Yeah, I guess the world needs ditch diggers too. Cannot let little things like life circumstances get in the way. Maybe we should require all programming tools to be $1,000, that would make sure we only get the best programmers.
I will bet some child who could have been a better programmer than you or I is out there and never will be because of cost, and I think that is a great loss to us all.
Cannot let little things like life circumstances get in the way.
Nope, not ones as trivial as that. "But I can't afford a computer" is a ridiculous excuse, no matter how you spin it. My first computer cost $1500 in 1982 dollars, and we were by no means a wealthy family. If you can't afford a computer today, then you have more pressing concerns, like getting enough to eat.
I was one of the lucky ones, admittedly. John Carmack had to resort to stealing his first Apple II from a computer store. Genius finds a way, I guess.
If you could afford $1,500 in 1982 for a computer for yourself, then your family was well off. There is a level of income you seem to miss above poverty and below what you had. A level where the family was fed and clothed, but $1500 would have been for a car, not a computer. Working the summer or picking can is not going to get to the $1,500.
The thought that stealing is "finding a way", but raising honest kids results in missed opportunities is appalling.
I will bet some child who could have been a better programmer than you or I is out there and never will be because of cost, and I think that is a great loss to us all.