Extremely sad
I have 2 young kids, one 3 years old and the other 6 months. I would never consider buying anything like this for them. Sure, it's a free market and all, but this thing making it to market shows that parenting is in a pretty sad state.
I'm not claiming to be a super parent by any means, but anyone who has little kids and gives a crap about them knows how incredibly hard it is to balance work, interaction with the kids, household tasks and the occasional 15 minutes to do something for yourself (like take a shower. :-) ) The wife and I both work, she has an awful commute on top of that, yet we still find the time to stay fully engaged with the kids whenever we're home. Does that make us evil Nazi parents who shun all electronic devices? Of course not -- our 3 year old loves to borrow the iPhone or watch the occasional show on the computer. The difference is that we don't stuff them in front of their devices and go off to do our own things. I sure don't love the fact that I have to give up what little sleep I have to keep my IT skills up after bedtimes, but this is what we signed up for. Parents who don't get that produce the kind of kids that make you wish they handed out parenting licenses.
The sad truth is that there are a lot of parents out there who shouldn't have had kids, because it cuts into their lifestyle too much and they can't handle it. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the sanctimonious uber-parents who give you a dirty look when your kid is watching a video while waiting for dinner at a restaurant. I can only offer anecdotes, but it looks like my older kid is turning out pretty well compared to the others you sometimes see with the drugged look on their face plugged into the iPad.
The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a paper a few years ago that basically discounted any educational benefits of TV and computer use before age 2. They recommended completely withholding TV, etc. until at least age 2, and I'm sure they said that because there were a majority of parents who think this "Apple-Acquired Content IV Chair" is an awesome idea. Moderation, folks...talk to your kids, read to them, play with them...you know, be their mom/dad.
And oh yes, I grew up in the 70s/80s when they said TV was rotting our brains. Don't forget that TV was passive, there were a maximum of 5 or 6 channels before cable came out, and there wasn't tons of kids' programming either. Now the first Facebook generation is having kids -- I can't wait to see the socail experiment unfold in real life.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
