Best iPad Ad Ever?

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20017639-71.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple' target='_blank'>http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-2...subj=News-Apple</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"When Apple launched the iPad, there must have been one or two people on the advertising team (at least one that I know of) who wondered whether magical revolutions should be presented by child"</em></p><p><object width="600" height="360" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/gQFcgUqTg0M&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;ap=%26fmt=18" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gQFcgUqTg0M&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;ap=%26fmt=18" /></object></p><p>I'd say this YouTube video answers that question. Cute video of a 4 year old and an iPad, and while I don't think it is the best ad for the iPad ever, I certainly do think it sells it pretty well.&nbsp;</p>

[jgrnt1]

Until there's an app which prevents four year olds from tossing an iPad across the room (or an Otterbox which would provide survivability in the event of said tossing), I'm really hesitant to let small children play on it. I'm even cautious when my eleven year old uses my iPad.

I know a lot of people who let their little ones play with their portable gadgets -- phones, iPods, laptops, etc. I also know quite a few who now own bricks, or who have to try and view their screens through cracks or dead zones, because they let their small children play with their gadgets.

[Jason Dunn]

I have a few of those apps on my iPod Touch that I let my one year old use now and then. We're trying to limit his computer/device interaction, and let him watch zero TV, but he definitely enjoys playing with the iPod Touch. The video was good until the 60+ seconds on the same car stacking app there at the end...not sure why he wouldn't have trimmed it down a bit.

One thing is for sure: when children that are raised on touch-based computing use a "real" computer with a "real" OS that's not designed for touch, boy, they're going to be in for an ugly surprise. :eek:

[Jason Dunn]

Until there's an app which prevents four year olds from tossing an iPad across the room (or an Otterbox which would provide survivability in the event of said tossing), I'm really hesitant to let small children play on it. I'm even cautious when my eleven year old uses my iPad.

Speaking only for myself as a parent, when weighing the risks of my son damaging my iPod Touch versus the reward of having him learn things in a new way, I feel that the reward is worth the risk. And this is coming from a parent who's kid dropped his iPod Touch in the toilet. :D We managed to rescue the iPod Touch - and, amazingly, it works great - but for a while there I thought it was dead. I compared the cost of the device, subtracted the value of the enjoyment I'd gotten out of it along with the value my son had gotten from it, and came out with a negative number...meaning it was worth replacing.

Also, for me personally, I want to establish a pattern of trust and generosity with my son, not one of "this is my stuff, you can't touch it". There are some limitations of course - we actively discourage him from touching the big screen TV for instance - but in general we try to encourage, not discourage, his exploration of things in his world.

I might sing a different tune if my kid starts routinely destroying my gadgets, but since he uses them while supervised, we can hopefully keep that to a minimum. :)

[jgrnt1]

My boys are eleven and fourteen. They started using PCs probably between the ages of one and two. Somewhere in a closet is my Tonka keyboard attachment for one of their games. It's not the technology I'm trying to restrict. I'm just worried about the fragility of portable devices.

I agree about the touch interface problem, though. I use my iPhone and iPad all the time. Sometimes when I sit at one of my PCs, or especially with one of my laptops, I find myself reaching for the screen instead of the mouse.

It's only going to get worse -- My Harmony remote has a touch screen; my original Sonos controller did not, but now that it's dying, we're using my old iPhones as controllers; my car has a touch screen.

I keep thinking of the scene from Star Trek IV, where Scotty holds the mouse like a microphone and says, "Hello computer."

[Jason Dunn]

My boys are eleven and fourteen...I'm just worried about the fragility of portable devices.

Well, you know your kids better than I do, but I'd think that at 11 and 14 they'd understand the need to treat expensive electronics with some respect. Accidents happen, but they also happen to adults as well - I've dropped more than one phone on concrete. :D

I keep thinking of the scene from Star Trek IV, where Scotty holds the mouse like a microphone and says, "Hello computer."

Hahaha...exactly!! :D We'll be telling our grandkids how we used a MOUSE and they won't believe us. ;)