Ask Slashdot: Best Computer For a 7-Year Old?

First time accepted submitter Boldizar writes "My son turns seven next month and I'd like to buy him a cheap computer. I'm looking for the Slashdot hivemind opinion on what would be the best computer for a child. I'm looking for a computer that will teach him basic computer literacy, and hopefully one wherein the guts are a bit exposed so that he can learn how a computer works rather than just treating it like a magic object (i.e., iPad) – but that would still keep him interested and without leaving him behind in school. For the same reason, I prefer a real keyboard so he can learn to type. I don't know enough about computers to frame the question intelligently. Perhaps something in the $300 range that would be the computer equivalent of an old mechanical car engine? Another way to think about it: I'm looking for the computer equivalent of teaching my son how to survive in the forest should the zombie apocalypse ever come."

Comments

First...why?

[MindPrison]

Firstly, I'd ask you WHY you'd want him to learn anything in particular, than - everything?

A computer is just ONE part of his life, if you want him to be "computer smart", you know...understand todays technology, just give into his curiosity, it's very dangerous to "force" a kid into anything, it's better to just let them stumble upon anything in their way, and support them there any way you can.

I'm sure it will come naturally. If he's a gamer, let him play with consoles.
If he's curious how these things are made, introduce him to a computer with a simple Programming IDE set up for him...like Python and SDL. (Just like we grew up with C64 and basic, you know...)

etc..

Even better

[AliasMarlowe]

Pick one: a PC or a circular slide rule...
Seriously, a 7-year-old has too much to learn about almost everything. He is better off with his own account on a shared PC (e.g. a family PC, where our kids started), where he can dabble and can sometimes look over an adult's shoulder. Give him his own PC, and he's likely to still want to use the same one as dad or mom.

Re:Even better

[hairyfeet]

Well I gave my boys their own PCs around 8 or 9, somewhere in there, but to be fair I was working at a PC shop at the time and we had shitloads of the Compaq SFF deskpro so it was easy enough to just get the boss to hand me a couple.

I'd say the way to teach kids about computers is the carrot and not the stick. Too many people try to overload them and make it as boring as any other class and just kill the fun. I loaded them up with emulators filled with killer games and when they asked "How can this play NES games without it being a NES? And where is the cartridge?" it was THEN that I started explaining how one chip could be emulated by another, and how they were all computers.

Kids are curious creatures so you expose them and soon enough they'll be the ones asking the questions. Because there was all that "ZOMFG DOOM teaches kids to be killers!" crap in the news I used that as a perfect excuse to give a lesson, so I stuck their pictures on the walls of a DOOM level. Of course they thought that was cool as hell and wanted to know how I did trhat. That led to a nice long lesson on how to edit games, and how games at their heart are nothing but collections of skins and artwork that when put together give the illusion of enemies smart enough to dodge you. It was quite educational and instead of being bored they were rapid firing questions a mile a minute.

So whatever you do make it FUN and let them come to YOU, don't try to force it down their throats. That way they are learning at their own pace and aren't overloaded with ideas they aren't ready for.

How about books?

[man_of_mr_e]

Or a better idea..

For $300 you buy a shitload of books, especially if you go to the used book store.

Re:How about books?

[Kittenman]

Or a better idea..

For $300 you buy a shitload of books, especially if you go to the used book store.

Damn right. Get him to share your PC, and buy him a set of Harry Potter/Tarzan/. Computer nerds are a dime-a-dozen. People who can use both language and a computer sensibly are harder to find.

However, this is /. - no doubt someone will soon suggest that you give the kid a block of metal and a smelter and get him to make his own PC the hard way, the way they did it.

Re:dude you're getting an old dell

[ColdWetDog]

I'm not so sure I like the idea of a 7 year old opening a desktop machine with mains voltages available.

Unless it's a dedicated battery system (say a Raspberry Pi) I would not allow a 7 year old unfettered access to any hardware. Too dangerous.

If the goal is to teach a kid about basic electronics / logic or similar, the Lego Mindstorm sounds like a much better idea.