Apple Stores Replace Kids' Table iMacs With iPads

[vrDrew]

Just what we need. I am in my mid 20s and my IT education was primarily word processing and office applications.

This may surprise you, but not every kid is that interested in being an IT geek when they grow up.

Word processing and office applications? What possible interest would little kids have in doing that? I can think of few things more likely to turn a small child off of using technology than sitting him down and asking him to format a table in Pages, or build a spreadsheet to keep track of his allowance.

Let kids be kids. Play silly games, draw pictures with their fingers, bang out tunes. They've got the rest of their lives to balance budgets and write client proposals.

On another note: Apple spends $500 buying chairs for kids to sit on in their stores. Children don't technically make the purchase decisions in most households. But somehow I think the subconscious pleasure they got resting their little rear-ends in those fancy chairs will telegraph itself into the message their parents get: "Apple stuff is really cool!" (or whatever term six year olds use these days.)

 

[clarkie604]

Pretty telling that they want the next generation learning iOS instead of OS X. I do think kids will like it better.

My three year old twins run the iPad easily. Crazy thing is, we put them in front of the computer the other day and they couldn't figure out the mouse. I'm sure my older kids had the mouse down pat by the twins' age.

 

[kolax]

Just what we need. I am in my mid 20s and my IT education was primarily word processing and office applications. I pity those kids these days who won't even get the level I got, and instead spend their time consuming videos and pictures on these devices.

The goal of teaching kids how to code (as IT classes in schools should be) seems further and further away with each story like this

Bit extreme.

They are there to occupy the kids while the adults are in the store. What better way than games on the iPad.

You really think that kids before sat and coded on an iMac? They played games on those too..

 

[Boisv]

You obviously don't have kids.

Are you joking? I hope you're joking.

 

[ftaok]

Are you joking? I hope you're joking.

I think he's referring to the notion that kids can easily figure out the iPad without the ability to read. The iPad interface is so simple that even a non-reading 2 year old can figure out where Angry Bird is and how to push the big button that starts the game.

 

[Scarpad]

The Dumbing Down of Society continues


A Computer User (Going back to 8 bit days)

 

[Boisv]

Reread my post. I specifically mentioned parents who use iDevices as a babysitting tool rather than being involved with what their kids are using. And that could very well be a concern.

Reread your post? With comics, TV, and video games there was also the concern that parents would use the as a babysitting tool rather than being involved with what their kids are using. There will always be some bad parents, but things turned out just fine.

As to your examples: Watch the episode of that Rehab show with the 25 year old guy who has a videogame addiction. The guy would be completely unable to survive if his family wasn't taking care of him. I'm not saying that such a result is inevitable, I'm saying that it is a valid concern.

So you found one extreme case? So what? One case doesn't make this a valid concern. A person can become addicted to shopping. Should we stop taking kids to the mall?

 

[NY Guitarist]

I wonder if they will have screen protectors and hand wipes.

Not trying to dramatize this point, but when I go into an Apple store and look at iPhones or iPads they look disgusting with oily finger smears. And that is the area where adults demo them.

I love that Apple lets kids get hands-on time with iPads, but can you imagine what winds up on those screens? And kids have a (natural) habit of putting fingers in their mouths or rubbing their eyes, picking noses... Yuck.

Although maybe it's no different than what gets on a keyboard, just easier to see the crud on them. But iPads screens are easier to clean than keyboards.

Jeez, maybe I'll skip lunch today.

 

[sweetbrat]

I always assumed that the kids' area at the Apple Store had two basic functions:
1. Occupy the kids while Mom/Dad are shopping.
2. Let the kids experience Apple products so they ask Mom/Dad to buy them.

So in this case, you WANT the iPad to basically be a babysitter for your child. And realistically, it makes much more sense to have iPads available to the kids than iMacs. iPads are easier to use, even for the youngest kids. It opens up the experience of playing around at the Apple Store to younger kids than the iMacs likely would have reached. It's good marketing, and it helps the parents out. I don't see what there is to complain about, besides that there's some nostalgia involved with the iMacs.

 

[Kid A]

kids table should have both IMO.
2:1 or 3:1 ratio of iPads to iMacs.

 

[Eriden]

iPad improves student grades:
http://www.hmheducation.com/fuse/pilot-1.php

In a previous thread post, I mentioned that my 5 year old has learned to read using my iPad. Im not saying that they can't be used in a good way. Like most things related to children, it depends on the involvement level and priorities of the parents.

 

[SPNarwhal]

Image

What is an "Enfant"?

 

[clarkie604]

That table needs more to it. Like a colorful sign or something.

Right now it looks bland, and not very kid-attracting.

I guarantee that a kid-size table with iPads on it will attract my kids -- no colorful sign needed.

 

[sweetbrat]

The Dumbing Down of Society continues


A Computer User (Going back to 8 bit days)

Can you explain how making iPads available for little kids to play with contributed to the "dumbing down of society" as you put it? I'm honestly curious. I would think the way a parent teaches their children at home would have a much greater effect than having iPads available for the few minutes they're in the Apple Store.

 

[Eriden]

So you found one extreme case? So what? One case doesn't make this a valid concern. A person can become addicted to shopping. Should we stop taking kids to the mall?

