Computer Engineering for Babies (2021) | Hacker News Reader

Computer Engineering for Babies (2021)

computerengineeringforbabies.com

207 pointsvarjag63 comments

Both my 5 year old and my 2 year old have a copy of this, and both of them love it for different reasons.

But presumably this was actually posted because the sequel, Computer Engineering for Big Babies[0] will be available imminently?

[0]: https://computerengineeringforbabies.com/products/computer-e...

Fun fact about the sequel, it comes with a sticker that says "kids" that can optionally be used to cover up the Babies label, for those children who'd refuse to pick up anything that is targeted at babies :)

The first book came with a bunch of stickers, saying "monsters", "kids", and some other funny ones I don't remember. (My sister gifted it to my 1yo daughter. I mostly enjoyed explaining to everyone who would listen how the latch circuit worked, and what it was for ...)

I backed both books, and both times there were some production issues—this time around, with two _switches_ instead of two buttons (so four possible states, more complex hardware, etc.), the production timeline has extended a few extra times.

It's all much harder once you target child-proof design, especially since things like page lamination get tricky! It's been fun to watch and learn from (though I'm certain less fun on the production side) as someone who tracks a lot of hardware projects.

Probably on purpose to show kids a bit what the real world is like.

Yeah I ordered a few, but filled out the form with "I don't need them before Christmas". But I got a message recently saying they're on their way now!

We got our copy of the sequel in time for Christmas. It was my 2 year old’s second favorite gift (after her gigantic stuffed cat of course)

We got the new book here already. The switches feel a bit confusing as input on some of the pages, but it's fun for the kids to make the colorful less blink regardless.

Frankly I posted it because am considering it for our 2yo and wanted some reviews not from the seller website :)

Oh, yeah, it's great! A no-brainer if you're a computer nerd with young children :)

So I'm not a morning person. As a new parent of a 1-year-old, I realized I can get an extra 45 minutes of sleep in the morning by leaving books in our baby's crib for her to look through when she wakes up. One night I left Computer Engineering for Babies in there, and after waking the next morning I looked on the baby monitor and I saw her turning the pages of the book, methodically pressing both buttons for the AND gate, one button at a time for the OR gate, etc. It was probably one of my proudest father moments so far. She was about 18 months at that point, and I hadn't seen her really understand the gates before.

This makes me so happy. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hey, this is my book! Thanks for sharing! I just posted an update today to all the backers about the the sequel for Big Babies book. I'm hoping to start shipping in the next couple weeks.

Just a quick note - I added both the books and checked out immediately from the two different urls in the comments and placed the order - before going to the home page. There was a discount option if you buy both the books together - which it did not apply at the checkout. So if you are buying both the books, do it from the homepage. Great job on the product as well as the webpage!

My daughter (3) loves this book and figured out how to cover the holes for more combinations and “errors”.

My wife bought this for our 6 year old when he was 3 and he loved it. She also bought a bunch of the other science books for babies. He insisted that I read "general relativity for babies" multiple times every night for months. He loved that I used a bendable surface to demonstrate warping space with mass. I was actually blown away that he was understanding the concepts, which I credit the books for. Adults love these books, too. Hell, for what it's worth I have a science degree and I love these books. YouTube has videos of the author reading each book if you want to preview them. I thought they were going to be a gimmick and useless, but I recommend checking them out.

My little boy has loved them since ~12 months. He doesn’t get the concepts, of course, but they are [1] so well written with the infant, and the adult reader, in mind. And one day he will get the concepts earlier than I ever did.

His first word was “ball”.

[1] well, most of them

I was particularly impressed by the clear explanations in 'statistical physics for babies'.

When I first saw this book I immediately bought 3 copies, one for my kid and two for friends kids.

And now... Computer Engineering for BIG babies is about to come out! Includes a mux, decoder, shift register, and addressable memory. I have already pre-ordered a pair set for a friend of mine.

I am not affiliated with the author... my wife jokes that they have clearly found product-market fit with me.

It's a great book, my daughter loves it. I was pretty chuffed when she figured out the AND gate needs both buttons pressed at once. I'm not entirely sure she's sussed XOR yet though.

Perfect gift—I know a lot of tiger parents in Mountain View and Santa Clara eager to benefit from getting their kids onto the computer science track as fast as humanly possible. Maybe a good primer prior to Coding Camp. They’ll be able to work toward CS at Berkeley or Stanford faster than they can say heap sort.

Computer Engineering for Babies - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32507243 - Aug 2022 (1 comment)

Computer Engineering for Babies Book - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28660967 - Sept 2021 (18 comments)

Computer Engineering for Babies Book - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28391626 - Sept 2021 (5 comments)

This book taught me that a flip-flop is sometimes called a latch ;). Not just for babies apparently

Pedantic: A flipflop and a latch are different, but similar.

Latches are set high or low whenever the corresponding input is pressed.

Flipflops are edge-triggered, and in most setups only change at a clock cycle. One way to construct a flipflop is by wiring several latches together - see figure 11 of this pdf: https://www.cs.ucr.edu/~ehwang/courses/cs120b/flipflops.pdf

I had a niggling feeling they were different (realized after I posted) and I would get some reading. I haven't taken an EE course in a long time and miss it. Thank you!

