Fun hardware

This page needs to be moved to "Fun things" in the category "Hardware ideas". Furthermore, please try to limit the opinions of other people's ideas and save it for the discussion pages. If you think someone has a particularly good or bad idea, say so in the discussion page. This discussion/argument/feud can be noted in the article, but in a less familiar style.

Fun Things

Seems that the notion of "Fun Things" as peripherals needs to be developed. After all the laptop is for children and there is much to be learned from playing with "real things" rather than only with "virtual things". At its simplest electronics and other kits with wireless and wired interfaces provide valuable learning opportunities in a "constructionist" framework. A competitor to the $200+ LEGO Mindstorms is required in the $25 range ... Also a very simple musical keyboard priced similarly to a computer keyboard - maybe twice as expensive ... Would be interesting to see creative/practical ideas on "Fun Things" which could be manufactured at low cost. There is opportunity for a company like "Klutz" to invent, make & sell neat $20 range "Fun Things ...

L Pfeffer March 18, 2006

ORP 12

I remember from many years ago, before personal computers, that there was an item called an ORP 12 which was a light sensitive resistor which was not very expensive. One could make a simple electronic circuit, powered from a 9 volt battery, which produced a fixed tone when attached to a loudspeaker and then one could have an insulated plug lead so as to touch a selection of resistors one at a time so as to make a one note electronic organ and one could make one of the resistors an ORP 12 in series with something like a 1 kilohm resistor so as to have a note the frequency of which was light sensitive, so one could have a sort of Hawaiian guitar effect by moving one's hand around above the ORP 12.

I found http://www.education-and-hobbies.co.uk/products/LDR%20ORP%2012.php and http://www.education-and-hobbies.co.uk/products/Components.php on the web, so it appears that the ORP 12 is still available!

The latter showing the ORP 12 available at 75 pence sterling, which is probably something between $1 and $2.

So, an ORP 12 fitted in a box with a connection plug of some sort on it so that it could be easily used by children could hopefully be produced well within the $25 budget suggested.

In (say) 100,000 qty a multi-photocell based "light organ" (or capacitive, etc. solutions) or other similar experimental Fun Thing with suitable interface, boxing, ... is bound to have manufacturing cost well under $5: another category of under $5 Basic Fun Things. There are many interesting such possible educational and stimulating Fun Things. Probably these add-ons ought to be manufactured to be snap-together kits - with "snapping together" and "snapping apart" being part of the fun. Couold be that a generic "Fun Thing" snappable USB construction part with on board A/D, D/A and parallel "OEM" interfaces would keep cost in same category and would make a USB based solution also possible. L Pfeffer March 20, 2006

It is a light dependent resistor, so is a passive component. The box would not need to have any power source in it.

It would need to be able to be interfaced to the laptop in some way, so coonsideration needs to be given as to how this would tie-in with the hardware specification.

William Overington

19 March 2006

AD/DA & "Parallel" interfaces

Precisely for these types of ideas the computer needs some sort of basic A/D, D/A and suitably protected bi-directional "parallel" type interfaces. These need to be built-in so their use doessn't add wire spaghetti, cables/conversion boxes don't get lost, is "fumble free" and always available. In short, it must be simple, empowering and an idea generating catalyst. L Pfeffer March 20, 2006

• Or perhaps these miscellaneous fun things should all be available on a USB interface. It would keep it very expandaple, yet low base cost. USB devices keep getting less expensive to develop. --imajeff

Microphone and Speakers

If you have a microphone and speakers included with these laptops then then if you include a small peice of software they can be used as telephones or walkitalkies.

The microphone input jack will double as a dataport for some class of devices (we'll be supporting a "DC-coupled" input mode), but a more general-purpose USB dataport would be a great peripheral for the laptop. --Walter

Or a built in Microphone and speakers would be more usefull, no need for any additional headphones etc.

Teacher Microscope

One of the regreatable failures from Mattel and Intel was the Toy Lab. The idea was and is viable, but must be operated correctly to be profitable. Of the offerings was an overpriced microscope imaging device that connected through USB. I continue to think that this is really a very nice educational device that could be part of, perhaps, a more expensive teacher's laptop (which could perhaps have a USB port or USB wireless).

Optolabe

There is now an Optolabe page.

An optolabe would possibly not be expensive in itself, though it would need there to be a camera attached to the laptop. However, if there were already a camera attached to the laptop, an optolabe might be a very interesting, inexpensive item to have and use.