I can't believe that anyone in the U.S. who has a roof over their head couldn't get a computer if they really wanted one.<p>There are plenty of computers similar to the one I use every day on eBay for under $50
<a href="http://computers.shop.ebay.com/PC-Desktops-/179/i.html?LH_BIN=1&#38;LH_Price=..50%40c&#38;Processor%2520Type=Intel%2520Pentium%25204&#38;Memory%2520%2528RAM%2529=512%2520MB%2520or%2520more&#38;_catref=1&#38;_dmpt=Desktop_PCs&#38;_fln=1&#38;_mPrRngCbx=1&#38;_ssov=1&#38;_trksid=p3286.c0.m282" rel="nofollow">http://computers.shop.ebay.com/PC-Desktops-/179/i.html?LH_BI...</a>
Old CRT monitors, keyboards, mice can usually be picked up for next to nothing. And if that is still too expensive there is always <a href="http://www.freecycle.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.freecycle.org/</a> . If someone wants a free up to date OS, then Ubuntu will ship CDs for free:
<a href="https://shipit.ubuntu.com/" rel="nofollow">https://shipit.ubuntu.com/</a><p>You can pick up a Xbox with games for $35
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-Xbox-8-GB-Black-14-games_W0QQitemZ150403884334QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games?hash=item2304c5252e" rel="nofollow">http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-Xbox-8-GB-Black-14-games_W0QQi...</a>
and they are hackable with Linux<p>You can pick up cell phones for next to nothing and many of them run Java apps.<p>I learnt to program on a BBC B (8bit, 32kb memory) computer I shared with my family and books from the local library. I'm not sure how "kids today don't have access to computers" compared to then. Back then computers and phones were expensive and now they are cheap. Also the internet is full of communities to help people learn programming.