How to do a "family home computer" these days?

WhoDatPhan78 said
This thread feels like something a dad would ask in the 90s about trying to get his son to learn how to drive a stick shift.

I don't even know how much longer we will be using keyboards on a regular basis, everything will just be done with voice prompts.

porculator said
Anything in engineering or construction will be done on "real" computers for a very long time. And yes our new hires sometimes struggle with using them, especially "legacy" software like Autocad and Revit which seem to have a permanent foothold in the profession despite being extremely flawed- but they are the "industry standard" and every contract ever will require them for the foreseeable future. I can only assume that most professions have their own version of this. It's pretty much a whole different world than the intuitive touch pad voice controlled world that gen Z grew up in. Dealing with those sheetty computers in the 90's built character I tell ya.

I got a Geekom mini-desktop at home. Its basically just a hub with all the specs you would expect out of an actual desktop. I currently have 2 monitors, keyboard/mouse and a camera/speaker/mic combo plugged into it. Depending on what kind of monitors you get it could be relatively portable.

I agree, and think there are many professional environments that still require a computer to perform proficiently - and that means being computer literate is an important skill.

In my work, I do a substantial amount of document composing that includes drafting that I suppose could go back to being oral (dictation was how it was done before - though I'm certain it was less efficient and effective) but the work of organizing the product, all of the internal citation and reference, etc. is more proficiently performed with a computer. I have to deal with all of the evidence and material that goes with each matter that I work on - which almost always includes PDFs, spreadsheets of different kinds, various formats of media, and then there are the tools used to work with this material. The volume of information and the files involved are better managed in an environment where the user has more direct control.

But I certainly see how when you have an external keyboard and monitor, there's not that much difference between running off of a tablet or running off of a cloud-based "mini-desktop" . . . the difference is in the operating system and how the user navigates within it, as opposed to some completely different genus of "computing". I think there are still important literacy skills I'd like my kids to learn. Understanding what file extensions mean and how to work with different files and media. Understanding the issues and problem solving with peripherals which are likely to continue to be in use for some time. Understanding that apps are pieces of software that fit in the larger system, etc. etc.

I think what I'm going to do is get a laptop with a docking station, keyboard and monitor. And for the most part it will just be there on the desk for managed use as a "computer". My fifth grader is actually taking a computer literacy class this quarter (they have this 'life skills' class in fifth grade where each quarter is a different subject - this quarter is "computer"). But if we need the portability, it's still a laptop.