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geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: trievalot on Tue, 23 March 2010, 03:20:33

Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: trievalot on Tue, 23 March 2010, 03:20:33
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Crayola-EZ-Type-USB-Keyboard-Big-Colourful_W0QQitemZ110510735581QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Input_Peripherals?hash=item19baf400dd

Are these any good? Im assuming rubber dome (even though there are pictures of Cherries all over the listing!!! :-?)

I need to get my 3.75 year old a computer to play with and this seems a good start.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: Half-Saint on Tue, 23 March 2010, 04:13:30
Comic Sans MS! Ahhhh! My eyes!!!1one
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: Mental Hobbit on Tue, 23 March 2010, 05:16:28
None of my business and I don't even have kids... but I sense $50 worth of Legos would be both more fun and more educational for a 4yo than this ridiculously overpriced crap.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: trievalot on Tue, 23 March 2010, 06:45:55
already got plenty of blocks and other toys......and always wanting to play with my keyboard/s

but i get the point.....start him young on quality switches right?
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: Half-Saint on Tue, 23 March 2010, 06:58:13
Give him a C64 to play with :)
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: Mental Hobbit on Tue, 23 March 2010, 06:59:48
Probably because they're YOUR keyboards. So you'll have to use that POS yourself in order to whet his interest. Have fun. ;P
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: trievalot on Tue, 23 March 2010, 07:05:34
Quote from: Half-Saint;166294
Give him a C64 to play with :)


Exactly what my wife said!!!
time to troll ebay some more
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: hyperlinked on Tue, 23 March 2010, 07:23:40
If that keyboard sells, I'm going to quit my business and just sell those things for $49.99AU online! That keyboard sells for $20US at my local electronics store. I've played with it too. The only thing I remember about it is that it's hard to type on because the keys are so large.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: microsoft windows on Tue, 23 March 2010, 13:53:36
What would a 3-year-old do with a computer anyway? Most 3 year old's I've seen can't even read.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: itlnstln on Tue, 23 March 2010, 13:57:54
Quote from: microsoft windows;166355
What would a 3-year-old do with a computer anyway? Most 3 year old's I've seen can't even read.

They post on Geekhack under the moniker of an OS.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: hyperlinked on Tue, 23 March 2010, 14:48:33
Quote from: itlnstln;166359
They post on Geekhack under the moniker of an OS.

I know it's lame to do this, but I just gotta for this one...
LOL!
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: ch_123 on Tue, 23 March 2010, 19:16:25
Quote from: itlnstln;166359
They post on Geekhack under the moniker of an OS.

Yeeeeeoooouuuccchhhh! An absolute masterpiece.

That keyboard clearly has beam springs.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: InSanCen on Tue, 23 March 2010, 19:22:10
Quote from: microsoft windows;166355
What would a 3-year-old do with a computer anyway? Most 3 year old's I've seen can't even read.


I know a 3yr old that can give most Casual gamers a run for their money at UT99... admittedly, his dad is *very* good at it, amongst other FPS's. His older brother can build a PC faster than I can to the point of needing an OS. He's 5, and I've been doing this since the mid 80's.

Remember, most kids these days are around PC's etc from birth. Unlike us, they are not anything cool or unusual to them, they are just there. It's not so much learning, but absorbing the information from constant exposure. My 2 year old is very aware of what the Mouse does (Move the arrow on the screen, makes things "noisy" (She launched Audacious a few days ago), and I daresay it won't be that long until she figures out how to do some things deliberatly.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: ch_123 on Tue, 23 March 2010, 19:29:15
Surely if there's a problem with young kids not being able to read, then surely efforts should be made to tackle this issue, possibly using those 'computer' things that educational experts are always on about but never have found a worthwhile use for.

EDIT: Has anyone else noticed that MW's profile pic is a disembowled rabbit?
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: kishy on Tue, 23 March 2010, 19:48:56
Quote from: ch_123;166442
Surely if there's a problem with young kids not being able to read, then surely efforts should be made to tackle this issue, possibly using those 'computer' things that educational experts are always on about but never have found a worthwhile use for.

