Baby Einstein

Dec 27, 2001
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Is this the second biggest scam of all time? Anybody ever seen this crap? It's cheaply shot video of toys with midi classical music playing. They film basically any mechanized brightly-colored toy just doing it's thing. By just buying your kid some of these toys and playing Mozart in their room they get the exact same thing PLUS the motor skill development.

People, often celebrities, swear this has atrributed to their child's genius, but, given most celebrities perceptive abilities and most parents' eagerness to mistake normal intelligence with brilliance; I'm not surprised the urban myth that this nonsense somehow mystically sharpens the acuity of six month olds has managed to perpetuate itself.

Then again, some people have like four versions of the Star Wars trilogy in their VCR cabinet too, so I guess this shouldn't be too surprising.

Btw, we didn't buy this it was a gift from a family member.
 

crazygal

Senior member
Feb 26, 2002
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I don't know if it's a scam really, but it's probably not the best thing to develope a child's skills. Although, classical music and colors do help.
 

FeathersMcGraw

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 2001
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Although newborn babies don't need high production values, since their perceptions aren't sufficiently mature to really distinguish beyond some simple patterns and bright colors.

But I'm not surprised that people are eager to jump at whatever they can to improve their kids' intelligence, particularly with the emphasis society now places on education, standardized testing, and such.
 

bunker

Lifer
Apr 23, 2001
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My daughter has been watching them since she was about 4 months old.

I'm not saying it was the tapes, but she is well ahead of the curve as far as learning goes.

14 months old now and she says a ton of words, correctly, and she started walking on her own at 10 months.

As far as the quality goes, we have 2 of the DVD's and they are very good quality.

EDIT - It could also be that my wife and I spend every waking moment with her reading, playing, and doing other activities.
 

Toasthead

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
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All I can say is it is NEVER a good idea to plop your baby in front of a TV.
PLAY WITH THEM DAMMIT!
 

bunker

Lifer
Apr 23, 2001
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Originally posted by: Toasthead
All I can say is it is NEVER a good idea to plop your baby in front of a TV.
PLAY WITH THEM DAMMIT!

It's an interactive video. Things come on the screen you describe them and explain them to your child. All a part of learning, not mindless TV viewing.

Do you have kids?
 
Dec 27, 2001
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Originally posted by: Toasthead
All I can say is it is NEVER a good idea to plop your baby in front of a TV.
PLAY WITH THEM DAMMIT!

I assume you don't have kids. If you try to entertain your kids all day, you'll end up dead from exhaustion. If you can get them to sit down or lie down and watch A-Team reruns with you for an hour, then DO IT!
 

Doggiedog

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
12,780
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If you think that is a scam wait until you find out that Disney bought them out for $93 MILLION last year!!

I have 3 different Baby tapes and I can't stand them. I think that family that produced it is just another Joan-Bennett Ramsey type. Notice how as you get to newer and newer versions of the series their kids appear in them more and more. Some people are just lucky I guess. I probably have just as many toys for my kids as they did. I just wasn't smart enough to think I could video tape them, add some music, think up a catchy name and sell them for $15 a pop.

But you have to admit, the kids love it. My son just asked me to play it 30 minutes ago.
 

XZeroII

Lifer
Jun 30, 2001
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Just read, play classical music, and stimulate your child's mind. Classical music has lots of math in it so I think it stimulates the logic centers of the brain (I could be way off on that).