# Microsoft trains kids



## GSquadron (Dec 11, 2012)

Hi,
I am watching lately that Microsoft is training little kids on how to program (on youtube or even on TV from states around the world).
This might be a genius step for some, but sincerely it seems more offending and irritating to me.
It seems to me that Microsoft is using little kids and not every kid,
but the kids of some daddy's who have a lot of money or power at hand.
A true programmer, never does any courses, learns from teachers at school by getting 
good grades, hardly shows to public or something to do with 'commercial' ways.
100% of the kids, which is ridiculous, show to public using TV.
What do you think about this?


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## lyndonguitar (Dec 11, 2012)

its fine for me as long as the kids are actually learning


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## AphexDreamer (Dec 11, 2012)

Any links in regards to your statements? 

I don't think anyone has the right to deny any child education but it would be ridiculous to see Microsoft offering free training to the kids who can afford it and not to those who can't.


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## brandonwh64 (Dec 11, 2012)

Seen the OP and thought.....


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## GSquadron (Dec 11, 2012)

Pakistani Girl - World's Youngest ARCast Progr...

There are much more kids than her, even here where I live, but it seems super fake. Is like those kids who are training, are showing on Tv.
It is normal to learn, it is not that irritating, but the idea that they show on Tv or they make like those kids are: 'omg such a genius'
In the video you see that those guys act like she is going to meet Bill Gates "OMG".


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## AphexDreamer (Dec 11, 2012)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> Pakistani Girl - World's Youngest ARCast Progr...



Only one such accounted case? From back in 09?


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## GSquadron (Dec 11, 2012)

There are more bro, it is one i was watching lately.
Search by yourself. I am not against them learning, 
I am against this fake showing them on TV, 
which is like using them from Microsoft or the name of Bill Gates

And i was watching a case 10mins back in my country about a boy, this is why i opened this thread.
I post the video if the TV puts it on youtube some other day.

09 means it has 3 years going on like this, which is even worse


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## Sasqui (Dec 11, 2012)

I wish I had been trained to program at that age!


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## Frick (Dec 11, 2012)

I don't see the problem. You see shows about talented kids playing football or playing instruments or the like, why not programming? And if it makes people look up what C# is I'm all for it. I kinda wish there were something like this today, but for TV.


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## KingPing (Dec 11, 2012)

Sasqui said:


> I wish I had been trained to program at that age!



Me too!,  now i'm old and starting to forget things


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## mlee49 (Dec 11, 2012)

Why is this an issue? 

The NBA, NFL, and countless other sports organizations tell children they will be sports stars.  They aim directly towards kids and deploy entire market campaigns at children.

Many other companies strategically ploy the child market, who cares that Microsoft is doing it?

While it is ethically debatable it's not mind control.  The best thing to come of this should be the parents step up and teach their children. Employing knowledge is much more powerful over marketing strategies by large corporations.


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## corehazard (Dec 11, 2012)

This must be Microsoft's own version and competition to some of the coder dojos  which focus on web development that came up very recently. And as long they're free its a great way to help kids decide their career paths. 

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/12/12/05/2128232/coderdojo-inspires-coding-in-kids-as-young-as-seven 

Sidenote: I'm a senior in high school and got to go to a free web programming class (fortunately it was not grade) and it was much harder than Algebra II was for me. I learned that programming isn't for me.


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## Kreij (Dec 12, 2012)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> A true programmer, never does any courses, learns from teachers at school by getting
> good grades, hardly shows to public or something to do with 'commercial' ways.



There is no such thing as a "true programmer", there are only programmers.
Like in any career, someone who is dedicated and excited about what they are doing will not pass up a chance to learn even if means they have to tow the line for "X" company for awhile. In the end, when all comes out in the wash, they will have more experience and be better at their chosen field.

MS *should* promote this kind of thing as it gets people involved, interested and it shows people that there are many avenues in which they can potentially participate. Not everyone will be accepted, but MS has been known to fund a lot of learning opportunities where everyone can at least can try.

MS gives away all the programming tools that you need to be a coder. All of them ... and more. You can say that this is to "hook" people into using MS products, and it may very well be true, but no other company has taken the millions of dollars they have spent on the development of their coding products and made them available in the free versions like MS.

On top of that, you can get support for the free products in the MS forums from MS MVP and even the development team members on occasion. 

Bash MS for some things all you want, but to criticize them for trying to advance education, in exchange for a little PR, seems quite disingenuous to me.

Just my 2 cents.


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## Easy Rhino (Dec 12, 2012)

bah! teaching kids to program in visual basic is child abuse!!!!


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## Peter1986C (Dec 12, 2012)

They can learn Python etc. and GTK+ or QT later. It is still a good starting point I suppose.


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## remixedcat (Dec 12, 2012)

I would rather have em programming then out on the streets doing hood rat stuff! or makin babies


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## 3870x2 (Dec 12, 2012)

Kreij said:


> There is no such thing as a "true programmer", there are only programmers.
> Like in any career, someone who is dedicated and excited about what they are doing will not pass up a chance to learn even if means they have to tow the line for "X" company for awhile. In the end, when all comes out in the wash, they will have more experience and be better at their chosen field.
> 
> MS *should* promote this kind of thing as it gets people involved, interested and it shows people that there are many avenues in which they can potentially participate. Not everyone will be accepted, but MS has been known to fund a lot of learning opportunities where everyone can at least can try.
> ...


