On 15-Sep-06, at 8:24 AM, Kevin Driscoll wrote: > For the first case, I think it unreasonable to try to recreate the > experience of programming BASIC on a C64 (like Brin) or an Apple // > (like me.) But what can we learn from it? Can we abstract the > curiosity, and challenge/reward systems of that earlier experience to > help us create contemporary situations of similar value?
Python, Ruby, Perl and AppleScript come standard on every Mac (also AppleScript Studio and a full suite of professional programming tools, but those are an optional install). Python comes standard on every Linux distro that I know of. Windows no longer comes with a programming language, which is a marketing decision on Microsoft's behalf. Brin appears to be extrapolating from Windows the the rest of the computing world (even though he specifically mentions the Mac). Oddly enough, we're in the middle of a renaissance of the kind of build-it-yourself computing environments that he complains is missing, thanks to Make magazine. Embedded programming environments like the Arduino board[1] have never been more accessible, you can write code directly over the web in languages like Frink[2], and more consumer devices are intended to be user-hackable, for example the Roomba[3], Lego Mindstorms[4], the soon-to-be-released Chumby[5], and the Nokia 770 tablet[6]. I have to agree with others on this list, there's an embarrassment of riches to choose from. My biggest puzzle is which environments to teach my kids first. [1] http://arduino.cc/en/ [2] http://futureboy.homeip.net/frinkdocs/FrinkApplet.html [3] http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=248 [4] http://mindstorms.lego.com/Overview/NXTreme.aspx [5] http://www.chumby.com/corporate/whatischumby [6] http://opensource.nokia.com/projects/maemo/index.html --Dethe Simple things should be declarative. Complex things should be procedural. --Adam Bosworth _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
