[PLUG-TALK] Arduino vs. Other Kid Toys

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 02:08:31PM -0800, Michael R wrote:
> Wired has a story on the best five kids toys of all time.
> 
> I think they nailed it. 
> 
> http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/all/1

Gee - I always had the most fun with bits of wire and wall sockets.
My parents - not so much.

> Toy 4: Cardboard Tube.

My father the architectural designer had an office above a store
which sold carpet and linoleum.  Which was typically wrapped around
HUGE cardboard tubes, 8 feet long and 4 inches outside diameter,
1/4 inch walls.  One day, he came home from work followed by the
carpet store truck with about 100 of these card tubes in it.

The good thing was that we could build huge "log cabins"
with them.  The bad thing was that there was no room in the
house or garage to store them.   So after a few rainstorms,
we had a few hundred pounds of cardboard mush to dispose of.
That, and the fact that 7 year old Keith was notching corners
with a wicked sharp carpenter's saw, did not contribute to 
the stability of my parent's marriage.

> Toy 5: Dirt

And then there were the tunnels in the back yard, dug with
my mother's spoons.  Taking the kids to the drive-in to see
"The Great Escape" did not bolster the marriage, either.

I think it was the James Bond movies that did it in, though.
All those sexy hijinks should have come with a big red warning:
"Husbands, don't try this yourself".   Sigh.

Sticks, strings, and boxes might have been safer, though there
was that time ...

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs