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Personally, I think what David Brin ultimately did, which is purchase an actual Commodore 64 for his son to tinker with, was the best thing he could have done. The second best thing he could have done (and could still do) is download one of the myriad emulators that exist for old personal computers such as the Apple ][, Atari 400/800, Tandy TRS-80 and so on. They are all available for free, and provide a means by which to understand how computers work at the most fundemental level.
The bottom line is, the architecture of a modern-day PC is not that much different to the personal computers of the late '70's and '80's. However, you cannot "program to the metal" of a modern-day PC, not even if you have an operating system like Linux installed--there are always layers of software in between you and the hardware that you simply cannot cimcumvent.
To those recommending that a language like Python would be better than BASIC, you are missing the point: each of the personal computers of 30 years ago featured an idiosyncratic version of BASIC that actually helped teach budding programmers something about the machine itself. This, in my mind, is far more important than learning how to program in a language such as Python, which is completely machine independent.
I am willing to bet that most kids these days have very little understanding of how a computer actually works, because they don't get to tinker at the hardware level with a modern-day PC or Mac. My first computer was an Apple ][+, and I spent many enjoyable weekends learning how to program it in BASIC and 6502 assembly language. I ultimately gained "complete mastery" over that machine--something I cannot even claim about the PC running Linux and Windows that I have now, 25 years later.
The best programmers, in my opinion, are those that had the enthusiasm to dive into the computers of their youth and learnt how to master them. I see no reason why kids of today can't learn just as much from a Commodore 64 as kids of 30 years ago, especially since the computers of today are largely a black box whose secrets cannot be penetrated.
