Things like this make me so sad. Why not give that kid fingercolours? Or a xylophone? Make him experience the real world instead of simulation of something hidden behind a screen.
You probably don't have kids, but I'll respond anyways. What if your kid already has real finger paints, musical instruments and all manor of "real world" toys and objects?
I recognized that my two children could use a touchscreen almost a year ago when they were 1 and 3 years old. When the iPad came out it was a no-brainer. Unlike a mouse, touchpad or keyboard, the touchscreen on my iPad is very usable (apps are a diff story) for my now 2 and 4 year olds and makes discovering computers a joy for them.
Yes they still go outside, get dirty and explore like any other kid. They just have this in addition to all that "real" stuff.
The thing is... these devices are quite hypnotic and addictive for fully grown adults, let alone infants.
As a father of two young children, I kept them away from computers and screens as much as possible until they were 3 years old.
Babies are wired to be learning about and interacting with their physical environment and the lifeforms around them. Exposing them to highly artificial and abstract phenomena before they have developed the abstract thought processes to assign relevance and meaning to them seems to be at best at waste of hard earned neural circuitry, at worst developmentally damaging.
We need to be gently nurturing our children's imaginations not flattening it and rendering it obsolete via technology. There's plenty of time for kids to discover computers, but once they do other all the other things they love doing will have some serious competition for their attention.
Sorry but I'm with the other luddites here. I don't encourage iDevice usage with my small (2 and 4) kids. I prefer them using old-fashioned machinery (books, sticks, rocks, dirt, toy trains)
Alternatively, it's another shiny new toy to prevent kids from developing concentration and the ability to focus on anything that doesn't have self-illumination and a constant stream of animated effects.
interaction is a double-edged sword though. Interactive media can result in being distracted or side-tracked a lot (which of course it what advertisers want). This can lead to issues with focus/concentration. TV on the other hand allows you to simply relax, switch off.
iPad should come out with Disney specific version (in pink for girls and in red/blue for boys). Consider the opportunities, an inbuilt iTunes store with all superhero / Cinderella type cartoons [they will learn to pay for the content from the childhood itself no need for RIAA / MPAA lawsuits], there is so much opportunity in this field, I can totally see kids harrowing their parents for one. Wonder how Steve jobs hasn't already began producing one.
