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Comment by protomyth | Hacker News Reader

I really think we have lost something since those days since a computer you can program cannot be gotten in the under $200 category.

// I suppose somewhere there is an example, but nothing I've seen in a big box store

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$200 in (say) 1985 ~= $400 in 2011. You can get a computer you can program for $400, and it will be a lot more capable than a Commodore 64.

That nice an all, but I'm pretty sure a lot of kids could afford the $200 and not the $400. Technology is supposed to be cheaper and not a doubling.

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough? Inflation means that $200 in 1985 is, for most practical purposes, the equivalent of $400 now. Prices now are about double what they were then. Salaries now are about double what they were then. The number of children who could afford $200 then is probably comparable to the number who can afford $400 now.

I get what your saying, but $400 is still a lot of money today for a lot of people including those not in the US. Other consumer electronic devices have dropped in price, but the entry point for a new computer has stratified into price tiers with the sub $200 being ignored.

Even the C64 or Atari 400 were not in the price range of many people. Spreading the entry point for children / teens to become programmers has taken a hit.

Given the down votes, it makes me wonder if people were really concerned with OLPC's goals or just wanted a cute laptop for themselves. We seriously need to fill the low niches so smart, poor children have an opportunity to get into programming and explore like some of us more privileged people did.

Oh, you sure can get a programmable computer for under $200. I've been wanting to get one of these for some time now: http://www.norhtec.com/products/mcjrmx/index.html

With a hard drive, you can use it as a small, efficient and silent home server.

May I suggest Pandaboard[1]? Or if the availability of PandaBoard is an issue, there's the slightly older BeagleBoard xM[2].

[1] http://pandaboard.org/ [2] http://beagleboard.org/hardware-xM

If you're lucky, you can find a low-end netbook on clearance at Best Buy or the like for $199.

Other than that, you do seem to have to go digging online. Deeply.

yep. Before the phone app era, I hoped someone would try to pull a Sinclair, Atari, or Commodore and introduce a cheap computer based on Linux (well, I was hoping one of the BSDs but still) with a HDMI output. Something that could be programmed, surf the web, and play some games. Heck, a box with a JVM and minimum OS (JavaOS at the time) would have been fine.

(Shrug) I can't work up much sympathy for this argument, when I can buy Pentium laptops running Win2K at local hamfests for $50.

So, if your living in an urban area that has a large base of people selling old stuff you are good. If that isn't available to you then you have problems. That leaves out a lot of kids who could have been programmers.

Sorry, not buying it. If you let hardware or software availability stand in your way, you were never going to be a programmer anyway, or at least not a very good one.

Yeah, I guess the world needs ditch diggers too. Cannot let little things like life circumstances get in the way. Maybe we should require all programming tools to be $1,000, that would make sure we only get the best programmers.

I will bet some child who could have been a better programmer than you or I is out there and never will be because of cost, and I think that is a great loss to us all.

Cannot let little things like life circumstances get in the way.

Nope, not ones as trivial as that. "But I can't afford a computer" is a ridiculous excuse, no matter how you spin it. My first computer cost $1500 in 1982 dollars, and we were by no means a wealthy family. If you can't afford a computer today, then you have more pressing concerns, like getting enough to eat.

I was one of the lucky ones, admittedly. John Carmack had to resort to stealing his first Apple II from a computer store. Genius finds a way, I guess.

If you could afford $1,500 in 1982 for a computer for yourself, then your family was well off. There is a level of income you seem to miss above poverty and below what you had. A level where the family was fed and clothed, but $1500 would have been for a car, not a computer. Working the summer or picking can is not going to get to the $1,500.

The thought that stealing is "finding a way", but raising honest kids results in missed opportunities is appalling.

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