I think I was 13 or 14 when I got my C64 and I was utterly confused about the way it behaved sometimes, printing funny characters instead of cursor keys and the like. I actually returned it since it was broken, only to learn later that that is the way it behaves -- if I recall correctly it uses some funky representations for non-printable characters like the cursor movements while a quotation is in place. Or something like that.
I've seen quite a few newer projects in the spirit of Logo. This one looks very cool: http://scratch.mit.edu/ -- but I haven't really spend too much time investigating since I suspect that at the time Lucie can handle Tuxpaint things might have changed :-) The one thing that would have excited me back in the teenage days would have been the Mindstorms and the like. I used to dream of getting the C64 interface for my fischertechnik (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischertechnik ), but that was too expensive. The fischertechnik stuff still exists at my mum's place, I wonder if Lucie is ever going to play with that -- she likes her Duplo, so I have my hopes up. Peter Reinier Zwitserloot wrote: > I think that 'I like turtles' guy was just evangelising for Logo > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language) ) at a > young age. > > I fondly remember getting a Commodore 64 for christmas and having > endless fun with programs like: > > 10 print "This is neat!" > 20 goto 10 > > And a C64 isn't exactly the pinnacle of user friendliness. I wasn't 4 > either, though. Don't remember exactly. More like 7 or 8. > > If you can get a child to be at least passably comfortable with a > computer, I bet at 7 you can introduce logo and get somewhere. It sure > beats C64 basic, where to clear the screen or move the pointer around, > you had to print (as in System.out.println) whacky characters. The > inversed heart meant clear screen, I still remember that one. And you > didn't have to close string quotes, and memory was at a premium (64k, > heh), so you'd write stuff lke: > > 10 PRINT"❤ > > (but imagine the heart is reversed) > > and -that- passed for programming back then. > > On Feb 21, 6:21 am, Steven Herod <[email protected]> wrote: > >> We have a two and a bit year old who enjoys sitting next to my wife or >> I and requesting "Thomas... Computer!" (Thomas the tank engine's >> website). >> >> He's also mastered unlocking my iphone and starting apps. Luckily he >> doesn't know my iTunes password. >> >> In about 12 months I'd probably consider picking up a 2nd hand iBook >> or a low end netbook for him. >> >> About 10 years ago I watched a friends 4 year old boot Linux, start >> XWindows and then run a game. >> >> It sort of a little experiment, what is the earliest a child can >> actually make meaningful use of a computer? Is there such a thing >> as 'Toddler Linux' ? >> >> Dianne Marsh wrote: >> >>> See the "Open Letter thread ..." for the gender issue. I promise I'll >>> reply to that but I wanted to say that >>> 1. I didn't feel hijacked. I've done it myself by changing the subject >>> and not remembering that the thread would get modified >>> 2. I think that the computers for toddlers topic is interesting too >>> 3. I'll just restart the toddler thread here. >>> >>> I have to get some stuff done before the end of the day, and I'm >>> holding out hope that I can get home for Pizza/Movie night with the >>> kids. EEK! >>> >>> Dianne >>> > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
