LeapFrog Text and Learn hands-on: look what RIM hath wrought
By Paul Miller 
posted Feb 4th 2009 9:43AM
posted Feb 4th 2009 9:43AM
posted Feb 4th 2009 9:43AM
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Well I suppose this is good for kids who want to be more like their crackberry addicted parents. Otherwise, it looks quite awful.
thanks
It really is sad, if I think about it. My four month old daughter is too easily mesmerized by the television screen or by her father's mobile phone or computer screens. she is very attracted to stuff like this and even though she's only four months old, she's already trying to imitate her parents in many ways.
I guess the reality here is I view this product as akin to cigarettes: they're marketing it to a younger crowd who are impressionable. Theye're using the bond between parent and child to market something to people who are too young and impressionable to judge whether it's something they want.
Plus it's a godsend for the negligent parent -- the more features an electronic device has, the more your child will allow it to babysit her (or him) -- that way you don't have to do as much active parenting or even take an interest in your child's upbringing.
And I'm not saying this is the first such product designed to take advantage of children's "monkey see, monkey do" imitative attitudes; but I am saying that certainly the designers know that small kids always want to be just like their parents. As a new dad, it just feels evil.
I want my daughter to have a phone with only four pre-programmed buttons: "call home," "call mommy," "call daddy," and "call emergency" and a remote-accessible GPS tracker.
that's my new phone.
It looks more like a kindle 2 than the blackberry.... all that wonderful plastic..... T_T
"The kindle 2- It not only lets you read, it teaches you HOW to read." That rocks my world.
Who wouldnt be proud to take this to their executive meeting?
move over Pre, we've got the real iPhone killer!
Looking at all these toys that kids have nowadays makes me kinda wish I was a child right now. I mean 15 years back I was lucky to have one small toy car.
15-20 years ago I had small toy cars...Micro Machines! And bigger ones too...Hot Wheels. I also had Transformers, GI Joes, Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles, Legos (lots of Legos)..etc.
My younger brother and I may have been a bit spoiled, but my family was not rich by any stretch of the imagination (Dad was a farmer and mom didn't work). I find it hard to believe you were 'lucky' to have a single toy car. Fifty years ago, sure, but only fifteen?
OK I maybe exaggerated a bit, but compared to what they have today is practically 1 small car :p
I dont know i dont see anything that today that really beats putting together your new lego sets on christmas morning.
Also the newest gadget for E.T. to mod and phone home!
Obama is gonna be pissed when they secret service give him this.
So I get the impression that this thing isn't actually functional, but I think that a durable version of a real email device would make a fantastic tool for kids learning how to read. So much of it is motivation, and if you give the kids a toy like that that doesn't offer the easy-out option (voice), they could pick up a lot quickly.
This would be learning at the maybe second-third grade level - they have to have the basics down to use this and learning at that point is mostly about practice. Not really suitable for the 3 1/2 year olds that they talk about in the video.
The device would also have to do something to force them to use actual words - it would be useless as a learning tool if they spend all their time writing that garbled nonsense. (psst! do u tnk i m cute?)
For a moment there I thought it was the G1. Then I realized it's really the G2 in pre-release beta garb. Go Android!
Just knowing the hacking community, someone WILL manage to load Android/WM/Linux onto this thing! Or come with some super-cool/useless mod, no doubt.
We used to worry about crack-babies, now we have to worry about crackBERRY-babies...
I don't think teaching young kids 2 txt lyk u cant spel rite this early will help them get ahead in life.
^^^^ THIS ^^^^
Ok, maybe not the crackberry-baby reference, but if anything is going downhill faster than our economy it's our ability to spell "gooder".
//Still loves lolcatz
///y u look funey at me? I iz smartz demit!
Heh, my 4 year old walked by and declared it "for babies", before asking why the screen was like my old gameboy. The design makes me wonder if the designers know any modern preschoolers. It's too big to fit in a preschooler's pocket and my son (along with several of his friends) already have their parents' old Treos to play with.
Seriously! My 5-year-old son got a Leapster for Christmas last year but quickly realized it's limitations when compared to my iPhone or even my wife's Blackberry Curve. Kids today are much more tech-savvy that we often give them credit for. I don't see this hitting the target demographic the way Leap Frog might want.
My First Smartphone
no.
When's the Android version due out?
My prediction? Running [i]Doom[/i] within 30 days of release.
Cool! Got me an idea for a gift for my nephew! No more playing with my phone!
I smellz IP infringement!
RIM Ready the lawyerz!
Damn, I really want this for my (almost) three-year-old son. This is exactly what he needs right now to reinforce his letters. Plus, he already has the Click Start computer, so he knows who Scout the dog is.
I'm frustrated that this isn't estimated to be available to buy until August. By then, he may be beyond it. :(
Looks like kids blackberry gone wrong.
wow..everything in slow mo in the demo movie..was that done on purpose to put them to sleep?..or do kids loves animations in those speed?..
Check out the Text and Learn in action on Toy Whimsy. Out Tiny Toy Testers were the first to review this new toy. It received a 4 out of 5 star rating:
http://www.toywhimsy.com/2009/04/leapfrog-text-and-learn-tiny-toy-testers-review.html
-Enjoy!