This video is full of my frustrations over the last 2 months while learning about the Internet of Things. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Spark Core, but things do not have to be this complicated.
The webpage for the video is at http://rocksetta.com/spark-core-photon/iot-rant/
After 38 years of coding, I really feel sorry for beginners. Hopefully things will get easier.
Well... it depends. After 38 years of coding, I really feel sorry for myself 
Anyway, great rant. Really enjoyed.
Good rant, great points, esp about the wire color coding and the devices like a power strip that should have only the low voltage wise exposed. We need stuff like that!
Interesting points @rocksetta - The Spark core out-of-the box is not aimed at kids.
I guess what would be fun for kids is :
A Spark 4 Kids Kit like this with a Spark Core built in :
http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-300-in-One-Electronic-Project-Lab/dp/B00005K86O
A website with some simple ways to control your new Spark 4 Kids Kit
A way to designate cores as toys. So you say this core doesn’t need security so turn off those complexities and let anyone who can see it use it.
In the future theoretically the Photon could run the Spark 4 Kids website directly on the core. This would allow typing in the Wi-Fi details direct and clicking buttons to make the Kit beep / flash etc.
Other fun stuff like allowing kids to connect their Kit to their friends kit so they could press a button on theirs and have an LED flash on their friends kit.
Or perhaps instead of the Electronics Lab this :
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/54060271/easyplug-the-sensor-shield-for-arduinos
I don’t think its open source otherwise I guess a Spark Shield for this kit would work.
Its like a more kid friendly Grove port.
That is my point for the rant. The Spark Core or Photon out of the box could be aimed at kids and adults with minimal programming and electronics experience. It has an edge over the Arduino, as long as we can find sensors and actuators that separate the voltage from the logic.
I don’t think you need a Spark 4 Kids website, just follow some of the suggestions on my rant, or my new blog at
http://rocksetta.com/spark-core-photon/
That kickstarter site at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/54060271/easyplug-the-sensor-shield-for-arduinos is almost the right idea. Unfortunately for the Spark Core you would need an Arduino shield and then their shield. If the sensors just came with the voltage divider and red, black and yellow wires they could be plugged directly into the spark Core breadboard. If they really wanted to be fancy a three prong plug that plugged into the breadboards, Black, Red and the Analog Pins would be very easy and clean.
Not a bad idea just setup for the Arduino not the Spark.