Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Generation Gadget Kids Are Costly


My original plan was to blog about the Electronic Banking Monopoly game. Then I found out that the game came out about two years ago, meaning I'm two year to late to be in shock. I'm still in disbelief that they have taken one of the most sacred classic games and turned it into teaching children to use credit cards at a young age. Why do they need to learn to use cash or paper money when they can be taught to use a credit card to do all the thinking?!?

Then I found out that Nickelodeon (with Viacom & Imation) have done it again! Let's create a new cool line of electronic gadgets for kids under Nickelodeon's Npower brand like SpongeBob Squarepants speakers for their Ipod MP3 player (because every kid has an Ipod MP3 player and creating a boom box is to old school). Let's throw in a digital voice recorder, digicam, webcam, digital picture frame and whatever other gadgets we can think of. Maybe we can create a cellphone next! Then we can start creating computers and get kids hooked into the digital world early. Then they will never have to go outside and play with a ball or real people ever again! (Now, I'm starting to appreciate my parents not letting me have a gaming system growing up. At least I enjoyed the REAL world). We already have TV being a babysitter at home and in cars. Do we need children consistently hooked to a digital device to keep them sedated?

The other aspect is, how costly will children become in future? They will continue to desire the next best technology and at what COST?

[Engadget via Electronista]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was growing up I loved those at home lazer tag systems. They would make us run, jump, hide, sneak, and even build forts with gun-ports and find new and exciting paths to your friends house.

There is a place for high technology to meet gaming so that the technology actually is a driving force for exercise.

The ipod could develop something to be hooked up to a bike. Hasbro or Matel could come up with an electronic capture the flag system that involves GPS devices and maps to plan our your strategy.

The fact is adults are getting lazy. It is much easier to create something that will amuse a kid sitting down, less imagination is required from both parties.

Maybe if the adults stopped being lazy then our kids would have a chance

-Andy

Carolyn said...

I agree Andy. The problem with the electronic capture the flag system is that it would make it to easy for kids to beat the other team. The great part of capture the flag is that you don't know where the other team players are. The wonders of not knowing can be enjoyable.