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Computers

For the grown-up beside a child who loves computers.

The child's own door is Computers on Spark & Anvil.

The sideline card

Three numbers to notice

  1. A bit is on or off, and eight bits make a byte.
  2. Computer memory is often counted in 1,024s, because 1,024 is two multiplied by itself ten times.
  3. A 12-megapixel photo is about twelve million dots of colour.

On the way home, ask: “What would you make if you could program anything?”

Ask because you are curious, and let any answer stand. Print this page for a half-page card.

Understand it

A short course for you

Where it came from

A little history, and what nobody knows

The word

Werner Buchholz coined the word “byte” in 1956, while IBM was designing its Stretch computer, and spelled it with a y so it could not be misread as “bit”.

Early machines used bytes of several sizes; the source does not say who first settled on eight bits.

Source: Byte (Wikipedia)

Your child's ladder · on Spark & Anvil

The same idea at every age

  1. Ages 3–5Match the Lamps
  2. Ages 6–8Five Lights
  3. Ages 9–14Not made yet
  4. Ages 15–18Not made yet

Your child will meet this idea again at every age. The tools and courses here are the part for you.