A $500 Rattle

A few days ago I came to the darkside. I wanted to be an Android tablet user but just couldn’t wait for them to catch up. I did some research on the iPad and found it could do a few things that gave me the business justification I needed for the “investment”. I didn't anticipate how something I intended for my classrooms of adults would be used in the classroom that is my own home.

Along with my work apps, I also installed some children’s games and educational applications with visions of us sitting together learning our numbers and alphabets, interacting with nursery rhymes. After about two evenings this is what I observed.

My three year old has already figured the thing out since technology is no mystery to her. She picks up on interacting with electronic interfaces as if there is no reason not to understand them. She even wants to type words on the keyboard. My seven month old wants to start writing programs for it. She has never grabbed for anything with as much enthusiasm and I can tell she is already plotting her hacking exploits.

On the rare occasion that I actually get to use it I find extra files everywhere, icons rearranged, funny character strings in every search bar, and IP addresses to NSA computers in the browser that I am not supposed to be going anywhere near. Soon, they will jailbreak the thing and drop me a to a command prompt.

So my wife suggests I get one just for them. The less expensive base model with no cell phone and just let them have at it. A $500 rattle that shakes, makes noise, and has the capability of hacking into the National Security Agency systems.

If I were to give them one of their own, what are the chances my girls would fall for the ruse? I have an instinctive feeling they would still want to use Daddy’s iPad instead. I will have to sneak work in on theirs late at night in the darkest corners of their playroom surrounded by stuffed dinosaurs and Minnie Mouse.

I am proud and just have to laugh about it. Watching them both play on it together is one of those treats parents get to just sit back and watch them grow up. And it is my own fault after all; I want them to understand technology as early in life as they can.

So far that doesn’t seem to be a problem. It is amazing how the eyes of a child sees the amazing technologies around us. They don't take time to question how it is possible, they just get to work.