Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Have you considered how you might feel about your children modeling circuits or hardware in minecraft? Disk drives, memory controllers, and calculators have all been implemented in Redstone circuits, which seem to be an even deeper level than most consumer grade circuitry-tinkering lets one do.

Moreover, there's less exposure to solder vapors, no chance of burning, and an ability to undo/redo, not to mention show it off to their friends or to you in a "cool" way.

Imagine how much your son might like it if you were to let him wire up more than LEDs, and instead do things like create a castle or amusement park or train system controlled with in-minecraft circuits.




> no chance of burning

where I work, they let children work with soldering irons too, and at first I very much wondered about the safety of this.

turns out, soldering irons aren't all that hot to do serious damage[0]. the worst they can generally do is a minor first-degree[1] burn wound and a seriously valuable learning experience.

what remains is a chance of fire hazard if they forget to switch things off. this obviously is a parent/teacher's responsibility.

(btw I agree with your general point, this is just an addition, from experience)

[0] unless you poke them in the eye, but there are a lot of objects you shouldn't poke in someone's eye.

[1] it takes some effort to get a second degree burn from a soldering iron, it can be done in theory, by accident, I've never seen it.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: