98d6fr http://twitpic.com/98d6fr
- swah 15y ago
  Perhaps those are tinkerable, one can create new tracks etc.
  - joshu 15y ago
    my understanding is that they are obscenely complex, internally.
    - joezydeco 15y ago
      Electromechanical games from that era are pretty complex. Lots of reels and stepper gears that get gummed up. More to learn!
- tptacek 15y ago
  Those bastards.

by joshu 15y ago

pbhjpbhj 15y ago

>i offered in the reddit thread to buy him an actual claw machine. they don't look that expensive. anyone know an arcade machine dealer in LA? // Success can ruin things.

newobj 15y ago

yeah, you are seriously missing the point if your instinct upon seeing this is to buy him a claw machine.

larrys 15y ago
What is the difference between buying him a claw machine and giving him money for college? Did he earn the money for the college or did the publicity about what he is doing get him the money for college? Taking it one step further what if someone comes along and wants his input on a real arcade and wants to call it "Caines Arcade". Is that also missing the point?
- newobj 15y ago
  it's not about "earning" or "rewarding". your kid says "look dad, i built a clock out of paper". do you respond "that's great, let me buy you a real clock so you don't have to mess with that paper anymore." or do you respond "that's great, let me take you to the machine shop so you can machine some gears and take this thing to the next level/get you a breadboard and some electrical bits so you can work on digital clock/etc etc"
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joshu 15y ago
i am seriously missing the point how?
- newobj 15y ago
  the kid is a hacker and tinkerer. perhaps the most moving part of the story is the myriad clever ways he approximated all the things he wanted to do. why reward that with giving him the "actual thing"? it may show your generosity as a benefactor but it does nothing to continue to stoke the flames of hacker in him. donate some breadboards and electrical components, parts for a receipt printer, stuff that will allow him to continue to improve his approximations and simultaneously continue to tickle his mind (in learning how these things work).
  - joshu 15y ago
    Or he could take learn how it works by looking inside or keeping it working. Or he uses it to start a business and learns new things there. You seem pretty condescending and narrow-minded.
    - newobj 15y ago
      He doesn't need a joshu "real" claw machine game to start a business because he's already started a business. I'll take your personal assessments of my character under consideration, thank you for the input.
      - joshu 15y ago
        Oh god, are you jealous of the 9 year old? It sure is important to you that he not get anything.
        newobj 15y ago
        Are you a dad joshu? Just curious. The emotions I feel towards this kid are highly protective ones. He was seemingly happy in his own little world of tinkering and barking for customers. Now the adults have to swoop in and make it a spectacle. It will change him for sure. This kind of spirit in a kid is dangerously easy to snuff out. So yes, I'm going to react strongly when people like you are proposing to helicopter in and give him things that may obviate his innate desire to create. I'm all for him getting "assistance", especially a school fund, I'm not pretending there is any virtue in artificially keeping his head dunked in the tank of East LA austerity, but for god's sake don't short circuit his quest for building an arcade just because you have the financial wherewithal to do so.
tptacek 15y ago
Right way to express an opinion on the parent comment: "That's a nice thought. Have you considered ${XXX_OTHER_GIFT_IDEA} instead? That would better nurture the tinkering impulse this kid has!" HN way to express the same opinion: "You don't get it and probably don't know what it's like to be a dad." One dad to another: you'd do your kids a favor to teach them to default to the first kind of response.

joezydeco 15y ago

Someone just donated a pinball machine to Caine: http://twitpic.com/98d6fr http://twitpic.com/98d6fr

swah 15y ago
Perhaps those are tinkerable, one can create new tracks etc.
- joshu 15y ago
  my understanding is that they are obscenely complex, internally.
  - joezydeco 15y ago
    Electromechanical games from that era are pretty complex. Lots of reels and stepper gears that get gummed up. More to learn!
tptacek 15y ago
Those bastards.