Make unrestricted devices like alcohol: you need ID to buy (but the box containing the device you’re sold is indistinguishable from any other, so the device may have a UUID but it can’t be traced to your ID); kids caught with unrestricted devices in school have them confiscated; maybe fine parents, but I think discouragement and banning in schools is enough. Kids can have restricted devices, distinguished from unrestricted by appearance in a way that’s hard to fake.

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Wowfunhappy 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't know, treating general-purpose computers like alcohol seems a lot more dystopian to me. Does this extend to PC components? Can I build a machine and put Linux on it?

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armchairhacker 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Do most kids have the ability and motivation to build their own machines?

AFAIK you don’t need ID to buy juice, sugar, and yeast to make your own alcohol, so I think it should be the same for computer parts.

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impure-aqua 4 hours ago | parent [-]

> Do most kids have the ability and motivation to build their own machines?

I and pretty much everyone else in my childhood TeamSpeak server did at roughly 14 years of age.

	▲	armchairhacker 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Did the people in your Teamspeak server have issues with concentration and socialization like most social media addicts today?

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intrasight 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Can I build a machine and put Linux on it?

Maybe for the next few years you'll be able to do that. Analogy: back in the day you could just build your own airplane and fly it around. There were no regulations.