| Paul on Tue, 3 Sep 2002 11:20:09 +0200 |
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My son, almost 3 1/2 now, has been using a PC for a long time. I *never* let him or any other youngster touch the laptop because I think the entire thing is too fragile. The only trouble my son has had with the PC was when I traded his old wheel for a new force feedback wheel. He has never had a problem using the Micro$oft Natural keyboard (the wife bought it) or the mouse. He even runs the CD-ROM. Although he doesn't care for the joystick, he knows how to do some aerobatics and entertainly, to him, crash an airplane into the ground. Nothing is bolted down in an unusual way. My speaker are mounted on the monitor and it is difficult to get behind the PC. One precaution: Never use front USB ports. It's is inevitable that the kid will step on it and break it off. Actually, you should avoid any external device unless it can be used as a game controller. I would recommend a drawing tablet. My son has used Linux, but he figured out that Windows is where the games are. Setting up Windows for single-click use had helped him to get started, but now he has trouble with double-clicking. Then again, so does my father. Don't get an expensive CD-ROM drive because eventually it will end up with some foreign object inside. The printer also has good places to store toys. I think kids benefit from power, quality, and stability. The idea of giving a kid the old hardware is backwards. Older people who just do some word processing should get the older hardware. Kids must run 2D and 3D games and video. I guess the CPU speed isn't as important as good and upgradable video and audio cards and carefully chosen input devices. Oh, as far as keyboards go, I saw a color coded keyboard at a computer show which I failed to buy. The keys were colored to help teach typing. So not only were the colors practical, but I'm sure the keyboard would appeal to kids. Demo games are good for getting a kid started. I have a program called BabyType which makes a different sound for each key that is pressed, and it will show either the key that was pressed to a different geometric pattern each time. It fun for everyone. (One time I put it on a technician's PC and set it to start at boot. He couldn't figure out how to stop it! All you have to do is right-click to get a menu to change preferences of exit the program. My son knew how to do that before he had teeth!) Oh, a subwoofer is a must. Not being able to hear the lower bass range is like not being able to see a certain color range. Imaging a monitor that can't display red. Basically, build a good multi-media/game machine. _________________________________________________________________________ Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org Announcements - http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce General Discussion -- http://lists.netisland.net/mailman/listinfo/plug
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