The iPhone is the Fisher-Price of smartphones

[Eug]

So yeah, a friend heard I upgraded to a Motorola Razr HD and that I gave my old iPhone 4 to my wife. Thus, her (really) old iPhone 3G (which is in kinda bad shape) was going to be left unused... until now.

Our friend went out and bought a Fisher-Price "case" for the phone and gave it to us for Xmas. I downloaded some free Fisher-Price apps, and voila, instant indestructible toddlers' 3.5" tablet.

Video illustrating protection against baby drool: http://www.fisher-price.com/img/demo/us/video_shell_640.swf?sku=W6085&country=us

I just left the deactivated SIM card in the unit and it works fine like that.

 

[TuxDave]

That is awesome. But... how do you charge it?

 

[Eug]

You have to take it out of the case. Fortunately, it takes 5 s with coin to remove it from the case. It comes out kinda like an iBook battery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yle0flELLkE#t=4.8s

I guess they don't want baby spit to get all over the dock connector.

I wonder though, would anyone actually buy one of these to put a new iPod touch in it? Seems like an awfully expensive kids toy. (It takes anything from an iPod touch up to the iPhone 4S.) No iPhone 5 version yet available...

 

[akugami]

My brother just gave me an iPhone 3GS, kinda beat up, for the kids. I just got this same case at Amazon earlier in the which was on sale for $5, but the deal seems to have expired and it's currently $12.

 

[bearxor]

I decided to go with a Nabi tablet for my little niece this Christmas. The rest of the family is iOS only so this is the only Android device. I have to say that I was extremely unimpressed with the quality of education apps on Android. They pale in comparison to what you can get on iOS so far.

Yes, the iPhone and iPad have made a great fisher price toy so for her so far.

 

[Whiskey16]

I downloaded some free Fisher-Price apps, and voila, instant indestructible toddlers' 3.5" tablet.

Seriously -- limit or deny your baby/toddlers access to the shiny.

It provides little if any benefit, certain detriments, and yet takes play time away from more productive pursuits.

I put much of the blame for such marketing success upon those parents who find it cool to live vicariously with their kids being sucked in and glued to gadgets that they themselves find cool. Children are not you. Healthy development is key and to remove adequate time from that with an electronic crack substitute most certainly is not cool:

Carr-Gregg is quick to note that at a very young age, there are additional dangers.

"Too much screen time can have unhealthy side effects. That's why its wise for parents to monitor and limit the time their child spends watching TV or using iPads. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under age two have no screen time and that kids older than two watch no more than one to two hours a day of quality programming."

..

Ingelbrecht cites the work of leading British brain scientist Susan Greenfield, who posits that profound changes are taking place in the human brain as it is exposed to more and more screen time.

Greenfield argues the time in front of technology increases dopamine levels in the brain, which change behaviour.

 

[Eug]

Meh. It's just one toy out of many.

 

[QueBert]

Seriously -- limit or deny your baby/toddlers access to the shiny.

It provides little if any benefit, certain detriments, and yet takes play time away from more productive pursuits.

I put much of the blame for such marketing success upon those parents who find it cool to live vicariously with their kids being sucked in and glued to gadgets that they themselves find cool. Children are not you. Healthy development is key and to remove adequate time from that with an electronic crack substitute most certainly is not cool:

3 of the biggest things that helped me learn when I was a small kid was a Speak-N-Spell, the math version and the See-N-Say. I found them much more engaging than any book or teacher. iOS has a crazy amount of awesome educational apps. It shouldn't replace actual teaching, but it's a great addition. With just a Speak-N-Spell I was 2 grades ahead of everyone in my class for English. I can't imagine how an iPhone at 5 or 6 would have boosted my brain power.

 

[Crono]

Seriously -- limit or deny your baby/toddlers access to the shiny.

It provides little if any benefit, certain detriments, and yet takes play time away from more productive pursuits.