And reading up after this comment led to me learning some people make a distinction that latches are level triggered and flip-flops are edge triggered.

I think I remember my digital logic professor using both. I don't recall there ever being a clear cut distinction like edge vs level set being made though. I wish I still had my notes.

they're not the same though?

I've been out of EE for like 15 years so I forget exactly how, but I don't think they're the same.

edit: yup sibling comment has it, that was what I was forgetting

I have this book, my son loves it. Also nice for adults, since you'll re-read it 100 times.

Do babies actually get anything out of this or its just fun pressing the buttons?

For a baby I think those two things are the same thing

For actual babies it's the same thing but my daughter and I had a lot of fun with this when she was 2&3. She is 4 now and making pretty decent progress on snapcircuts and precoding. I give this book at least some credit for getting both her and I started. I think it's a fun book regardless.

We're going have to wait a bit longer for the long term effects of this book on babies, but I remain hopeful

Is there a toy for older kids (9-14yo?) that would allow creating a higher level computer? I'm thinking about composable gates, shifters, adders, etc. I want a physical object (not software).

My kids are past basic soldering and playing with LED's and resistors, but below the fully abstracted programming and simulation. Is there something in-between?

That’s old enough for breadboards and discrete components, as well as microcontroller projects. Check out Adafruit for little project kits.

I'm surprised by the praise here. I got a few books with similar titles from the library like physics for babies, rocket science for babies, etc and I thought they were all pretty lame. This one does look neat and I see the author is different. I'll have to check it out.

I don't have one, but this one has buttons and lights - I think my kids would have liked it when they were younger.

Completely different. But I think the other ones you mention are great too,

My 2 yr old button-obsessed daughter loves this book so much. One of my all time favorite children books. It’s such a creative concept! I believe the guy that put it together is currently crowdfunding for an advanced engineering for babies edition.

Gizmos with buttons, lights and moving parts that does complicated mysterious stuff seems an under explored source of interesting toy variants.

Got this for 11mo old daughter. She likes to play with books, but doesn't have the dexterity to push the button with a finger quite yet. She can with her palm though - would be nice if the buttons were somehow easier to press.

Otherwise fun toy!

My 2 year old absolutely loves this book. A great thing to keep in the toilet for bathroom training!

She loves the lights and how the buttons change their function. An expensive book but a great gift!

I got this - I loved the idea of it. But my younger kid was on the edge of the age for it and outgrew it quickly. So now a friend's kid is enjoying it.

I'd be thrilled to see a blog post catering to DIY enthusiasts eager to delve into this and explore building this from the ground up.

Our copy kind of broke for no apparent reason. Light randomly flickers blue. Bit disappointed given the price and intended audience.

I'm not sure if this will help since it sounds a bit different than what I experienced, but try changing the battery. Our copy had some odd behavior when it started dying, but hadn't completely failed yet.

Yeah, this is a known issue with the light flickering on the cover page. Send me an email and I can get you a replacement.

Just to update this thread and correct myself. The book is absolutely fine. The problem was we were using it at bedtime with dimmed bedroom lighting. When we turn the bedroom lights back on, the book works fine again!

Is it that the reflection of the already-on LED (or maybe external light at the right angle) is hitting the sensor used for NOT and then creating a feedback loop to keep the light on when the switch isn't pressed? This happened a few times, and either changing the ambient light or holding the book tightly shut will resolve the issue on my copy.

edit: because the author is here, thanks for the book: an interesting idea and well-executed. Daughter doesn't mind the front page blue LED. I am more amused than annoyed: even a two-transistor circuit needs debugging sometimes.

I can attest my copy has the same error- the blue light page is the NOT gate, which doesn't require a button press. Perhaps a dying battery or decalibrating light sensor thinks it's on the NOT page?

Same here. Both copies I ordered were not working on arrival. I tried to switch the batteries but they were really stuck in there (can’t easily remove them without bending/breaking), eventually got them out and replaced them but one of the copies still didn't work. Reached out to the creator but he just said try swapping the batteries. I still think the idea of the book is great, just wish the execution and support were better.

Reach out to me again and I can get you a replacement.

Have your baby fix it.

Did you reach out to the creator? They know there are some QA issues and claim to be good at sending replacements or fixes.

I have a baby and was just yesterday wondering if something like this exists!

1. Babies cannot read

2. Babies are in a sensorimotor stage of development and are not capable of symbolic reasoning

3. If you extend the term "baby" to toddlers, they are in the preoperational stage of development and are also uncapable of symbolic reasoning

Therefore, the book is not for babies.

As a parent of a toddler, I can assure you anything with lights and buttons is for babies -- but perhaps for a different reason than you're imagining.

Yes, the like lights and such but will have no idea what a logic gate is.

I don't follow, surely a toddler can experiment and "understand" that if the page has this funny-looking symbol then the light turns on only if both the buttons are pressed?

Yeah I honestly wish the book was not labeled "for babies" because I think it would be fun for my 9 year old nephew but it 1) will probably offend a primary school aged child to be called a baby, you know how they are 2) it would be far more educational for the children who actually have a hope of understanding the puzzles if it also assumed some reading ability and therefore contained short explanations.

That's the joke, yes.

i was planning to make this like forever. I think it will turn out fantastic when they age. Good work, high praise!

I love it!

I read it as "for Barbies"

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