Mike Elgan: Why iPad is the ‘Children’s Toy of the Year’
Parents
Parents are always looking for electronic babysitters to pacify their kids so they can do something else — drive, for example, or make dinner.
Naysayers in my Buzz group say parents won’t shell out $500 for a children’s toy. Here’s my response: Wanna bet? An entire industry has sprung up around DVD players in cars that are just for kids. How much do those cost? Besides, an iPad isn’t a toy. It’s a toy chest full of toys.
An iPad is an ideal kid pacifier. For starters, parent-selected children’s apps for the iPad are likely to be more educational than TV. As a replacement or substitute for in-car entertainment for kids, iPads are better because kids can change the app. The parent doesn’t have to put everyone’s lives at risk trying to swap DVDs.
Parents will believe, and correctly, that using an iPad will better prepare their children for the future than watching TV.