
Can the Micro Bit inspire a million? - Bob_Rob
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35863859
======
ntoll
Hi, I was involved in the Python aspects of the project. It runs MicroPython,
more details here:

[https://pyfound.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/a-million-
children.ht...](https://pyfound.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/a-million-
children.html)

Happy to answer questions.

~~~
danielvf
Thanks for your work!

Is there a page with instructions on getting the "preview" Micropython running
on the ESP chips? Is it possible to use the web terminal, or is that still in
the future?

I'm teaching some 9-10 year olds about electronics. My next lesson will be
about microcontrollers. I have bunch of nodeMCUs that I would like to use.

(I backed the Kickstarter, I just have not tracked down how to use the in
development stuff)

~~~
tdicola
Check out a guide like this on how to cross compile MicroPython for ESP8266
from its source in a vagrant VM and then flash the firmware to your boards:
[https://learn.adafruit.com/building-and-running-
micropython-...](https://learn.adafruit.com/building-and-running-micropython-
on-the-esp8266/overview)

------
rmason
I think people underestimate how putting something simple in a kids hands at
the exact right time can change the direction of their life.

Just saw an interview with Steve Wozniak where he spoke about receiving a
crystal radio, which led to a shortwave radio and eventually his becoming a
ham. I experienced the exact same journey step for step.

Ever wonder how Motown happened? Why in Detroit? It's because every kid got
music instruction from an early age in the Detroit schools. There was a
legendary music store that worked hard to put instruments in a kids hands for
those who chose to pursue it. In other words Motown wasn't just an accident.

Wish I had the funds to give every seventh grader in Detroit a Micro Bit
because I know that it would have the power to change lives.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Kids lives can be changed by so little. Like bumping an asteroid out of orbit
with a tiny bit of thrust, and 20 years later you have water on Mars.

Example: taking kids home from a Scout camping trip. Long hours on the road,
listening to the 13-year-olds talking and laughing and kidding each other.
During a silence I spoke: "One day you'll all be older and have jobs and
things: Miles will be a Judge; Mark a Senator; Andrew a concert musician; Nick
a Scientist. And you'll still get to call one another PukeFace and FartBreath,
because you will be old friends. Now is the only time in your lives you get to
make your oldest friends; its too late when you've grown up"

They listened and laughed and thought about it, but I never guessed how much.
Because, years later and at different times, they each came to me and
mentioned it. Mark for instance said in High School "Joe, I'm not sure I can
do this. I am taking history and in Debate, and studying everything I need to
get into Law School. But its just not for me!" He went on to describe how he
loved theatre and the arts, and how Politics was important to him but not as a
career.

I told him to follow this dream! He is smart and very capable and energetic,
and will thrive no matter what he puts his effort into.

Years later, he was struggling to live up to what I'd said in passing, in a
car, on the way home from camping. Such a tiny bit of thrust...

------
TickleSteve
I'd love to think that the MicroBit would inspire kids to take an interest in
computing.

Unfortunately, I think that it's capabilities are too far removed from kids
understanding of computing.

In my era, the games we played were obviously on the same machine as we played
on... we knew that given enough time and knowledge we could create Manic
Miner, etc. A child given a MicroBit would not see the relationship between it
and their XBox... they're just too far removed.

What we really need is a something more akin to a Python interpreter on an
XBox. That would be _much_ more directly related to kids experiences these
days.

~~~
david-given
It's important to remember that toys like the MicroBit are not just about
writing computer programs: they're about actually doing things in the real
world.

As you say, we're so painfully overexposed to seeing cool stuff on a computer
screen that none of it's cool any more. A child learning basic programming
can't make anything that can compete with even the lousiest modern game.

But take that same basic programming and apply it to something that's
physical, which you can touch and pick up and show your friends... now that's
cool again.

Remember Logo, Papert's educational language? With the turtle graphics? You
weren't supposed to drive a pointer around on the screen. You were supposed to
use with a _real turtle_ , driving around on the floor drawing pictures with a
marker pen!

(Have these vanished completely? I could barely find anything on Youtube,
except a few modern and rather inaccurate recreations. Here's a moderately
crummy original video from the 70s talking about them, though:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTd3N5Oj2jk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTd3N5Oj2jk))

~~~
david-given
...serious question: why can you not these days get marker-pen turtles for
silly small amounts of money? (Or, indeed, at all?) Battery, wireless and
sensing technology is now so easy and cheap that producing a battery-powered
turtle which talks Bluetooth ought to be simple. You could use the works from
an optical mouse for motion tracking.

The old turtles got quite sophisticated, and eventually turned into plotters:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR8enP09RPI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR8enP09RPI)

(The hole in the middle was where you put the pen for turtle mode.) Look at
those elegant curves as it draws straight lines! And you can see it calibrate
itself against the edge of the paper. They made a later version with a longer
cable but I can't find a video.

Ah! There's a 1985 review of the plotter on page 28 of this:

ftp://ftp.stardot.org.uk/pub/docs/magazines/beebug/volume04/greyscale/BeebUG%20Volume%2004%20Number%2002%20June%201985.pdf

Man, I had that magazine when it was new...

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danielvf
The great thing about the microbit is that it's not just a processor - it
include fun hardware on the board out of the box. This means that you really
don't need anything else to get started making something. You can just use the
existing buttons, lights, accelerometer, compass, etc first, and then add your
own things later.

If I could get my hands on them, these would be my first choice to teach kids
with.

------
jumasheff
A million Micro:bits > a lot of people (developers) interested in MicroPython
> ports to other dev boards > more children (around the world) can build "real
things" with easier to learn Python. Huge impact!

PS Thank you, Damien.

~~~
ntoll
Yes. Many many thanks to Damien. He's an exceptional talent.

------
hoodoof
Sorry not be positive about this but I think it's a big miss and a big missed
opportunity.

It's not exciting technology and a very long way from inspirational. In fact
to be direct, it's a deeply boring, pointless bit of tech. It seems to have
been designed by a committee with the primary goal of not being in conflict
with real world products i.e. the Raspberry Pi.

This is the fail that will forever end the BBC's attempts to drive computer
education to kids which is a real pity.

~~~
ntoll
Thanks for the positive vibes.

As someone directly involved with the project I can assure you we worked very
hard to make it boring, insipid and a waste of time. We see this every time we
put the device in the hands of children who instantly fall asleep or complain
about how it's "missing the point" and a "total fail".

Seriously, the world is a diverse place and I understand this perhaps doesn't
float your boat, but you're wrong in every assertion you make.

Kids love it. Kids love writing Python (among other languages) for it. Kids
see how this is but a first step to bigger things.

If but 1% of the million kids who'll get their hands on the device create
something amazing then it's been worth it (despite vacuous posturing by nay-
sayers).

You're welcome! :-)

~~~
pgbovine
I hope you print out that comment and put it in your future presentations.
This is the "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." iPod moment here.

The default reaction to innovation is naysaying; sometimes the critics are
right, and sometimes they're wrong. But nobody can predict the future. Keep
marching forward.

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astannard
it was the BBC Micro that got me into programming in the first place. I will
be buying one when they become available for general sale as my kids are too
young to qualify for the free one. I have just received my Pi Zero though so
will be doing some projects on that with the kids in the mean time.

