Today, Apple will be announcing a new Ipad concept – smaller size, less expensive.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/tech/mobile/apple-goes-small/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

While this article mentions all the reasons Apple is creating this – compete with Kindle price-wise and allow people to feel less protective about their big Ipad and venture out of the house with it, they either are missing or aren’t mentioning a major component to a product like this – KIDS!

In fact, the other day – after my son dropped my Ipad and the screen cracked (ugh FINE I dropped it with my clumsy hands, he handles it like a gentle egg) – I asked my husband why Apple hasn’t created a cheap “Ipad like” device for kids.  I say Apple, not someone else, because good or bad people simply feel better/happier/more excited about buying an Apple product.  And their sh** is freaking cool.

As much as parents may or may not want to admit it, if they have an Ipad, their kids use it.  My 3 1/2 year old uses the Ipad for some “good” stuff (Montessori counting/spelling apps, Dora coloring app, and reading a variety of books) and some “bad stuff” (watching shows, somehow logging on to YouTube and finding clips from real Batman movies – including R-rated lego parodies he thinks are Superhero videos…thanks dad).  But for the most part, the Ipad has been an excellent device for us to give him during “Rest time” or when he is sick.  We somehow feel its better than TV, especially when we find him doing reading exercises.  Then again, it opens up a large world of possibly inappropriate findings.

Kids using Ipads is a somewhat controversial topic.  What do you think is appropriate Ipad usage/age for a kid? Should they use it in public? We actually don’t allow that.  Especially not at restaurants – it makes me sad to see families sit down and the kids whip out some kind of game/device to ensure the discussion level is zero.  Then again, I don’t have a 12 yr old.  Maybe that’s the only way you get them to even go to dinner with you…