Sunday, November 2, 2008

iTouch, You Touch


I just purchased a new iPod Touch this weekend and I can't tell you how excited I am about this amazing little device. Trouble is, my children (ages 6 and 18 months) can't keep their hands off the thing. Hands down, this new toy is more appealing to them than anything else in the house. My daughter gave up television, books-- even speaking-- so that she could escape to her room and play Monstar Maker and Kindergarten Math. I've barely had any time to download a handful of Apps but these are the ones that have grabbed her attention. The 18 month old? He's just fascinated with the interface - and Monstar Maker of course, but hasn't quite grasped the concept of basic navigation. Plus, he's a dangerous little devil so I finally had to take it away from him, tears and all.

I'd like to say that I'm ordinarily one of those parents that keeps expensive electronics away from my children, but clearly I'm not. And here's another dirty little secret: I bought this device for them, kind of. As a consultant in the children's media industry I happen to think that the iPhone/iPod Touch technology is the wave of the future and that anyone currently designing applications for the preschool and school-age market is onto something huge. So, naturally, I had to have one.

Letting my kids play with it all weekend is just the first phase of my market research.

No comments: