Apple TV+ Includes A Muppet Who Codes (deadline.com) 80
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: While Apple CEO Tim Cook may not be able to force schoolchildren to code, there's no law against Cook and Apple using Sesame Street to make preschoolers want to code. Among the original Apple TV+ shows Cook announced at Apple's March Event was Helpsters, an "incredible new preschool show" about coding from "the peeps at Sesame Workshop and Apple."
In a skit on stage at the Steve Jobs Theater [available on YouTube], a Helpster monster from the new show named "Cody" (get it!) explains to Big Bird, "See, coding fosters collaboration, critical-thinking skills, and is an essential language that every child can learn. By teaching preschoolers about coding, we are giving them the opportunity to change the world."
One site described Cody as "a sociopathic tech recruiter muppet," complaining that "Teaching kids about technology is fine. But this is just creepy." They also objected to the show's targeting of pre-schoolers.
"From a developmental point of view, most experts agree very young children should be working on figuring out how to share their toys, not thinking about how to program them."
In a skit on stage at the Steve Jobs Theater [available on YouTube], a Helpster monster from the new show named "Cody" (get it!) explains to Big Bird, "See, coding fosters collaboration, critical-thinking skills, and is an essential language that every child can learn. By teaching preschoolers about coding, we are giving them the opportunity to change the world."
One site described Cody as "a sociopathic tech recruiter muppet," complaining that "Teaching kids about technology is fine. But this is just creepy." They also objected to the show's targeting of pre-schoolers.
"From a developmental point of view, most experts agree very young children should be working on figuring out how to share their toys, not thinking about how to program them."
Re: Experts (Score:2)
moving a turtle on screen
I really hope this is a Logo reference.
Young kids can't code... (Score:1)
My dad tried teaching me how to code when I was really young, but it wasn't until I was in 3rd grade that I could finally understand how to code. I tried teaching my two younger brothers (3 years younger than myself) how to code, but no matter how much I tried, they could not understand it either until several years later.
I have a strong feeling that this pre-school propaganda will fall on deaf ears. Kids that young are just not wired up well enough yet to comprehend coding. At that age, they're still disco
Re:Those aren't muppets. (Score:5, Funny)
Coding The Chosen Method (Score:2, Funny)
The biggest problem with coding is it's inherent lack of logic. The pattern of orientating coding language to the most logical extrapolation of language and maths is simply not there. The chosen method for coding design, 'We Choose to do it That Way", why, because we choose to do it that way, no logic, not direct correlation to language and math, just borrowing some of that stuff and the often implementing in a way counter logically to math and language. Biggest driver for languages, not to infringe copyrig
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Was... was this comment written by an algorithm?
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It was written by a muppet, obviously.
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Hasn't that been tried though? (Score:2)
The pattern of orientating coding language to the most logical extrapolation of language and maths is simply not there.
I totally agree, although it's kind of theoretically possible that is not done...
sit down and work out a uniform open coding language which is a logically derivative of English and maths
Hasn't this been tried in a lot of different ways? Yet none of them seem to take hold.
So I think it's not enough to say we need something like a language that is "logically derivative of English and maths".
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Egyptian multiplication works the exact same way your CPU performs multiplication, multiply by two == shift bits. All the gods had the mark of Wedjat, sometimes hidden on them, to prove they had true power. Every year the ceremony, "The Counting of the Eye of Horus" taught children about this fractional method of summing fractions. It has been this way for thousands of years. We have our shit together.
CPUs work this way because it is the simplest way to represent numbers in machines. We code the way w
Re: Coding The Chosen Method (Score:2)
I think the algorithm has more problems than the presentation.
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This is what you sound like when your post is spoken out loud https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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work out a uniform open coding language which is a logically derivative of English and maths
It is called Perl. It is as expressive as a natural language. And it is problematic as a programming language for exactly that reason. ;)
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I first started coding at pre-school, maybe age 4, on a toy car that only had extremely basic functionality. It was enough though, my young mind could understand it and see the possibilities, while enjoying the ability to control a machine.
After that I moved on to BASIC. One of the worst programming languages going by most accounts. But it was fast and free and let me experiment long before I had any formal education in software development.