You can't really bash Microsoft as a whole, as there are so many moving parts that have nothing to do with one another other than the name.  Maybe Alexander was talking about the disparity between how the rich and the poor are treated in terms of learning opportunities, and Microsoft is perpetuating this.  It makes sense if you compare this to something of the likes of Raspberry Pi, a fully functioning Linux PC costing $25($35) that is meant as a teaching tool for kids.

Edit: it seems the girl in the video you linked passed away this january: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arfa_Karim


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## Frick (Dec 12, 2012)

3870x2 said:


> Edit: it seems the girl in the video you linked passed away this january: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arfa_Karim



That made me sad.


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## 3870x2 (Dec 12, 2012)

an epileptic seizure apparently.  I wonder if the seizure had anything to do with her learning abilities.  I am sure they have looked into this, maybe this tells us that young prodigies are biologically at risk of seizures and other mental conditions.


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## erixx (Dec 12, 2012)

Farewell young lady... :´´´´´-(


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## Frick (Dec 12, 2012)

3870x2 said:


> an epileptic seizure apparently.  I wonder if the seizure had anything to do with her learning abilities.  I am sure they have looked into this, maybe this tells us that young prodigies are biologically at risk of seizures and other mental conditions.



It seems that if you're awesome at something you suck at other things.


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## remixedcat (Dec 12, 2012)

awww that poor girl.... that's tragic.... so much potential


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## Kreij (Dec 14, 2012)

3870x2 said:


> You can't really bash Microsoft as a whole, as there are so many moving parts that have nothing to do with one another other than the name.  Maybe Alexander was talking about the disparity between how the rich and the poor are treated in terms of learning opportunities, *and Microsoft is perpetuating this*.  It makes sense if you compare this to something of the likes of Raspberry Pi, a fully functioning Linux PC costing $25($35) that is meant as a teaching tool for kids.



Perhaps we see things differently. I see Microsoft promoting those who excel as example of what others may strive to be. There will always be those who are born into abject poverty and will have greater hurdles to overcome, some seemingly impossible, to achieve some measure of success. But if no one presents to them a vision and the possibility of an opportunity, they may never develop one and will have no one to give them hope.
It is not our lot in life that determines our future, but our dreams and our will to succeed.
There are thousand of stories of people who would not accept their lot in life and went on to become famous pioneers of many industries.



> Edit: it seems the girl in the video you linked passed away this january: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arfa_Karim



That is indeed sad. Not because she was special, but because every life is precious.



> On 9 January 2012, Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, contacted Arfa's parents and directed his doctors to adopt "every kind of measure" for her treatment. Gates set up a special panel of international doctors who remained in contact with her local doctors through teleconference. The panel received details about her illness and provided assistance in diagnosis and treatment. Local doctors dismissed the option of moving Arfa to another hospital owing to her being on a ventilator and in critical condition. Members of Arfa's family have lauded Bill Gates for offering to bear her treatment expenses.



One could argue that the above paragraph describes a PR move from BG and Microsoft.
Many of you commented that the girl's death was sad, but did not lament the passing of thousands of other people every day. We are only confronted with a small portion of the world's troubles and we all deal with them as best we can. We cannot save the world, but when we are presented with an individual case, we CAN make a difference ... just like Mr. Gates tried to do. For that I give him credit.

You will view things a little differently when you reach my age. 
God bless you all.


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## GSquadron (Dec 14, 2012)

In every programming book you read it clearly states:
"You don't have to be a genius to be a programmer. Even the best programmers learned the hard way"

I remember when i was 4 years old, using paint, creating folders, changing icons of the folders, entering in windows 3.1 from MS-DOS without even know how to read, imagine in english. It is all learned, in a way or another, has nothing to do with Microsoft training, even if it would be true.

Think for a moment, why it is microsoft products? Why .net and not C++ or Java or whatever that has nothing to do with it


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## GSquadron (Dec 17, 2012)

Ok, the video is out, but it is in albanian and the guy suffers from a hole in the heart, but it is out of danger for now
http://www.tvklan.al/emisioni.php?id=5441#

There is no english version of the video for the genius guy, from 'microsoft'


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## Frick (Dec 17, 2012)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> In every programming book you read it clearly states:
> "You don't have to be a genius to be a programmer. Even the best programmers learned the hard way"
> 
> Think for a moment, why it is microsoft products? Why .net and not C++ or Java or whatever that has nothing to do with it



I have no idea what your point is. Of course you have to learn before you can do anything. And of course Microsoft would have programs teaching people Mircosoft stuff. Are you upset you didn't get picked, or are you upset becuase they try to teach kids who are interested in it stuff? I honestly don't know.


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## Kreij (Dec 18, 2012)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> Think for a moment, why it is microsoft products? Why .net and not C++ or Java or whatever that has nothing to do with it



Microsoft is a business. Why would they promote someone else's product who is competing with them?


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