Take the media realm, for example. Personal cassette players are a thing of the past. Youngsters use a wide variety of mp3 players and radio headphones to listen to their tunes. In the seeming quest of today’s youth to never be farther than a few feet away from a television screen, personal DVD players have erupted onto the scene, becoming more and more affordable each year. Handheld electronics are also gaining steadily in consumer popularity among the 18-and-under set. Every major video game console manufacturer has developed a portable counterpart.
Cutting edge toys like Robosapien, a robot that can interact with its environment, make Barbie dolls look like a pet rock. Helicopters and hovercraft can now be powered by remote control. Even kids shoes have gotten a gadget upgrade with the addition of wheels in the soles.
Some adult gadgets have gotten a kid makeover as children continue to increase in number as consumers of technology. Take Firefly Mobile, for example, the company that first made the cell phone accessible to young children. And I mean young. These phones don’t even have keypads that might not be able to be used by children too young to read. Instead, they have keys with pictures of a woman for calling Mom and a man for calling Dad. Green means call and red means hang up. Typical black, white, or gray memory sticks have been revamped to appeal to kids, now available in bright colors, and shapes like soccer balls and VW Beetles. Perhaps one of the most outrageous kid-adaptations is the Blueberry. Modeled after RIM’s wildly successful Blackberry, this PDA marketed for children comes in colors like blueberry, gooseberry, and grapeberry and is suggested for use by children ages five and up. No more hassle trying to remember when nap time is, or what time to meet at the sandbox for your play date!
Other technology meant for kids is helpful to the adults that care for them. The Verichip is one of several chips the size of a grain of rice that can be planted in a child’s backpack, or more controversially, just under the skin, to give the exact location of a child at any time. Programs like Net Nanny install internet parental controls that monitor children’s use of the internet, including what sites they may visit and how long they are allowed to spend online. There is also software that will send parents copies of all email sent and received by their children. To put it simply, Big Brother is watching little brother and sister.
In these days of high-tech gadgets, there are plenty of companies clamoring for a piece the growing market of underage consumers. They may still “oooh” and “ahhh” over your average toy store spread, but today, children are asking “Can I have that?” just as often in your local gadget store.
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