Comments on: The Simplest Things Are Not The Cheapest

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:12:00 +0000

Why take a Tablet to the Zoo? Social integration doesn’t come from 7″ screens, but from the world around us. Those simple things that cost our parents $100 you speak of existed in homes. Imagine what the animals think?

By: JRDemaskus

JRDemaskus — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:50:00 +0000

My experience is Boys vs. Girls.They each got a Dell Streak 7 WiFi in December.
The 2 Girl’s tablets are pristine and run well.
The Boy’s tablet I confiscated in early March, scratched Gorilla glass, damaged power port, frequently needs to be reset because it keeps freezing, despite several factory resets.
I chose the tablets to buy for the girls, he followed my lead and bought the same for himself with holiday money.
Your mileage may vary.
Peace

By: tastygroove

tastygroove — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:46:00 +0000

I’ll tell you based on almost 10,000 handset sales now… Big bubble buttons are the number one benefit to elderly. VX6100 VX8100 both great, inexpensive choices for grandma. But some grannies have no problem with Iphones and androids. They can learn it quickly just like a kid… My mother has never even owned a computer before, and shes a pro on the 4s. (And uses Siri a LOT.)

By: tastygroove

tastygroove — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:41:00 +0000

Remember to “forget” your WiFi network. My boys found out how to get into settings and turn it back on for unrestricted YouTube access. No harm done, but there is some real garbage on YouTube.

By: tastygroove

tastygroove — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:38:00 +0000

Too poorly designed for a 3yo, to boring for a 6yo… Yep.

By: tastygroove

tastygroove — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Speaks a ton of truth here. My 6 year old has a Droid x, 4 year old an optimus (he is asking about a 3devo for his birthday) and my 2 year old (almost 3) another optimus. These are all decomissioned devices (have small defects, bought cheap.)

My 2 year old can set his own wallpapers… And can give anybody a run for their money on angry birds.

The 6 year old is an amateur photo/videographer. (Thanks to his 16gb SD card)

It’s amazing to me how far tech has come, and how accessible it is now for the little ones.

By: n900mixalot

n900mixalot — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:54:00 +0000

Didnt need to hear about the stacks of tablets at home and at work–jealousyyyyy ;) –but I love this commentary. I dont want kids, not a fan of them, but they can and do teach us a lot about ourselves, cant/dont they?

By: David McClelland

David McClelland — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:07:00 +0000

It’s a common problem: rubberised edges and bright colours aren’t enough make something infant-friendly. It’s the same story with mobile phones: big buttons alone don’t make a handset easy to use for the elderly or those with special needs.

A cynic might say that many manufacturers pay lip-service to these accessibility needs and angle cheap devices aimed at gift buyers, exactly as in the case with your parents here, without any particular concern about the devices’ actual usability in their target market.

By: Derf

Derf — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:06:00 +0000

My 3 year old is more than happy to use her innotab, like your parents I couldn’t get the leapfrog tablet either.. no regrets its an excellent edutainment tool, plays avi mp3 and has some resonable apps and activities. Its ulitmatley down to how much time a parent invests in making it work, so if you spend all your time polishing your iPad its no wonder your child can’t use it..

By: companyemails

companyemails — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:10:00 +0000

I had a similar issue and tried both tablets and hated both. The concept was nice, but they were limited and overpriced (especially the games). Instead what I did was take an original droid, bought it a thick rubber case (saves it from bumps and makes it easy to hold); stripped the phone of most apps; installed Launcherpro; moved access to the app drawer to another screen and hid the notification bar. I then loaded all her games and turned off wifi. she now uses it as “her phone” and it is a great little play device to take on trips. once a month or so, I turn wifi on get updates, and add or remove apps.

I would happily get an older tablet and give it the same treatment. You can’t beat a modified Android tablet for access to games at inexpensive prices.

By: wonshikee

wonshikee — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:16:00 +0000

It’s rather silly to use your kid as the benchmark for these tablets. A 3 year old can play with one, but it’s hardly designed for one. You even said it yourself, he can’t read. It is likely aimed at 5-6.

Anyone falling before it is likely not developed enough to really use it as intended, and anyone above likely wants a real tablet.