

6th Grade iPhone Developer speaks at TEDx - mbesto
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/11/09/absolutely-amazing-6th-grade-iphone-app-developer-speaks-at-tedx/

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ja27
I help coach a FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team. When I opened up my MacBook
one day there the kids went nuts seeing XCode and the iPhone simulator open. A
couple of them would probably rather be building iOS apps than doing robotics.
One of the kids even has apps in the Android store.

I think back to my middle school days and it doesn't seem that different from
us tinkering with (ok, I'm old so humor me) BASIC and assembler on Commodore
64s, Atari 800s, and Apple IIes. The big differences are that kids today have
a chance to publish stuff without years of building business relationships.
There's also something Paul Hegarty said in his iOS class in iTunes University
(another thing we didn't have as kids - access to free college-level courses):
There's just something neater about having your app in your hand to show
people wherever you go.

~~~
feralchimp
I was part of a FIRST team in high school, I think the second year of the
competitions. One other friend and I were big into RC cars at the time, and we
went in with all kinds of designs for drivetrains, oil-damped suspensions,
control linkages, etc.

We had a decent design voice (shock/horror none of our oil-damped suspension
designs made it), but essentially zero construction was performed by students
in the club. Engineers from our partner org built the chassis from whole cloth
using laser-cut polycarbonate and other legit machine tools. We didn't even
get to watch that happen...the first rev of the mobility platform just sort of
showed up one week.

At the time, my friend and I were really disappointed by that. But we stuck
around and I'm glad we did, because it took a TON of teamwork and not-
infrequent heroism for all of us to use and improve the robot without
destroying it.

Software would have allowed far more room for experimentation and individual
tinkering, but the group-social stakes would have always been way lower. Our
robot literally had cheerleaders by the time we took it to compete in NH. That
mix of fragility, anthropomorphism, weirdness, size/heft...can embody weeks of
teenage group effort in a way that even a wicked-sweet app just can't.

So merits on both sides, I guess. And hey, app-controlled robots? Boom.

~~~
ja27
I have mixed feelings about some aspects of FIRST Robotics, mostly about how
much kids really learn when they're so focused on winning. (That's actually a
core value of FIRST - "What we learn is more important than what we win", but
a lot of teams don't really follow that.) FRC (the biggest class of robots)
gets all the press, but FIRST LEGO League is a tremendous challenge for
elementary and middle school kids. No remote control, completely autonomous
operation of the robot. (Well, the students can pick up the robot and run
different programs, but there's no joystick drive.)

The real physical robots vs. all software / simulation is a classic debate. I
heard MIT's Rodney Brooks (of the "build real robots" camp) used to tell
prospective grad students something like "it may take you a year longer to
graduate with me but you'll have one hell of a demo tape."

This year's FRC teams will be getting Microsoft Kinect sensor bars to use.
Should be some interesting stuff.

------
joshmlewis
When I was 12 (18 now) I decided to make a website for my boy scout troop and
I ran Microsoft Frontpage and used GoDaddy and got a website up. It was
something about putting something I made online and being able to access it
anywhere that really drew me in to the web world. I haven't stopped from there
and have been very successful in my endeavors since then. I am living in a
downtown apartment working for myself doing things I love after just
graduating high school. Sadly but truly not many people my age can say that,
especially around here (in the south.) All that to say, it was an awesome
feeling at age 12 having something online and being proud of something I made.
From there it never stopped and really grew into a passion I hope to carry for
a lifetime.

~~~
tikhonj
Heh, that's almost exactly how I started: making websites using Frontpage for
school. For some reason, we had a _really_ thick Frontpage book lying around
at home; I found it fascinating. My designs back in the day involved animated
backgrounds, unstoppable music and weird fonts. I even hacked together my own
version of @font-face where the visitor would download and install the font
manually... Fun times.

It's really reassuring to hear of other people with similar experiences,
especially those my age. There is nothing comparable to knowing what you want
to do in life and being able to enjoy it immediately.

I really hope you continue to be successful and go on to build many cool
things.

------
brainless
What interested me most is that not only did he figure out how to learn app
development, he is also going ahead and helping others through the club.

The basic social traits are there in a 6th grader too. Sharing knowledge for a
better world!

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safetyscissors
I love the tools and resources that are being available to kids these days!
The sad thing that I find is that some of the younger generation now do not
have the same amount of curiosity and imagination that we had when we were
younger. Most kids that I encounter now don't even bother to ask why or how a
specific thing works. This kid gives me a lot of hope :) I'm glad that there
are kids like that out there, willing to understand and absorb the information
available to them, especially in this day in age where information is so
easily accessible.

I wonder what we will shape for our kids. I hope its not useless iFart apps
and social networking junk.