I put much of the blame for such marketing success upon those parents who find it cool to live vicariously with their kids being sucked in and glued to gadgets that they themselves find cool. Children are not you. Healthy development is key and to remove adequate time from that with an electronic crack substitute most certainly is not cool:

I agree with this. It's bad enough we adults give ourselves ADHD with all the screens and multitasking we do, don't need to get kids started at such a young age. Not to mention bright screens mess with sleeping habits.

Classic toys like building blocks are a better option. Should skip any kind of computer including mobile devices until much later.

 

[Whiskey16]

3 of the biggest things that helped me learn when I was a small kid was a Speak-N-Spell, the math version and the See-N-Say.

What age were you?

Let me remind you of the OP's context:

Video illustrating protection against baby drool: [URL="http://www.fisher-price.com/img/demo/us/video_shell_640.swf?sku=W6085&country=us"]http://www.fisher-price.com/img/demo/us/video_shell_640.swf?sku=W6085&country=us[/URL]

In pictoral essence the OP presented a rattle encasing an iPhone in the hands of a baby. Dumb.

If free to choose as they wish for their kids then they may, yet when it comes to publicly marketing and advocating adverse activities for critical development stages of very young children, then a just countering response is fair game.

 

[bigrash]

Very cool that you can do that with an iphone

 

[QueBert]

What age were you?

Let me remind you of the OP's context:

In pictoral essence the OP presented a rattle encasing an iPhone in the hands of a baby. Dumb.

If free to choose as they wish for their kids then they may, yet when it comes to publicly marketing and advocating adverse activities for critical development stages of very young children, then a just countering response is fair game.

I got my See-N-Say when I was around 3, I wasn't much older than that for the other 2. iOS has some great education apps that teach everything from colors to numbers to body parts. A 2 year old could learn quick. I can't speak for other kids, but I know as a child anything interactive caught my attention and did help me pick up on it quicker.

 

[Eug]

What age were you?

Let me remind you of the OP's context:

In pictoral essence the OP presented a rattle encasing an iPhone in the hands of a baby. Dumb.

If free to choose as they wish for their kids then they may, yet when it comes to publicly marketing and advocating adverse activities for critical development stages of very young children, then a just countering response is fair game.

Nah, you're just being a killjoy.

It's a frickin' single and simple educational toy, not an entire plan for a kid's educational upbringing.

 

[Whiskey16]

I got my See-N-Say when I was around 3...

Thank you, that is quite a great developmental leap above a baby or any toddler under the age of 2.

Screen time for babies is harmful.

The OP is out of whack with what is acceptable child rearing practices, and has got called out upon advocating detrimental behaviour.

 

[Eug]

Thank you, that is quite a great developmental leap above a baby or any toddler under the age of 2.

Screen time for babies is harmful.

The OP is out of whack with what is acceptable child rearing practices, and has got called out upon advocating detrimental behaviour.

Stop will the self-righteous bull already. If you don't like these gadgets, stay out of the thread.

Here's a hint: You sound like one of those irritating know-it-all parents who's convinced of his own child-rearing superiority, and who tells everyone every chance they get.

 

[Whiskey16]

Stop will the self-righteous bull already. If you don't like these gadgets, stay out of the thread.

I'm not permitted to post? By your deluded decree, is AnandTech now only for the praise and rehashing marketing material of tech gadgets?

You initiated a contentious topic and this is where it goes.

This is an open forum concerning mobile gadgets and I will not refrain from speaking out in warning to any who may be encouraged by your thread and follow your lead of repeating dangerous screen-time behaviour with their own babies.

Here's a hint: You sound like one of those irritating know-it-all parents who's convinced of his own child-rearing superiority, and who tells everyone every chance they get.

I fairly called it as I see it -- you making the choice to advocate iPhone use for babies.

Criticizing the presentation of an iPhone as a toy for babies and lambasting this teched-up Fisher-Price baby rattle are hardly radical thoughts.

An iPhone to a baby is a shiny dopamine inducing and a detrimentally mild altering light toy that is harmful to their development while discouraging time that would be better spent with more productive means of play.

