There was also not enough correlation to math, because the problem sets were so basic. I think a lot of kids could be more interested in math through good CS education, where CS gives a good practical application for math. Generally, there's not enough crossover of this kind going on, and neither in Germany nor in the US where I live now, do they take enough advantage in one class of what's being taught in another. It's almost like each of the subjects is in its own vacuum, which gives students very little opportunity to practically use what they're being taught. Practical use is the most important thing in retention, not to mention seeing the sense in learning a specific thing - how often have you heard 'I don't need to learn this, I'll never use it anyway' from a student? I'd think that that's something that would be paid more attention to. CS and math are a good example of this, and one where using the knowledge taught across classes would be relatively easy to do, too.

about 24 years ago, our (elective) CS class covered the basics in terms of hardware, and then went straight into programming (BASIC). Starting on IBMs, later moving to Commodore 128s. It did a pretty good job at challenging kids and getting them interested in what can be done with a computer when you know how to program it, although the exercises themselves were a bit mundane and boring if I recall correctly. This started in 7th grade, going all the way through 10th. The progression wasn't quick enough for me - there wasn't enough increase in the complexity and scope of the challenges and exercises in the later grades.

Eh... nothing I haven't heard at a Chemical Brothers concert.

Think about it. 10-20 hours of gameplay content, a few square miles' worth of environmental models and effects, dozens of characters and animations, matching voiceover and audio content, and the engine, AI and gameplay code to drive it all. Add to that between 20 minutes and an hour's worth of CG movies. Now consider that we're doing this with teams 1/5th the size of what they are for 2-hour movies, at 1/8th of the budget in half the time (exceptions notwithstanding). $50M for the most expensive games doesn't sound too bad compared to $500 for the most expensive movies...