Build your own computer kit - feedback wanted - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: laureng
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 12, 2021, 07:47:38 am
content: Hi all,Recently I've been working on a build-your-own-computer kit, and a game that runs on the computer. It's meant to be a STEM education kit, although (like things like the Raspberry Pi), I think it might end up with a bit of an adult hobbyist following.Anyway, I'm looking to interview (via Zoom) parents with kids (school age) to get some feedback on the current prototype. I'll give you a demo and ask some basic questions (what do you like/dislike, what other kits have you bought for your kids, etc.) It should only take about 15-20 mins. If you're willing to help out, please DM me and we can organise a time. (I'm Australian, so this will be easier if you're also an antiopdean!)See below for a peek at the current prototype - currently all Veroboard goodness, but soon to have proper PCBs. As much as possible, it will be through-hole constructionI'm really looking forward to having something soon to send in to Dave for a mailbag teardown!Cheers,Lauren

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2021, 08:51:38 am
content: Good intention, but I don't think it'll sell.Looks too complicated for a kid to build, and most of the nowadays parents are overly protective. The parents nowadays literally hand-walk their kids to school daily, even in the secondary school and when the school is only 4 blocks away, they force the kids to wear a helmet and knee protection to ride a tricycle, etc, etc.Such parents won't allow the kids to work with a soldering iron, end even if they will allow, then when a kid will get its first little fingertip blister while learning to solder, the parents will probably want to sue you.The days when your grandpa gave you your first pocket knife at your 5thbirthday are long gone, I'm afraid.Then, the expectations from the nowadays kids are much higher. Even if they manage to build the kit, then the computer and/or the game most probably will suck. Keep in mind all the kids nowadays are already exposed to very addictive video games on PC, consoles or even mobile devices, with online multiplayer and breathtaking game art.The kit might look like a thrill for you, but not for a kid.That is why I don't think the kit will sell at all, but I sincerely admire your intention, good luck with it!

author: laureng
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 12, 2021, 10:31:07 am
content: Thanks for the feedback RoGeorge!There would certainly be different options for different ages and ability levels. Initially it will be a bare PCB (or one or more PCBs), and you'll solder everything yourself (large through-hole components) - that's probably for late primary to secondary students. I'd follow up with a version that is made up of pre-populated modules that you click together, for younger kids.Whether it's engaging enough is a reasonable concern, but I'm hoping it will be (with the software, think social and Internet-connected). I'm really marketing to parents, not the kids themselves, as the parents have money and are making the purchasing decisions (for younger kids, particularly). If there's one thing every parent with younger kids seems worried about it's privacy and safety online, so yes, there are more addictive/engaging things for kids to spend time on (Fortnite, TikTok...), but parents might welcome something to steer kids away from those other options and/or to see them spending less time on those things.L.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2021, 11:11:18 am
content: I wouldn't completely lose faith in tomorrow's generation. Every child is different. I have two nephews aged 7 and 9. Despite the existance of computer games, they both have old scool intrests. When I vist, the 7 year old always wants to spend hours kicking a football around with me and the older child, wants to go fishing. I take terns, otherwise there's an arguement. I've also managed to get them to play with lighting some LEDs, with a battery. I didn't get them to solder anything. I just soldered some wires and suitable resistors to some cheap 5mm LEDs and secured/insulated the connections with heatshrink.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2021, 12:51:52 pm
content: Just to make myself clear, the kids are OK.It's the theme of the project. That's what's not suited for the kids of 2020. The theme is rather for the kids of 1970.Why would a nowadays kid want to build a vintage digital computer? That's clearly a father's wish, not the kid's. Kids are not fascinated with TTL and THT. They were not yet born back then, and they can not relate with what was hot during the 70's. Vintage tech is meaningless for them. Would I want today to take farrier classes and learn about horseshoes? Most probably not, but my grandpa might have had thought that's an interesting and educative workshop.Kids are fascinated by what's hot today, or about the tech of the future, not by the dust of the past.

author: Omega Glory
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2021, 05:02:01 pm
content: Quote from: RoGeorge on July 12, 2021, 12:51:52 pmAs a former kid, I must respectfully disagree. I believe there are a good subset of kids/teens who are really interested in how digital electronics works on a low level. Yes, Arduinos and Raspberry Pis might allow us to build impressive projects things quickly, but they do so by abstracting us away from many of the underlying principals of electronics and computer engineering. Kids are curious, and so I think a lot of us would jump at the opportunity to see just what's going inside that little black microcontroller chip, and to make one from scratch with TTL parts.For example, when I was a kid (I'm in my early 20's now), I really looked up to this high schooler who build awesome computers from 74xx parts:I thought it was the coolest thing to know exactly how things were working on that level.I wasn't aware of Ben Eater's videos till after I was a kid, but would have been *exactly* the sort of information I would have loved to have access to at the time. Providing a kit to do something similar, like the OP is proposing, I think is a very cool idea. (https://eater.net)And lastly, speaking from personal experience, one of my favorite projects when I was a teen, was building a robot from 74xx parts and an 8-bit CPU:https://ezrasrobots.wordpress.com/2016/12/03/the-robot-pet/The project was from a book published in 1979, "How to Build Your Own Working Robot Pet"So in conclusion, I don't think that kids these days only care about what's hot now, it's just that there isn't a lot of new polished information on older tech out there. Ben Eater's videos are a really great contribution, and something like this kit could be as well.

author: Labrat101
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 13, 2021, 07:03:14 pm
content: Looks like you just Reinvented the Sinclair ZX81 .That came as a kit option was a great 5 minute wonder and died .But it was a great little toy with a tape recorder to load & save .I built a Tel Tennis that did the same way back in the 80s with a AY chipdid exactly the same with the weird text ..Most kid now can buy a Box ,mother board , SSD Hdd & graphic card and have a working computer in about an hour with all the cool flashy leds etc .without soldering iron . Plug & Play . We sell a lot of computers like this .The kids come into the shop with their parents with a list of what they want.I think your project is cool but 40 years late . 1980/90 Yes .. 2021 No .If it had been a Quantum computer you would be well in.Sorry no hard feeling