Slashdot Mirror
Apple TV+ Includes A Muppet Who Codes (deadline.com)
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: While Apple CEO Tim Cook may not be able to force schoolchildren to code, there's no law against Cook and Apple using Sesame Street to make preschoolers want to code. Among the original Apple TV+ shows Cook announced at Apple's March Event was Helpsters, an "incredible new preschool show" about coding from "the peeps at Sesame Workshop and Apple."
In a skit on stage at the Steve Jobs Theater [available on YouTube], a Helpster monster from the new show named "Cody" (get it!) explains to Big Bird, "See, coding fosters collaboration, critical-thinking skills, and is an essential language that every child can learn. By teaching preschoolers about coding, we are giving them the opportunity to change the world."
One site described Cody as "a sociopathic tech recruiter muppet," complaining that "Teaching kids about technology is fine. But this is just creepy." They also objected to the show's targeting of pre-schoolers.
"From a developmental point of view, most experts agree very young children should be working on figuring out how to share their toys, not thinking about how to program them."
In a skit on stage at the Steve Jobs Theater [available on YouTube], a Helpster monster from the new show named "Cody" (get it!) explains to Big Bird, "See, coding fosters collaboration, critical-thinking skills, and is an essential language that every child can learn. By teaching preschoolers about coding, we are giving them the opportunity to change the world."
One site described Cody as "a sociopathic tech recruiter muppet," complaining that "Teaching kids about technology is fine. But this is just creepy." They also objected to the show's targeting of pre-schoolers.
"From a developmental point of view, most experts agree very young children should be working on figuring out how to share their toys, not thinking about how to program them."
A basic tenet of economics is that when there is a shortage, the price goes up; and when there is a surplus, the price goes down. We tend to think of this in terms of products available to buy or sell, but it applies to any commodity.
Programmers, and employees in general, are a commodity. Employers have to 'buy' them, so to speak, and for many employers, the employees are by far the greatest expense. Companies want to lower those costs and raise their profits.
The goal with all this 'everyone a coder' nonsense is to create a surplus of programmers worldwide. Programmers used to be expensive but not in the future. They'll compete hard to get a bare subsistence job. There will be programmers standing on street corners begging for alms.
This means your children. If you think they'll follow your footsteps and make good money in programming, think again.
...omphaloskepsis often...