If a person spends the money they should be spending on rent on sales or hoarding crap, then perhaps that person shouldn't be shopping. And yeah, giving kids unfettered access to finances in a shopping environment is probably not a good idea. Paris Hilton - case in point.

Christ, some Apple fans are to Apple as the Phelps children are to Westboro Baptist Church.

 

[Peace]

What is an "Enfant"?

It's French for child.

 

[Eriden]

I think he's referring to the notion that kids can easily figure out the iPad without the ability to read. The iPad interface is so simple that even a non-reading 2 year old can figure out where Angry Bird is and how to push the big button that starts the game.

+1 for common sense and intelligence.

 

[mixel]

My 4(just!) year old daughter has no problems with mice or touch controls. The iPad is definitely a good choice for the kids section. The hands-on nature of the device and the absolutely INSANE amount of high quality children's content, some of which is very creative and educational, gives a better impression than an iMac could, I think.

I know my daughter, and I expect most kids in general would be more likely to use the iPads than a full blown iMac in those surroundings.

 

[anthonymoody]

Wait til they actually replace iMacs with iPads.

I'm a believer obviously (see my signature...) but this move doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[kingtj]

I don't think it's quite like that ....

I'm 40 myself, and I remember learning BASIC programming in high-school, on Apple //e machines in the computer lab (plus a summer computer class I took one time, before that, with the Apple and Atari computers in the local library branch, where I first played "Oregon Trail").

Sure, things are changing and moving away from that type of learning experience for kids -- but I disagree that it's a bad thing.

The kids using iPads aren't simply "consuming videos and pictures". They've got MANY good educational software titles on them that teach them to read, spell, work math problems, and all the other stuff kids used to do on a desktop computer.

The only real difference is they're not using a keyboard and mouse as their input device, and especially for the little kids? I think that's more of a benefit than anything else. There's really nothing natural about using a mouse. It only feels like it to all of us who already got used to it on a PC or Mac over the years. But kids naturally want to touch and manipulate what they see on the screen. (Ever see little kids trying to reach out and touch characters they're watching on TV?)

Learning to code is a whole different matter. I don't want to see that option go away, but that was never really a focus of the "kids' section" of an Apple store in the first place. I think programming requires either an instructor's guidance through the process or a desire to be self-taught and work through it on your own. Nothing meaningful wouldl get accomplished in the short time a kid would be in an Apple retail store sitting at one of these desks.... However, they *might* find a good educational title they enjoy on one of the iPads, causing their parents to purchase it on their own iPad after they get home.

Just what we need. I am in my mid 20s and my IT education was primarily word processing and office applications. I pity those kids these days who won't even get the level I got, and instead spend their time consuming videos and pictures on these devices.

The goal of teaching kids how to code (as IT classes in schools should be) seems further and further away with each story like this

 

[Boisv]

I think he's referring to the notion that kids can easily figure out the iPad without the ability to read. The iPad interface is so simple that even a non-reading 2 year old can figure out where Angry Bird is and how to push the big button that starts the game.

That's a good point, although I think there's a difference. Does she really understand how the iPad works or is she just repeating what she's seen? But really, I was reacting more to Eriden's silly assumption that I must not have kids. I have a six year old daughter.

However, two points...

1. The iPad is probably the best tool I've had for getting my six year old daughter to read. I'm so glad I bought one. She reads everything on it.

2. She only knows where Angry Birds is because you showed her. She knows how to start the game because you showed her. I don't mean to belittle your daughter when I say this, and so I'll include my own daughter in this too: even a monkey can be taught that. That isn't the same as actually knowing how something works and figuring it out on your own. My daughter was also opening angry birds on my iPad Touch when she was 2, but I wouldn't say that she actually knew how to use the iPod Touch. She just remembered one series of commands. Likewise, my grandfather knows where to open solitaire, but I wouldn't say he really understands how to use a computer.

I mean heck, I knew how to drive by age, what... 4? The pedals make the car go and stop, and the big wheel stears. But that isn't the same as actually knowing how to drive.

If you give an iPad to someone who has never used one, they're going to need to know how to at least read what the app names are, and basic instructions. If not, they might have (at most) memorized a series of commands and locations, but the second there is any sort of snag or interruption, they're lost. A message pops up and they're lost.

 

[griz]

Post PC Kids Table

A natural extension of the "Post PC" Era. These kids will be the first to grow up as a post PC generation.

 

[Boisv]

And yeah, giving kids unfettered access to finances in a shopping environment is probably not a good idea.

Who is talking about that? Are we having the same conversation?

 

[Drunken Master]

My three year old twins run the iPad easily. Crazy thing is, we put them in front of the computer the other day and they couldn't figure out the mouse. I'm sure my older kids had the mouse down pat by the twins' age.

Maybe they just need to see you use it?

My friend's 1.5-year-old reached for the mouse and started moving it and clicking the very first time his dad put him on his lap at the computer. I guess he had been watching.

 

[Boisv]

Maybe they just need to see you use it?

My friend's 1.5-year-old reached for the mouse and started moving it and clicking the very first time his dad put him on his lap at the computer. I guess he had been watching.

I love watching kids figure out computers.