Computers for children

At 02:34 PM 1/12/99 -0800, you wrote: Uh-oh, here goes Uncle Roger again... There are a lot of *really* good educational programs out there nowadays. Davidson, Learning Company, Br0derbund are some good names. They can really help kids get ahead. My niece is already reading at 4yo thanks to Interactive Reading Journey. (Not a record by any stretch, but no one is really pushing her.) I could go on for hours, but I won't... The younger the kid, the more they need graphics capability. Teenagers don't really need it, no matter how much they beg for it (they just want to visit whitehouse.com). Or a Mac IIci, both of which will require access to older software. Pentium or PowerPC is required for much of the good stuff you see at places like ChumpUSA. Used parts can be put together into a low-end/slow pentium for probably a lot less than $500, but that's still more than $10 + shipping. And for a dedicated task like learning a bit of programming, playing with some graphics, and a few games, a C64/Atari 800/Apple II would be fine. Also, BASIC, as maligned as it is, is useful for learning; I applied my BASIC experience to make learning PERL a snap. (And BASIC is very useful in its own right.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/