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by TimBurr 1959 days ago
Thinking of when I was 12 (2005?), microscopes and magnifying glasses helped me understand. Depends on device DPI (cell phones have an insane number of pixels per inch; desktop screens are usually less dense).

If you can zoom in enough to see subpixel elements, and pull up a color wheel, it's very intuitive to see that the screen is made of pixels, and the pixels are made of three elements.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model#/media/File:Ad...

The Pico-8 might be a approachable way to explore retrocomputing. It's an in-browser console modelled after GameBoy-era consoles.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18240375

I don't know about books, though. I remember reading the binary/computers chapter of How Things Work and being thoroughly confused at that age. There was some extended allegory about white mammoths and black mammoths.
1 comments
drewzero1 1959 days ago
Did you have The Way Things Work or The New Way Things Work? I had the latter around the same time. I thought the extended computer section (Bill's Gates!) was very helpful. I still really like the visual in which the image of a mammoth is turned into a series of pumpkin/no pumpkin signals being launched through the air, then becomes a picture of a mammoth on the other side of the field. I think it got a bit too technical for me when it started showing how transistors are constructed-- I guess I should've stuck with the pumpkins.

Now I have both editions and have looked through them side-by-side. It's a bit unfortunate that some pages were dropped to make room for the expanded digital section in the newer edition, but well worth the trade-off for more/better explanations in the digital realm.

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TimBurr 1958 days ago
I'm not sure. Possibly both?

Just took a look over my bookshelf, but they haven't made it with me through moves.

I do still have Incredible Cross-Sections. That was another of my favorites to flip through. It looks like there are reprints and new versions. Would definitely recommend for kids.

https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Biestys-Incredible-Cross-Sect...

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