My 10 year old son has been craving one of these for a while. I told him no because of the A10 processor—it just doesn't make sense to me. Last week, I began reading the Fadell book, Build, and was inspired by the introduction. There, he says that his grandfather helped him save the money to buy an Apple ][ when he was 12. I told my son I had an idea: for every Swift Playground he completed, I would give him some money to save up for a new Apple device...
Yesterday I broke the news to him. He is super smart (started reading when he was less than 3yr), but his mind doesn't understand how quickly "while supplies last" is. He thinks there will still be some by the time he saves his money. He asked my mother, his grandma, if he could help her clean houses to make some money. He said that she would give him $20 for each house he helps clean, so he did the math and was so excited yesterday at the possibility of finally getting one.
He doesn't know it, but grandma went ahead and gave us the money yesterday to order one and put it up without telling him. He is going to help her clean, save his money, work on Swift Playgrounds, and when he sadly thinks they are all out of stock, there'll be one waiting for him.
It might not make the news like the introduction of Tony Fadell's book, but I can't wait to surprise him with it. He has a brilliant mind to be 10, and I hope that continues the spark that tech puts in his eye--that he will do good with it far more than I ever hope to.
I want to say something, and I
REALLY hope you won't be offended - he sounds like me.
EXACTLY like me. I was reading by the time I was 2, and I could write before I started nursery (preschool). I went through the school reading scheme, such as it was, within 2 weeks in Reception (Kindergarten), and I was allowed to sit in the book corner and read on my own. I was the kid my peers always asked for spellings if the teacher was busy (I don't recall we had teaching assistants back then) - but, despite that, I was told I was dyslexic. I had literally NONE of the characteristic traits of dyslexia - I could spell words most of my peers couldn't (dyslexics, as you probably know, spell phonetically (eg 'phone' spelt 'fone', 'know' spelt 'no' or enough spelt 'enuf'). One of the major issues for dyslexics are 'silent' letters.
Obviously, I wasn't - but my mother just went along with what Sister Kevin (yep, a nun called Kevin; Kevin Arthur Russell) told her (something I've never really quite forgiven her for - she knew what I was reading at home). I
HATED that school (I don't know if I'd have been better at a state school, because I was never given the opportunity to find out).
I have zero concept of time. What's he like with other things - like organisation? How is he in lessons at school? What I'm trying to say is - have you ever considered the possibility he could have Asperger's...? I have Asperger's, ADHD and dyspraxia. I had to wait until I was 35 to find that out (Asperger's wasn't a thing in the '70s and, even now, all of the above are
STILL considered to be 'boys' things').
If me suggesting that upsets/offends you, then I sincerely apologise but, being autistic/neurodiverse isn't something to be ashamed of (Einstein had Asperger's (or he'd have definitely been diagnosed with it had it been a thing) he was also severely dyslexic) - it's neurotypicals which have the problem - and they refuse to change. I'm a square peg - I have no problem with being a square peg, but it's impossible being a square peg when society only offers round holes, and expects us to lose our corners (or at the very least become hexagonal/octagonal) - and the problem with hammering a square peg into a round hole, isn't that the hammering is hard work, it's that you're destroying the peg. I'm a very destroyed peg.
I'm only suggesting this because I don't want your lad to suffer like I have; due to the way society has treated me, I now have CPTSD.
I'd suggest an iPad mini, but they're considerably more. (£479 for a 64GB wifi only model, presume the £:$ exchange rate is taken as parity). I want one (I also want to replace my iPad Pro) - purple's my favourite colour. Is there anyway you could make a deal with him...? If he manages to save up £240, that you'd give him the rest (that said, I do think 64GB is rather paltry, never understood why Apple did away with the 128GB size). Just don't let him see the Pencil...
Unfortunately, on closer inspection, the iPod touch has disappeared from the UK Apple Store, so he may already be SOL (as it'll likely be the same in the US (if that's where you are)).
