I backed the project, and think it will make a great gift for my nephew. It's something he can grow into, where he can read the book part with his parents right now, and then start doing the problems as he gets older.<p>I think this project did well for a few key reasons:<p>1) STEM, STEM, STEM and code, code, code. The timing is right. Look at all the coverage this got in big mainstream media publications. Here is a project to help your child get into programming at a young age.
2) There is a need for introducing programming to children in an accessible way. There is some stuff on the market, but not that much, and this might be the first centered around a colorful children's book. I also think this is more approachable for parents too. A cold, clinical textbook would scare off many parents.
3) Linda is attractive, bubbly and non-American (on a heavily American site). This never hurts with crowdfunding. The fact that she is female in a heavy male-dominated space helps too. I can't fault her at all for this, and why not harness it?<p>I hope it turns out well and that this is just the beginning for Linda and her books. I'm excited to read it with my future child.
I like the idea and I backed it. Book for kids can be as simple as picture books. Parents and mentors are the one supposed to help them to learn the hard stuff.<p>But I also want to say that I have some feedback for the video. I just thought there was too much "smiles". I don't know how to put it: but it's strange and weird to see someone posting a video of her smiling like literally every few seconds, throwing things every minute or so. A bit formal will be great.<p>There was too many moving. Scenes were constantly changing while the speech was on-going. It was hard to concentrate, pay attention to the dialogue and the animation at the same time. The main point wasn't delivered/pitched to me right away. I wasn't too sure what exactly would go into the book and how parents/mentors can help guide the kids in general from the video. Essentially, an ad that changes scene every 1 second is going to hurt viewers.<p>Here is another project (which I backed too), I am not trying to promote it (but putting out here is guilty of promoting it). Check wongfuproduction movie fundraising video on Youtube. That was a lot easier to grasp.<p>Just my 3 cents. Good luck.
> Start a blog where you share progress on your project. This will hold you accountable and let people know what you’re working on.<p>For a long time I wrote off the idea of having a blog because it seemed vain. I don't usually have any great ideas that anyone else needs to know about, and my trials of learning new things are just the same as everyone else's. However, over the past few months I've realized that I was dead wrong. Watching a few good series of blogs like [1] and [2] has shown me that even if you don't have anything world shattering it is still great as a means to make learning more important. After all, you can't let down your readers, can you?<p>[1] <a href="http://jvns.ca/blog/2013/09/26/hacker-school-day-4-c-unit-testing/" rel="nofollow">http://jvns.ca/blog/2013/09/26/hacker-school-day-4-c-unit-te...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://www.jeffknupp.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.jeffknupp.com/</a>
This is really inspiring! I had no idea that Linda co-founded Rails Girls, and for some reason I had formed the impression that she was an illustrator before becoming a programmer. I didn't know that she had learned to draw so that she could create the book.<p>This advice is golden, and it's pretty cool to see such joy, enthusiasm, and generosity rewarded.
I'm pretty sure the only reason this is getting so much funding is because the majority of computer science folk are horny men who are glossing over the dreamhouse attire / makeup / presentation put on in the video. "Hi I'm little Ruby and I wear polka-dots and pink lipstick, let me be your fantasy" That said, I did fund it, because I'm a horny coder and Linda is very sexy.
Harold and the purple crayon is a great book that introduces programming concepts, but it doesn't beat you over the head with any computer lingo.<p>This book is a neat idea and the illustrations look cool, but here is one concern:
Why name the main character Ruby? Good kids books are timeless and ruby the programming language is not, and it dates the book too. Why associate any programming language in particular with programming concepts like sequences or sets? That seems like a message from "learn to code" school. So does DRY to a lesser extent.
I backed this project and loved how the author presented per project. I was able to identify with her and, more surprisingly, my non-technical spouse and family were also able to identify with her. I am excited to see where the story of Ruby goes for both my young daughter and myself.
Would really like to see a couple of starting pages from this book. I hope she has an idea about how to deliver this stuff to children: coding by itself is pointless for somebody who does not even comprehend the manifold of applications it can solve. Video games are fun, because they exploit the basic survival instinct within us. With programming, there is no low hanging fruit to reach for a child, as the mental link between writing code and receiving a reward is build by experience, which minors lack.<p>I find it hard to explain the fundraising which went way over the goal, without including gender into equation. Anyway – a pink-colored children's book about tech stuff, written by girls, sounds comforting in every way.
I've been watching this project since it was first posted on HN, getting giddy over the thought of it. I love the execution in how this book will teach kids about programming. I also love that the main character is a girl and that the whole book is cutesy.<p>I plan on using this both for my own enjoyment, and sharing it with a soon-to-be five year old boy who will be absolutely in love with the little animal/Android characters.<p>I'm toward the end of a rough patch financially, and usually pass up supporting projects on Kickstarter for this reason... But I couldn't resist, and ordered the double package.<p>Congratulations on the extreme success, Linda! I hope you find the process enjoyable enough to continue the series for years to come. I also hope the app or even a little indie game will be possible to create in the future (I realize it won't reach the $500k goal.)<p>As a final note - I just thought of the possibilities of this being implemented in a classroom!
It took me a while to work this out - but I think its a great and brave choice.<p>Yes, totally agree software is "literacy 2.0". And yes, of course, we need pre-school books on software. I had weird books teaching me BASIC without putting it into context - and context not ability has been where I have missed opportunities or regreted actions.<p>So I applaud Linda for her insights, hope her world view is one I want my daughter to take into the 21 C, and look forward to seeing my copy at the end of the year.
Some relevant news - "Women Outnumber Men For The First Time In Berkeley’s Intro To Computer Science Course" - good to see this growth and interest.<p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/women-outnumber-men-for-the-first-time-in-berkeleys-intro-to-computer-science-course/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/women-outnumber-men-for-the...</a>
This project was the subject of a lot of debate when it launched, and at that time, I was on the side of the author because I thought it seemed like a nifty project, though not a fit for what I'd give to my children.<p>Now that I see it turned into a write up like this, I can't help but wonder if those criticizing the project for its intentions were correct.
I think pretty much only No. 2 is sufficient and almost necessary these days. That is if you have a community already, you can sell your project/book even if it lacks much substance(this project certainly has some substance and is a good cause).<p>If you do not have the early adopters who will also help you spread the word to secondary adopters, you are SOL.<p>There have been countless posts on HN where the author has made some amazing sales on e-book, SaaS MVP, apps, other software, and so on.<p>In pretty much all those cases, they already had some sort of community/e-mail list to kickstart(ahem) the sales.
I backed the project, I am excited to see what comes out of it.<p>I want to teach my kids (4,2) how to program, if this is a more accessible way, it's worth my money.
Cool idea. My only gripe was after she said she was from Finland, she mentioned Scandinavian summers, when Finland isn't a Scandinavian country. Nordic, yes. Scandinavian, no.<p>Minor quibble for sure.
Am I really the only one who things that she is annoying and fake? I literally threw up when I tried to watch her playing Manic Pixie Dream Girl-role.<p>Ruby and Snow Leopard? Really? This book will be completely useless in 5 years when technologies change. She should have wrote about basic CS principles instead. But I guess most of the women just cannot think logically. And that's probably why there are so few women in tech...