{"id":434,"date":"2007-04-24T08:44:59","date_gmt":"2007-04-23T23:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-04-24\/434"},"modified":"2007-04-24T08:44:59","modified_gmt":"2007-04-23T23:44:59","slug":"computer-for-a-four-year-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-04-24\/434","title":{"rendered":"Computer for a Four-Year-Old"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
<\/a>Computers Can Be So Vexing<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Yesterday when Anthony got home from preschool, he runs in and says\n“Daddy, Daddy, I want to<\/span> build a computer.<\/span>” Now, I don't<\/span> know where he got\nthis idea about building a computer,<\/span> but when Anthony says “I want<\/span> to\nbuild...,” it really means “I want<\/span> you to build for me...” He's fully\ncapable of building things by himself, as evidenced by the highway construction\nproject<\/a> from the other day, but when he actually pre-announces that he\nwants to build something, he's really telling me to do it.<\/p>\n\n

I sort of thought the request was a bit<\/span> odd, since he doesn't really use\nthe computer much. Once a month<\/span> or so he plays some of the wonderful\nactivities at the Nick\nJr.<\/a> UK site (which has activities appropriate for kids as young as two;\na great<\/span> resource). Other than that, his only interaction with the computer\nis to watch me.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, I didn't think he'd understand if I replied<\/span> truthfully that\n“Daddy is a software<\/span> guy, I'm not a<\/span> hardware engineer,” so I put<\/span> on my best\nMacGyver hat and built him a computer<\/span> from random things lying around the\nhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>Anthony's New Computer<\/span><\/div>\n\n

It features a Lego block for the mouse, a piece<\/span> of cardboard for the\nkeyboard, yarn for the wires, and a plastic<\/span> tool case for the monitor (the\ncase being part of a Christmas<\/span> present from his Aunt Chickee and Uncle\nMikey). He can tape<\/span> pictures to the monitor to change what he's working on. To get him<\/span> started with that, I gave him<\/span> a salad<\/span> dressing advertisement and\nan old catalog of photographic equipment filled with random pictures.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Computers Can<\/i> Be Fun!<\/span><\/div>\n\n

It's a pretty advanced system, comparable in may respects to my new Dell<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Its main feature is 4 gigabytes<\/i> of quad-core imagination, which he puts to extensive use.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Staring Intently at Nothing but a Screen<\/span> Full of Imagination<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Not long after starting his “work,” we had this conversation:<\/p>\n\n\n
Anthony:<\/td>I'm going to send something.<\/b><\/td><\/tr>\n
me:<\/td>To Mommy?<\/td><\/tr>\n
Anthony:<\/td>No, to Shimada-san<\/i><\/a>.<\/b><\/td><\/tr>\n
<\/td>... slight pause...<\/small><\/i><\/td><\/tr>\n
<\/td>I think<\/span> we're going to need a printer!<\/span><\/b><\/td><\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n

I cut some slots in a used tissue box, and we had our printer.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Why Don't These Things Ever Work?<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>Hardware Upgrade<\/span><\/div>\n\n

He found the initial configuration to be a bit<\/span> lacking, so we had to\nmake a few<\/span> additions. Above, he's adding a button<\/span> that automatically\ncontacts the fire department. We also added<\/span> a power<\/span> button, and a delete<\/span>\nkey.<\/p>\n\n

Below, he's using the delete key. Maybe he was reading email, and clearing out spam?<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Exercising the “Delete” Key<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

More proof that his experience with computers is mostly from watching me.....<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I fully<\/span> expect him to come home some day soon with “Daddy, I want to<\/span> build a camera!<\/span>”<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday when Anthony got home from preschool, he runs in and says \"Daddy, Daddy, I want to build a computer.\" Now, I don't know where he got this idea about building a computer, but when Anthony says \"I want to build...,\" it really means \"I want you to build for me...\" He's fully capable of building things by himself, as evidenced by the highway construction project from the other day, but when he actually pre-announces that he wants to build something, he's really telling me to do it.<\/p>

I sort of thought the request was a bit odd, since he [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}