On: Why is computer science a sausage fest?

[dieterrams]

> I think the thing that pulls kids in is the creativity of the games and the effect that the game has on them.

This is absolutely what pulls kids into games. What pulls kids into knowledge about computers is the realization that better hardware means they can play "better" games. This means they wind up with a pretty good conceptual map of computers at an early age. That gives them a huge advantage at programming over someone who just sees computers as a black box.

[slackito → dieterrams]

>That gives them a huge advantage at programming over someone who just sees computers as a black box.

Nowadays most videogames are played in consoles, which are effectively black boxes (except for some very experienced hackers).