Quote:People always see crazy conspiracies.  I don't think they planned it out.  If they did, the kid wouldn't have shown it to his engineering teacher first.  The kid probably just messed around with a clock, called it an 'invention' much like people call baking soda volcanoes 'science experiments', and some people went nuts over it.


I think both sides are overreacting tbh.  


The kid was arrested, and detained without being allowed to contact his parents.  The teachers overreacted a little, and the police overreacted a lot.  


On the other hand, him getting all that free stuff is ridiculous.  The invite to Astronomy Night at the White House isn't that big of a deal.  But Facebook?  Microsoft giving him free stuff?  I"m sure he's getting a free ride into college too.  That's going too far imo. My wife has students who are just as brilliant, if not more so than this student, and aren't getting these sort of invites.  All because her student didn't get handcuffed.  Is that what it takes to draw someone's attention?  Why not just have a scholarship or an invite to students who excel in certain areas with some sort of nationwide contest?  Open to everyone, and not just kids who get themselves arrested.

Just my two cents.

 

Absolutely agree with you on this.  On the electronics forum that I participate on, they shredded this kid, and that was part of what changed my mind.  In the open source forums that I participate in, the point of view is pretty much the same.  I have corresponded with kids his age discussing computer code and doing the math to figure out which electronic component(s) to use for a project.  As I stated before, there is no evidence that this kid knows anything other than taking electronic guts out of an existing product.

 

Here is the bombshell question in this thread.  Why is a kid named Ahmed Mohamed that didn't actually build or create anything being invited to all of these events, while a kid that actually accomplished and really did build something named say "Jack Smith" is not?

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