The I Pad Catches ‘em young

By Our Special Correspondent

“Apple this, apple that… Mac is good, Mac is the best… I love my iPod, I love my iPad…” Heard enough of it already?

Steve Jobs, contrary to his surname, isn’t really paying all those people talking about it for the buzz. In fact, they are paying him to publicise his brand, his product, his logo every time they busy an Apple product. Even if the Apple tablets, the iPads, are known more for style than functionality. You still can’t access Flash-enabled websites on it (but many sites are shifting to iPad friendly htm15) or plug your pen drive directly into an iPhone or an iPad to playback your video or music, but who’s complaining as long as iTunes manages your library!

Android Tablets can do much more than the iPad, yet… a product that didn’t exist until a couple of years ago (at least not in its present form) has revolutionized the way people use computers.

Did we just say people? Okay, babies are people too. Even before stepping out of home, or diapers, way before the first day of kindergarten, or pre-school where they are introduced to the shape of the English alphabet, babies have started using computers.

That’s what Steve Jobs has done. He’s caught the fancy of a generation that’s started to play with the iPad even before they have learned to talk or walk. Well, they can touch and that’s all they need to turn on sounds and videos.

Kid-friendly

As a techie friend Ravicharan Mydur says: “My three-year-old Riya’s favorite toy these days is the iPad. I’m constantly surprised by how much she learns from it. Just by going through the apps, she has learned to count by herself in at least two languages, she can indentify most animals, navigate pages for her favorite nursery rhymes and memories words and actions in the process. She’s also learning to draw and colour and getting in touch with her creative side… if the iPad could change diapers, it would be my hero!”

“I bought it last year and my iPad is not mine any more. Ever since she’s figured how to use the umpteen uber-kid-friendly apps, she owns it. I have not got a chance to tough it. I might go in for a Galaxy tab soon,” he adds, in all seriousness.

My first encounter with babies using IPads was when I was visiting a geek friend in Bangalore who has his hands full babysitting his two year-old son Siddharth and three year-old daughter Anjali. All he needed to do was take out the IPad and hand it to his daughter and occasionally mediate between the babies as they began to fight to use it.

It was the most incredible sight. Anjali went to the Toy Story read along app her, highlighting the text along with sound and visual so that she knew exactly what the sound looked like and meant.

“I have found that it is the ultimate toy – since it can do so many different things, they don’t get bored with it. Other cool toys lose their lure after a few hours of play. For example, my parents bought Sid a battery operated motorcycle that he can actually ride, Sure he was excited for the first few days, but now it sits in a corner of the playroom. The iPad on the other hand, gets played with everyday,” Arvind explains.

Drawing the line

“But there is a fine line there that I guess we’d like to hit. Give kids just enough time, put more educational apps on it than games, use it to our advantage when we need them to be distracted but don’t do it to the extent that the kid prefers to stay indoors and play on the iPad when he could be playing outside with other kids and physical toys, “he adds.

It’s also a great gaming device for kids as they grow older. “I wait for my Mom to take a break when she’s using the iPad. I love it because it’s so simple to use,” eight-year-old T. Raghav, a class II student, says. “Besides interesting apps and music videos that my elder brother downloads from time to time, I’m attracted to some of the games on the iPad. My favorites are Angry Birds, Ninjump, Paper Toss and Restaurant. These games are fun and it’s nice to beat your own score every time. They don’t take too long to finish, so I can return the iPad when Mom wants it!”

Apple announced the iPad 2 earlier this month with cameras! So there is a chance that babies won’t really need to learn to walk anymore. They could probably catch up with school and interact with other kids online, over a 3G video chat, maybe even mail in their homework and play multi-player games online with their buddies. With just a slight touch of the screen.

When Apple named it the iPad, maybe it wasn’t talking about that tablet, it was probably talking about your home, your pad where all the fun and action happens. If you are old enough to read, you are from a different generation than them. Party animals have become younger, way younger… only that now, the kid reaches for the bottle, takes a sip and gets back to the new toy, still smelling of milk.