~~~
wallflower
> Most kids that I encounter now don't even bother to ask why or how a
> specific thing works. This kid gives me a lot of hope:)

It is really up to the parents. Extreme example, I remember having lunch with
my cousins and one of them asked how a microwave worked. The dad, an engineer
for IBM, disappeared and returned with a magnetron from his basement workshop.
And then told his sons exactly how a microwave works.

The eldest son is now an undergraduate studying physics. He was about ten at
the time of the question.

As a lesser example, my sister (who is not a Ph.D. like my cousins' father),
loves BrainPop. BrainPop makes science fun without getting into too-many of
the nitty-gritty details. Which is enough, when you are just 5.

<http://www.brainpop.com/topics>

~~~
dylangs1030
I think it's also a cycle. If a parent is repeatedly dismissive of a child's
questions, the child is conditioned not to ask them, and so becomes less
inquisitive as a result of nurture. It's clearly not nature, as the generation
isn't intrinsically different. Parents don't necessarily need to do something
like the extreme example mentioned above, but they could certainly plant a
seed by being more open to a lot of "Why?"'s, as annoying as it can be.

~~~
brc
I subscribe to this theory. My rules are: always answer a 'why' question
without dismissal, unless it is repeated continuously as a game. Rule 2:
always tell the truth, even if it is somewhat over the Childs ability to
understand. I do not make things like fairies and magic up, except as an
obvious fantasy story, and everything from gravity to stars and farming and
manufacturing is explained to the best of my ability. I am constantly told how
smart my son is, which I accept graciously, but in my head I like to say -
that's because I don't fill his head with superstitious bullshit. One of my
clearest memories of childhood was the constant disappointment of finding
adults had been feeding me crap for years, either out of laziness or
ignorance.

------
baby
What this kid say in the first minute is really true. I was craving to make
video games when I was a kid, if there was a book about creating video games,
I would buy it. I tried everything, my parents didn't really know how to help
me...

I ended up choosing flash, it was back in 2002 and started to learn action
script (which was very basic then). Made a lot of crappy games, but got bored
by the limitations of the software.

Now, years after, I still really want to make a game, but I'm in the wrong
major, I'm trying to get into directX but It's really too difficult for me...
I don't even know where to start.

~~~
gmatty
As someone who has written a game (To The Stars 3D on iPhone) and as someone
who has gone through many different routes, I would suggest taking a look at
Unity3D. They have a free version and they really take a large portion of the
pain out of creating a game on basically any platform.

~~~
baby
I just found out about it today. But I've been willing to try the CryEngine 3
SDK for a long time...

------
ajasmin
I was really into BASIC in school but I wonder if teaching specific
technologies such as iPad development or HTML5 really has the same value than
sport or music. These things change so fast.

~~~
tikhonj
The point isn't to master a specific technology but to get a general
understanding of how things work and develop an insatiable curiosity coupled
with a creative drive.

Learning how to make an interactive website with JavaScript will teach you how
to think in computer terms, teach yourself new technology (reading the
documentation is itself a valuable experience) and take a project from
imagination to reality. The very best programmers--and somebody starting out
so young is probably more likely to become a great programmer--are not the
ones that have mastered the technology _de jour_ but rather the ones who have
solid fundamental skills, a logical and inquisitive mind and can teach
themselves new technologies easily.

Ultimately, all the short-term changes in the software field are ultimately
fairly superficial. Going from Flash to JavaScript or C++ to Java is not an
earth-shattering change--it's just a natural progression. There _are_ changes,
to be sure, but you're ultimately just doing similar things in similar ways.
If anything, it just gets easier.

So, in short, the quick pace of the software industry isn't really as quick as
it seems and writing programs is at least as healthy for developing
intelligence and curiosity as anything else. I really don't think it a worse
choice than sports or music for an extracurricular activity.

------
raquo
If my children will be like that I'll die happy.

~~~
middus
I'm not sure. It's an impressive, yes. But I doubt that I'd want my (young)
children to own a mobilephone that's worth $$$.

~~~
muhfuhkuh
12 years old is high time to learn responsibility, I reckon. Throw a
ruggedized case like LifeProof and a 3rd party warranty on it and let 'em have
it.

Hell, _adults_ should do that for their phones, let alone kids.

------
cmelbye
And this is why I don't believe it when people say that Apple's closed
platforms will be the death of the technological creativity and curiosity at
young ages that we were able to enjoy when we were younger.

