modern dilemmas
the other day, i was browsing amazon and laid eyes on their new e-reader/tablet, the color kindle fire. a poor [fine, less rich]-man’s iPad at $199, the ads are touting its abilities as a convenient, portable media-player/reader. you can very quickly buy books/media/etc from the amazon store, keep them up in a ‘cloud’ somewhere, and access them whenever you need to.
to be honest, it looks like a pretty cool device to me, especially for travel. but then i saw this:
WHAT?! they want me to curl up with my baby girl and have her stare into a screen while we turn fake pages? i just can’t. i know i’m still a bit of a luddite these days, even if i did finally succumb to the iPhone [and i have to admit – i have ended up liking it a lot. though i still only have a grand total of like 4 apps]. i love my paper planner and have no intention of converting it to digital. i print out articles at work when i really want to read them closely. and i want to cuddle up at bedtime with our baby and a BOOK, a real-life book that she can play with and touch and drool on.
i don’t want her to be an iPad whiz before she can walk.
although i admit this one is still cute
on the flip side, i don’t want to become one of those militant anti-tech parents who will freak out if their kid sees 5 minutes of TV before the age of 2 [even the american academy of pediatrics advises against it] . . . but i may lean a little bit in that direction. i want my child to learn to appreciate and notice her real surroundings, not just what is on a little screen in front of her. i want her to run and play outside, not just jump around indoors with 2020’s answer to the wii fit.
and i want her to have at least a chance to experience what ‘real books’ are like — who knows, they may be gone from many schools by the time she takes her seat in kindergarten.
what are your thoughts on babies/kids and technology these days? am i being unrealistic or silly for my loyalties to paper over silicon? do you use an e-reader?
food for thought on a thursday!
ps: ONE more night on the pager. woohoo!
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11.16.11
workout: rest day [i had an early meeting to go to]
leftovers = chili replay. worked for me. and even more exciting was dessert:
obtained on an emergency stop on the way home from work. it was necessary.
espanol: no!! ahh, i broke my streak, despite having plenty of time to watch my DVR’d glee last night. [i blame call and call-related grumpiness]. but about to start on today’s right now.
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