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Comment by LambdaBoy | Hacker News Reader

What exactly are kids learning with this?

How to connect cables? How to put together a box? Are you preparing them for a life in manufacturing?

This is a product for children and people who find computers intimidating. It's meant as a fun introduction to computers and programming.

Your comment is like complaining that a LEGO helicopter isn't a real helicopter, and that kids who build them are simply learning how to follow instructions.

I guess it's just in the name.

If someone said to me "build your own computer kit, for kids!" it would invoke a vision of some sort of breadboard/pre printed circuit board, with modules or blocks that you would slot into places the instructions said and told the child what each bit did, even if it was in fluffy language that a child could at least warm to.

So the CPU would go in one slot, the memory in the other etc.

I know this is EXACTLY how people build gaming PC's right now, but I'm thinking a lot more basic, cheaper and "kid friendly"

I'm not an electrical engineer though so I'm not really sure of the limitations of how this could/probably would not work.

I agree that that would be more honest, if it's possible - maybe this company could add something like that to their product line. I just think that, although it isn't technically correct, non-tech parents would probably consider this "building a computer", and if their goal is to open their children's minds to computers this will probably do a great job.

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