At age 4 they haven't even mastered the alphabet or basic addition/
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the cunts need to fucking sit down and work out a uniform open coding language which is a logically derivative of English and maths
Why English? Why not Chinese as a much larger percentage of humans can read and write Chinese than any other language. Chinese is also very compact. Could it be that using natural languages aren’t the best model for coding.
However the language that most closely resembles English is COBOL. If you want to code in it, go ahead. Personally, I don’t feel like writing novels just to do basic functions.
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a uniform open coding language which is a logically derivative of English and maths
That language exists, and has for 60 years.
It's called COBOL.
That makes sense (Score:4, Insightful)
Given the quality of firmware on most TVs, I'm pretty sure they all feature a muppet that codes.
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Even if I had to write the firmware using a muppet as the user interface, it seems like it would be easier to do better. It would require a very large keyboard though.
dumb (Score:2)
It's a good idea (Score:4, Insightful)
This everybody should code fad is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
I don't think it's dumb at all, because the idea is not "everybody SHOULD code", it's "everybody should try to LEARN to code".
Absolutely not everyone is going to be coding. But I feel like a ton of kids that would be good at and enjoy coding miss out because they are never exposed.
Coding in the modern world, being able to manipulate computers is such a valuable skill that feel humanity loses out on a great deal of advancement but not identifying everyone who is skilled at it. Being able to code is a power that amplifies the human mind, yours and those around you.
Actually she would (Score:3)
This nurse would be so much more efficient if she knew a bit of c++.
Why on earth do you not believe this to be true?
The reality is, wouldn't the nurse be more efficient if she knew how to use computers well?
Have you seriously not seen non-technical people trying to navigate the very byzantine forms that are inevitable for complex internal systems? If she had learned some coding as a kid she might well have a much more intuitive sense for the logic that drove the structure of those screens. If she had done
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Such a nurse could in fact be way, way more helpful in giving technical feedback to the developers of the hospital systems, about why a system does not work in practice - so they could clear up UX issues maybe months earlier than the developers would otherwise trying to glean feedback through a million beuroratic layers. That in turn would mean a better system for EVERY OTHER NURSE.
There is a huge amount of knowledge on how to use good HCI principles to guide UX design. Having a nurse add to the comments will not help as the issue is how the systems are put together to certain cost and time constraints, not the lack of understanding of how to make a good UX.
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The market for programmers is crap. Increasing the supply only makes it worse.
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This everybody should code fad is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
It is like having children learn a second spoken language. It isn't that we want people to speak French or whatever. Or even that it necessarily useful to them directly. But it will actually improve their mental development and their general language skills. And for their whole life, they'll have an easier time learning a language if they decide to.
Same here. They don't need to use it, or be good at it. They just need to be exposed to thinking in those ways at a young age. Now they're better at math, logic,
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This everybody should code fad is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
why stop there? I think teaching reading and writing is a fad.
maths too.
I think what we should do is thoroughly analyze every 4 year old, determine their vocation then train them exclusively for that ignoring everything else.
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Yes, but stay confused because you're not longer allowed to call them muppets. But you can tell them to learn to code again, because of the muppet.
the economics of 'everyone a coder' (Score:2, Interesting)
A basic tenet of economics is that when there is a shortage, the price goes up; and when there is a surplus, the price goes down. We tend to think of this in terms of products available to buy or sell, but it applies to any commodity.
Programmers, and employees in general, are a commodity. Employers have to 'buy' them, so to speak, and for many employers, the employees are by far the greatest expense. Companies want to lower those costs and raise their profits.
The goal with all this 'everyone a coder' nonsen
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The UK did not become a super computer nation. Everyone imported much better quality and much more advanced US products, OS, GUI and software.
The US had the software, games and productivity applications people all over the UK actually wanted to use and needed.
Lots of new money and new computers did not work to add skills in the 1980s over an entire generation.
Now the US wants to take more money and expect
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So I suppose the Arm invasion was completely lost on you?
Just because a single country can't dominate the US in an area where they were already entrenched and dominant (Windows PCs) doesn't mean it's can't dominate the world in something totally new..
