Conversation

Notices

1. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 11:55:17 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen
   Should I get my son a #Pi-Top for his birthday, or a desktop #raspi + breadboard + grab bag of components?
   1. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 12:29:13 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen

      in reply to
      It sounds like a big part of the draw to the #Pi-Top is supposed to be the curricular material + custom OS + other software that comes with it, but after further research it also sounds like `we'd end up throwing most of that crap away'...
   2. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 12:30:55 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen

      in reply to
      Descriptions of the curricular material varies between "21 projects!", "20+ projects!", "these 3 projects!", and "a video game that teaches you things!". But there's never any actual description of the "20+", just the 3.
   3. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 12:33:56 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen

      in reply to
      So presumably the other "17+" are things that come from "CEED Universe" and the other game(s) that are preinstalled.
   4. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 12:46:04 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen

      in reply to
      The few actual reviews that I see of the #Pi-Top edugame software (+ the bug-reports in their issue-tracker) seem to indicate `it doesn't actually work all that well, the team isn't doing a great job developing/maintaining it, and it's not #open-source so nobody else can fix the bugs when their kids run into them'. "curriculum that can't be adapted or fixed" has always seemed like !education #fail....
   5. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 12:47:02 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen

      in reply to
      So I guess that leaves the value of the #Pi-top software load as "It comes with Minecraft!"?
   6. Joshua Judson Rosen (rozzin@status.hackerposse.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Apr-2018 12:53:53 EDT Joshua Judson Rosen

      in reply to
      The idea of `travel kit #raspi' does lend a certain appeal to the #Pi-Top #hardware, similarly to realization from #OLPC that kids really do need to be able to take their !education tools with them. Wondering why nobody seems to be talking about that.