[ShortcutToMoncton]

For years the only Mac in our house has been a headless 2018 intel Mini media server, which only I access. We have a family iPad the kids play around with occasionally but it’s for casual couch surfing and we honestly don’t use it much. Wife and I have work-supplied PC laptops the kids don’t access.

The oldest is now getting to the point where she will need something at home with a real keyboard for schoolwork etc. I was going to give her my Mac Mini and get a new M2 for the media server, since newer 4K movies can require some processing power.

We were wondering: do kids still need to learn how to use computers? In 10 years will we be solely on iOS? Would it make sense to just get them an iPad with keyboard instead? Curious what you think.

[Laminar]

They're going to learn mobile/iOS without even trying just through exposure to phones and tablets. I have to believe there's still value in learning a desktop system, understanding a filesystem structure, and having to manage some of that manually. My 10yo preferred keyboard and mouse from the very start - I offered to set up a controller so he could use it in Minecraft but he wanted to use the mouse. The 5yo plays with my old Ruby iMac and knows enough to navigate around the Finder, open iTunes, and play music.

Most schools appear to be going in the direction of iPads or Chromebooks for students, but the vast majority of white collar jobs still involve a desktop OS.

Ten years ago, most businesses were on Windows 7 (or XP). Windows 11 added some confuscation to it but the bones are still there and all of the desktop navigation skills have remained the same. I have to believe that in 10 years we'll still be dealing with a desktop OS, at least for technical jobs and those that require more than an hour or two of computer use per day - no one wants to use a touchscreen for 6 straight hours.

[andi*pandi]

How old?
My kid got a chromebook via school and has a PC. Most of schoolwork uses google classroom (docs, slides, etc) which she can access via either of these, or her iphone... but she uses my mac for her graphic design homework. I've pondered getting her a macbook.

I was an early ipad adopter for work, and for all they advertised it would replace laptops... it hasn't. I can check email, and zoom, and read docs, but any real editing or work still happens on desktop. Love the ipad for reading, video, and other recreation though.

I can't even imagine minecraft on an ipad without a real keyboard. At least xbox you have a controller.

awww, ruby imac still kicking.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

awww, ruby imac still kicking.

Yeah, my nephew yanked too hard on the original Pro Mouse so its connection is flaky now, but I still have the original black/clear Pro keyboard completely full of crumbs that you can see because it's clear. The 5yo considers it "her" computer while my son has the Mac Pro and I have the MDD gaming PC.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

They're going to learn mobile/iOS without even trying just through exposure to phones and tablets.

Kids don’t need to be taught the skill of using mobile, they need to be taught the skill of not using it.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

8 & 4yo

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

awww, ruby imac still kicking.

Pardon the mess, I still haven't entirely cleaned up from the PC build, but here's our collective gaming setup.

[andi*pandi]

nice! very tidy really. I love the old desks.

cleaning out my inlaws place, am now in possession of their mint blueberry imac. Wonder what will happen when I turn it on...