
Awful Computers for Kids - prime2
http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/07/07/awful-computers-for-kids/
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noonespecial
The best "toys" I had as a kid were not toys at all. I think kids are often
frustrated by toy versions of real things. Kudos to the author for suggesting
a real laptop instead of the cheeseball alternatives.

When I was young, instead of toy version of real tools, my father managed to
find me kid sized versions of real things. Instead of a plastic pretend hammer
and screwdriver, I had real metal 1/2 sized versions of these tools that could
actually make things.

I had a small soldering iron by the time I was 8 or 9 and after a
disappointing experience with a pre-made "1001 electronic projects" kits, my
dad just started bringing me bags of surplus transistors,caps,resistors,and
ICs which I would solder together into little lumps of partially functioning
goodness.

I did these things because no one ever told me that 9 year olds shouldn't be
doing this. This is the message I'm afraid that these toy versions of things
convey. The kid world should be impotent and pretend because the real world is
not for children.