~~~
superuser2
Either the kid committed fraud when he digitally signed the Apple NDA and said
he was at least 18 or the parent signed the NDA with the intent to break it .
Google, Apple, Amazon, Paypal et al don't ever knowingly do business with
minors and have been known to freeze accounts/keep kids' profits.

~~~
pmarsh
Minor detail, everything should be closed like Apple does, unless it's not
Apple doing it. Then is should be open.

~~~
superuser2
This not Apple. This is every company that deals with both the Internet and
the laws of the United States under which minors are legally toxic (because
they/we cannot sign a binding contract and therefore cannot agree to
terms/conditions, indemnity, release of copyright, etc).

------
alduler
Well what's so fascinating about it? I personally started dabbling in coding
at the age of 12 and at the age of 14 I started to earn money from it. I
believe many among us followed this path.

------
forkrulassail
He's a great speaker.

~~~
unalone
I wouldn't call him great, but I think it's really adorable how he takes his
cadences/writing style from popular tech presenters. He's an excellent mimic.

~~~
latch
I would.

He didn't oversell it (which is what every tech speaker does nowadays as they
try, and fail, to imitate Jobs). His ton was even, he didn't sound or look
nervous. He had minor trip ups a couple time and just kept going. He made the
audience genuinely laugh.

Also, what makes you say he took "his cadences/writing style from popular tech
presenters?" Isn't that a bit like watching a child score three pointers one
after another and saying "ah, isn't that cute, he's imitating Ray Allen"

~~~
unalone
He sounds like a kid who's seen a lot of Apple keynotes. A lot of his tactics
he takes right from Jobs, but for some reason his diction reminds me more of
Scott Forstall, who's always a little more eager and a little more rehearsed
than Jobs was on stage. (Jobs always took his time talking.) Not that this is
a bad thing! When I was his age I was mimicking my favorite writers' styles,
and teaching myself the comic pacings of my favorite comedians. That's how you
first develop a sensibility, by studying the people you like.

He absolutely shows signs of nervousness – his movements are twitchy, he
speaks too quickly and runs over his sentences. Clearly he spent a lot of time
rehearsing what he had to say, and he does a good job of it. He gets the
audience to laugh, though I'll be skeptical and suggest that audiences are
predisposed to laugh at jokes made by young people, and also at jokes
involving Justin Bieber getting whacked.

The reason I wouldn't call him great (though he is clearly good at this) is
that he doesn't take his audience's perspective into account. I'd be stunned
if he could; it's a damned difficult skill to have learned when you're a
preteen. He takes (and sells) some effective cadences, but what he's actually
saying fits awkwardly within the frame. He spends time explaining certain
things unnecessarily, because from his younger perspective certain details are
more interesting than they are when you're even a little bit older. Again, not
surprising, and not a ding against him.

As for your Ray Allen quip, unfortunately I don't know basketball well enough
to respond, but I argue that there's a difference between a basic action (like
shooting a three-pointer) and a pattern (like constructing a speech in a
certain way with certain rhythms). It would be like if a basketball player had
a certain famous technique for making his way across the court once he had the
ball. You could watch a younger player and notice that he was mimicking the
tactics of certain players. Once again, not something to be held against a
young person figuring out the rules of a game – that's one of the best ways to
learn! But this kid is still sticking pretty rigorously to a template. It's a
good template, and I think it's cute seeing a young kid mimic speakers with
whom I'm quite familiar.

I just wouldn't call it great – because for me presentation is a nuanced art,
and there's a lot more to it than what we're seeing here. Calling this great
might close minds to the possibility of more sophisticated presentations, and
that would be a real shame. It's nothing against this kid, who's clearly
bright and having a lot of fun in the spotlight.

~~~
EtienneJohnred
Jesus Christ, the kid's in 6th grade. Cut him a fucking break, asshat.

~~~
unalone
Haha, no offense taken! Writing angry things is fun.

I really didn't want to come across as pedantic, which is why I tried to keep
it light and say I thought his mimicry was cute. And I love stuff like this!
We need more 6th graders like this. I would have mad chilled with him and his
app club.

That said, I do believe that the way we use language frames the world for
other people. So I try to keep things in perspective. It's not that this isn't
wonderful, it's that there're so many wonderful things that I prefer
specificity of compliment to a general word ("great") that may suggest this is
some sort of pinnacle to others. Greatness in turn becomes the people with
such a tremendous sensibility that they can incorporate many, many wonderful
things and, in the process, underline some deeper truth.

------
sramam
As a parent of a 1 year old perhaps I should consider bailing on his "speaking
to humans" effort and get him focused on "speaking to computers"! :)

~~~
hrabago
I recently learned that children can learn sign language before they can even
learn to speak. This tells me that, yes, the can probably speak to computers
prior to learning to speak to humans.

------
TorbjornLunde
What is also really impressive is his speaking skills.

