[Squeakland] EToys Experience Report

[Kevin Lawrence]

Hi Alan,

 >Let me see if I can help.

Great help indeed ! Thank you !

I like the idea of focusing on "increase-by". Dylan discovered the 
forwardBy for himself and has already found some innovative uses for it 
(like dropping 100 Ton weights on things - thank you, Looney Tunes !). 
The idea of generalizing the "increase-by" idea to domains other than 
just 'motion' had not occured to me and sounds very interesting. I look 
forward to playing with that idea.

This is exactly what I meant by 'computer science concepts' by the way - 
I just chose my term badly. I am really NOT interested in sitting down 
and explaining data structures to my 9 year old :-) I am looking for 
practical, accessible solutions that I can suggest when he gets stuck. 
You have given me exactly that.


Also, I /am/ trying to keep separate what /I/ want from etoys and what I 
want for /my child/ - but the two are very intertwined. He asks me for 
help - "How can I do XXXX?" - and I have to experiment a little to see 
if what XXXX is even possible. I try to see things from his point of 
view but I still have a lot to learn in that regard.


 > Second, there is much more that can be done with the current Etoys 
than easily meets the eye or is easy to find in our inadequate 
documentation. But a little sleuthing will help.

This gets to the heart of my wish. I have sleuthed (Believe me ! I have 
sleuthed !) It is precisely because I understand the experimental nature 
of etoys and the inevitable lack of documentation that I expressed my 
wish the way I did. I had intended that my criticism be positive and I 
apologize if it did not come across that way.

Our experience in Squeakland has been like wandering through the most 
beautiful, fun, intriguing minefield in the world. We can see all these 
fantastic places we'd like to go to, but we keep stepping on mines. I 
certainly don't expect a tour guide. But, with a few signposts to the 
more interesting sites and a map showing where the worst mines are, we 
can find our own way - Hey ! I'll even let Dylan lead ! We'll follow the 
'increase-by' signpost for a while and see where it takes us.


Re-reading my post the morning after, I realize it sounds a lot more 
like a rant than I had intended. Not the best way to ask for help - 
which makes me all the more grateful that you have responded so helpfully.

Thank you for your help and most of all thank you for Squeak.

Kevin