Your choice. Others should be free to choose without only your one-sided and applauding marketing message from the likes of Fisher-Price.

You may find it cool to have your under-2 kid play with the same toys as you do under the delusional guise of an educational benefit, yet I chose to come in to provide a rational and real world warning to the rest of the readers.

 

[Eug]

Hmmm... I'll quote:

"electronic crack substitute"
"adverse activities for critical development stages"
"detrimental behaviour"
"dopamine inducing and a detrimentally mild altering light toy that is harmful to their development"
"real world warning"

Utter ridiculousness, and almost amusing. Almost.

Seriously though, you probably should get the broomstick outta your ass already, or perhaps your kids or the kids you interact with might just grow up to be as obnoxious and lacking in common sense as you have been in this thread. Teach by example, as it were...

---

In any case, back on topic. The thing about these Fisher-Price apps is that many of them aren't particularly interesting. I find some of the tablet books somewhat more interesting, although the physical books are a little more inviting in some ways.

Nonetheless there are some features of these than can hold a kid's interest for a little while, and it's a decent way to make use of an otherwise defunct iPhone or iPod touch. I would have no qualms whatsoever in giving one of these to a friend, albeit with the caveat that the usefulness of these may be somewhat limited. But then again, that's probably true of just about any children's book or toy, educational or not.

 

[WelshBloke]

How do you deactivate the emergency dialer? That's mainly what worries me when I let kids play with my sim free phones.

(Or does apple not have that? I thought it was a legal requirement for all phones.)

 

[Eug]

It's actually quite hard to press the button. There is a flexible plastic cover that you have to press through. Strangely enough it doesn't significantly negatively affect the capacitive touch for the rest of the screen.

I leave the button exposed (underneath the plastic) because it allows us to press it, but a baby isn't strong enough to press it.

However, if you flip the phone upside down, then the button is completely inaccessible, but if you do that you can't change the programs without removing the phone. If you look the pic at the top you'll see a little transparent plastic bar covering the bezel. That's hard plastic. If you flip the phone upside down, the button is under the plastic bar and is inaccessible for everyone.

 

[eelw]

How do you deactivate the emergency dialer? That's mainly what worries me when I let kids play with my sim free phones.

(Or does apple not have that? I thought it was a legal requirement for all phones.)

Assuming it's an iOS6 device, enable Guided Access mode to lock it down to a single app.

 

[Red Storm]

Damn, back in my days as a little one nobody gave their kids $200-$300 "toys". Crazy world we live in.

 

[Eug]

I wouldn't normally either, but the phone is in really poor shape so it would either be unused or else maybe as a iPod for the car or something. I doubt I'd get a lot for it on Kijiji/Craigslist because there's a scratch on the screen, and dust underneath, and the ringer silencer button doesn't work. The case is all scratched up too.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Damn, back in my days as a little one nobody gave their kids $200-$300 "toys". Crazy world we live in.

These $200-$300 "toys" are second and maybe even third hand devices. The learning experience that kids have on these devices can be worth the money.

 

[Red Storm]

These $200-$300 "toys" are second and maybe even third hand devices. The learning experience that kids have on these devices can be worth the money.

Maybe when they're older, but count me in the crowd that says drooling babies should not be using computer devices like an iPhone, no matter what app is running.

You can take that $200-$300 and get a crap ton of educational and recreational stuff for a kid to more properly learn from.

 

[WelshBloke]

It's actually quite hard to press the button. There is a flexible plastic cover that you have to press through. Strangely enough it doesn't significantly negatively affect the capacitive touch for the rest of the screen.

I leave the button exposed (underneath the plastic) because it allows us to press it, but a baby isn't strong enough to press it.

However, if you flip the phone upside down, then the button is completely inaccessible, but if you do that you can't change the programs without removing the phone. If you look the pic at the top you'll see a little transparent plastic bar covering the bezel. That's hard plastic. If you flip the phone upside down, the button is under the plastic bar and is inaccessible for everyone.

I'm not familiar enough with iOS phones to know but cant you call emergency numbers from the lock screen?