Also, last time I looked, Arm was set to take over both Servers and Apple desktops, so it's taken awhile, but it's definitely coming.
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The UK tried that with computer spending during the 1980's. Code and math for all. New computers. The UK did not become a super computer nation. Everyone imported much better quality and much more advanced US products, OS, GUI and software..
The UK was strong in software in the 1990s. What it lacked was a Microsoft of Oracle to entirely corner a market (ARM not having become dominant in that time period), and with 1/5 of the population compared to the USA (it allows easier recruitment of personnel and a large home market) that's no great surprise. Not many countries with 1/5 of the population of the USA did as well as the USA did, the main exceptions being Ericsson, Nortel and Nokia. In that sense, with ARM, the UK did perfectly well. Add in A
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All that UK spending in schools resulted in not UK computer growth and exports.
No huge new UK production lines and UK jobs exporting UK designed and owned tech to the world.
Support for UK education and a few UK computer production lines just used more and more tax payers money.
Like in France.
The world moved to the price, quality and freedom of US services, software, networks and hardware.
The UK pro
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I "code" with my preschoolers (Score:2)
I "code" with my daughters, aged 3 and 5. I stand them in the room with their eyes closed and tell them "Walk forwards two paces. Turn Right. Walk forward two paces". I call this code because it's exactly the same as LOGO turtle graphics that those of us born in the 70s are familiar with and did in school. They have fun, and they're developing a sense of algorithms. (Likewise, when a toy's batteries run out, I have them come with me to the workshop and "repair" it by unscrewing the case and installing new b
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I "code" with my daughters, aged 3 and 5. I stand them in the room with their eyes closed and tell them "Walk forwards two paces. Turn Right. Walk forward two paces". I call this code because it's exactly the same as LOGO turtle graphics that those of us born in the 70s are familiar with and did in school. They have fun, and they're developing a sense of algorithms.
When I was a really young kid, long before I ever started programming, I spent a lot of time with a toy called "Big Trak" which you could progra
So, Apple wants kids to code a computer... (Score:3)
...just not fix one. *grumble*
Sounds as if Cody the Muppet (Score:2)
... is strongly typed.
Europe will ban the Cookie Monster (Score:1)
unless you click to opt in.
Enabling is one thing, pushing is another... (Score:5, Insightful)
30 years ago my school system taught programming as an equivalent to foreign language, I was one of a handful of students that went through our high school with a foreign language requirement fulfilled by Pascal (our maths teacher knew it, so that was all that was offered)
At the time I think it was simply a way to enable it to be taught without disrupting a rigid structure of classes which didn't permit free time or flexible schedules... but in time I've decided that it makes sense to teach programming to kids like a foreign language--
French lessons teach you to understand French people -- their language, culture, values, etc...
Programming lessons teach you to understand computers in a similar way. If you truly want to be able to "converse" and live in computer development culture you need to know the languages, syntax, and the motivations.
I don't see any issues at all w/ starting kids on this early in life, just like I don't see any issue with teaching second languages at an early stage. IMO one of the greatest weakness in US education is that in most public schools a second language (and culture) option isn't even usually available until high school.
As with everything in life, moderation is key... as is understanding when a child has an aptitude and when they do not, then adjusting their education plan accordingly to enable them to succeed at what they're good at, while still receiving the basics and a rounded education.
If you think Cody is creepy (Score:1)
I don't think they're teaching kids to code... (Score:2)
My impression is that they're teaching little kids about coding, meaning the concepts of how computers work and how to tell them what to do, not that they're teaching little kids actual coding. Think of it more like "what is a CPU" and "what is RAM", numerical concepts, logic, instruction sequences, etc., rather than textually writing code. That being said, it'd feed pretty naturally into something more interactive than a TV show, such as Swift Playgrounds or Squeak Etoys - a kid-friendly interactive enviro
You don't learn to code (Score:2)
You code to learn.
change the world! (Score:2)
"By teaching preschoolers about coding, we are giving them the opportunity to change the world."
only a very limit amount of programmers actually are/were able to change the world.
besides you have the possibility to change the world in almost any profession you choose to do.