EDIT: Has anyone else noticed that MW's profile pic is a disembowled rabbit?

How long's that pic been like that?

I think MW adds some character to the site...in the same way that I do, I guess, just generally less reserved and usually with a Republican perspective (and we know what I think of Republicans, but MW uses Windows so he must be OK in my book :) ).

As for reading...I was exposed to computers only in school until around age 11-12 when I got my first computer. Prior to that and after, and continuing still I've had excellent reading skills...something I'm forever grateful to my family and education for. I know people my age (20) who can't read worth crap (I mean fluently, and understand what they read, and get through a sentence in a matter of seconds instead of minutes)...it's such an important skill to have.

I'm not entirely sure computers can be used to replace a good book...there's just something about the 'tactile experience'. It would certainly be nice to see them used more to that end in schools though...improving literacy.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: TexasFlood on Tue, 23 March 2010, 20:03:41
Quote from: ch_123;166442
EDIT: Has anyone else noticed that MW's profile pic is a disembowled rabbit?

Looks like one of the bunnies that weren't faster than my beagle, or the other bunnies.  Still I didn't take pictures of those.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: EverythingIBM on Tue, 23 March 2010, 20:08:23
Quote from: kishy;166446
How long's that pic been like that?

I think MW adds some character to the site...in the same way that I do, I guess, just generally less reserved and usually with a Republican perspective (and we know what I think of Republicans, but MW uses Windows so he must be OK in my book :) ).

As for reading...I was exposed to computers only in school until around age 11-12 when I got my first computer. Prior to that and after, and continuing still I've had excellent reading skills...something I'm forever grateful to my family and education for. I know people my age (20) who can't read worth crap (I mean fluently, and understand what they read, and get through a sentence in a matter of seconds instead of minutes)...it's such an important skill to have.

I'm not entirely sure computers can be used to replace a good book...there's just something about the 'tactile experience'. It would certainly be nice to see them used more to that end in schools though...improving literacy.


Some of the literature I read is so rare, it's not in google anywhere (which makes me want to head down to the library of congress to obtain microfilms of other books I'm just itching to read).

Computers are great for reading: The age of empire series was so amazing for my vocabulary, I could spell "Phalanx" and no one else in my class even knew what that was: I kept asking my dad so many questions about Carthage and how it was involved with Rome... and don't forget the Assyrians, or the Hittites. It didn't help that the game randomizes a name for each ancient leader, I kept inquiring about who this "Nebuchadnezzar" was of the Babylonians. This spanned from Grade 2 to 3 (by Grade 3 I exhausted my dad's repretoire of answers).
Recently I was amused when I seen "Themistocles" in the game; if you don't know who he was, well, there's your research topic for the day.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: roncore on Tue, 23 March 2010, 21:50:30
Oh lord.  I think that would clash with my all black setup...tempting tho :P
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: Phaedrus2129 on Tue, 23 March 2010, 22:03:13
I used computers from age five. My first computer all to my own was a Pentium III machine I got when I was eight that I used to play Starcraft. And by play, I mean flounder helplessly against the vastly superior computer AI.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: ricercar on Tue, 23 March 2010, 22:45:30
Quote from: microsoft windows;166355
What would a 3-year-old do with a computer anyway? Most 3 year old's I've seen can't even read.


Kids can play press-any-key games at age 18 months. "Winnie the Pooh Baby" was my son's debut. I can't comment on normal kids after that; mine are abby normal.
Title: Crayola - any good
Post by: roncore on Tue, 23 March 2010, 23:49:29
My kids, all three of them, were pretty capable on the computer by 3.  My stepson (one of the 3) just turned 4, and he can navigate and play just about any game you throw at him, computer or console.  I just upped my 6 year old daughter to a 22 WS for her youtubing and cartoon network/adult swim games (sick huh?).  My 11 year old destroys at any game you throw at him, after being Bioshock 2 and Crysis within a week, I just showed him Quake III Arena.  I'm pretty sure he could rival Fatal1ty at age 11.  No kidding, kid is a natural sniper, now just gotta make sure he doesn't turn to real guns......

I'm a total geek and a former network admin tho, they have always had computers around them.