I worry this will have an effect on equality of opportunity in the not-too-distant future. There will be some parents who understand this, and some who don't - or can't afford to do anything about it. It's a big swath of options those people will miss out on.
> There will be some parents who understand this, and some who don't
In some ways it is easier to understand (software / IT is perhaps more widely understood to potentially be a good career, given the success of tech companies as businesses & the financial success of many of their employees) but also harder to understand -- there are fewer obviously "tinkerable" computer systems in people's day to day lives.
> or can't afford to do anything about it
I agree that wealthier families generally have access to more opportunities to set their children up to have successful careers (e.g. private tutoring, wider choice of schools, able to support children to focus on careers with high initial investements of time and capital vs needing to leave school to help out on the family farm, etc). This has been true for a long time and will continue to be true in future.
But, I reckon that it is much more affordable to buy hardware & software required for a "tinkerable" hobbyist computer lab these days than 25 years ago: what cost $2000 in 1995 might only cost $200 today (esp if you buy second hand hardware and install linux) while also giving far superior hardware performance and better tools for creating software.
Wealthy individuals and their children are probably more likely to have social connections to others with capital who are willing to assist them as well.
A raspberry pi 4 kit with 2GB of RAM can be as low as $60 now!! Tinkering with computers can be inexpensive. For those who want it, there is a cornucopia of tinker-able machines out there. Many smart phones have terminal apps you can download. There are also a lot of websites out there that’ll let you do something akin to tinkering.
It seems to me that, in many cases, it’s a matter of getting people’s attention or interest in tinkering with their computers than access to tinker-able machines.
