What better way to entertain your baby than giving him his very own smartphone? After all, if he’s already got a laptop and camera…
If the LeapFrog toy company has its way, texting will soon join reading, writing and arithmetic as a staple of early childhood eduction. Starting in June, the company will begin selling a BlackBerry-like toy called the Text & Learn. The device is aimed at tots and features a full keyboard, calendar, LCD screen, and texting capacity. The big difference between the $25 Text & Learn and the several-hundred-dollar gadgets for grown-ups that inspired it is that it connects to a fake internet browser where preschoolers can exchange texts with a digital puppy named Scout whose five preprogrammed text messages include “Hi! We’re out of puppy biscuits. Thanks!” and “Let’s meet up later to play some fetch!”
Is it me, or is this a bit creepy?
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To me it is more than a “little Creepy”. Being from a generation that is far past its prime I find that a lot of the computer stuff these days leaves me cold and far to many of the kids fat. What ever happened to the idea of playing outside, explore the woods, throw and catch balls ? I am glad I grew up when I did having fun with Mom always close and Dad to after 5 o’clock and on weekends not both working and hardly ever home, we did not have the material stuff that abounds today but I venture we were better for it. It seems kids see more of their babysitter or day care worker today than they do the parents, the worst part of that is those are the most informative years and they are not learning anything about what its like to be part of a family. How will they learn the right values to pass on.
Sounds like a boring toy.
Yeah, I mean, why would a kid want to play with it in the first place?
And playing outside or in the woods is not safe anymore, too many crazies out there 🙁
And what’s wrong with a camera? I gave my 5-year-old my old Coolpix when she was 3 and she’s taken some neat pictures. It’s kind of fun to see what she takes pictures of and the view from her eyes. She does some funny videos too. My 3-year-old uses it too.