The digital equivalents of colouring books and games are the latest on-the-go pacifiers.
Three-year-old Vihaan simply did not have the patience to be strapped into his baby seat, while his parents tucked in burgers at a local fast-food joint in Mumbai. Just as the toddler threatened to throw another tantrum, his father whipped out his Apple iPhone and handed it to him.
Swiftly, Vihaan’s experienced fingers navigated their way to the Coloring Book app, which provides an interactive colouring activity, on the phone. Captivated, the little one sat quietly while his parents finished their meal in peace.
Where puzzles, books and analog toys fail, iPhone and similar smartphone platforms have become the latest on-the-go pacifier for new-age and tech-savvy parents. Mobile applications or apps are small portable programmes that run on mobile phones, broadly classified under educational, entertainment, game and music categories.
“Parents with full-time jobs and a household to run sometimes don’t have the luxury to sit down at home and spend quality time with their kids. So, it is good to have some interactive learning through the third screen,” says Vihaan’s father.
Alok Kejriwal, CEO of Games2Win, has no qualms about giving an iPod Touch to his 13-year-old daughter. “As long as I control how much my girls spend on buying apps, which is up to $30 (Rs 1,400) each month, I’m happy to let them download apps, videos or songs,” says the tech-savvy daddy.
Kejriwal’s 10-year-old daughter, too, is hooked to her iPod Touch and other smartphone applications. “My girls are permitted up to four hours a day with their gadgets. They end up spending a major chunk of this on their handheld devices,” he adds.
Yet another tech-savvy daddy, Vishal Gondal, CEO of Indiagames, loves to challenge his kids over a mobile game session. “I have bought several apps for my Nokia smartphones and, frankly, they cost way less than what I would otherwise pay for toys for my boys,” he reasons. With the interest his kids have shown in mobile apps, Gondal’s company is now eagerly exploring business opportunities in distributing mobile games and apps specifically for children on the Nokia Ovi and Apple App Store.
This young breed of parents believes there is no real harm in using the apps as tools of distraction or entertainment for their young ones and, in most cases, prefer mobile apps to a laptop connected to the internet.
For Sridhar Bhat, founder and CEO of iRemedi Corp and an iPhone-owning parent, his kids’ fascination for the device has already borne fruit. He lets on: “I had my nine-year-old daughter test out an application called PicZee — a picture puzzle app — before we launched it officially on the App Store.” Bhat’s company has also introduced Amar Chitra Katha titles for the iPhone, starting at $2, and is now eyeing Nokia’s Ovi platform to launch apps and comics.
When Farroukh Mehrani, a Mumbai-based stock broker, upgraded to the Nokia N97 Mini, he handed down his old Nokia 5800 XpressMusic model to his 10-year-old daughter, Natasha. Today, the doting father has already downloaded mobile apps worth Rs 700 through the Nokia Ovi Store.
“I realised that Natasha can benefit from mobile computing. She now uses her mobile phone during extended travel periods, like the school-to-home commute or during vacations, keeping herself entertained with mobile apps that involve drawing, puzzles and even some simulated games,” Mehrani says. Natasha’s favourite app, BlockGo, cost her father Rs 200 and keeps her happily occupied with 99 challenges and puzzles. Another favourite app of the father-daughter duo is Memory Match, which Mehrani believes can help his daughter sharpen her memory.
Once the child begins to use the apps, parents reason that it is easier to build their interest in apps that encourage interactive learning. “And, these cost just a few hundred rupees, far less than what you would pay otherwise for console games,” Mehrani adds.
So, the next time you see parents handing their pre-schoolers an iPhone or a
Nokia smartphone, leaving the child to draw and doodle on the device like the colouring books of yesteryear, don’t gawk. For, you now know that there’s an app out there for every toddler. Things have certainly changed.
Gud article
Yes mobile application are growing very rapidly as they were never with this rate
as the number of youth and awreness and ease of using the apps is incrwasing mobile developers are enjoying there share in the pie
some ofthe developers even came creatively like http://spicelabs.in with MITR http;//snapt with snapt these are the some developer who are offering supports for thied party platform .
Thanks
You may think of your iPhone (in my case my Nokia smartphone) as a communications device, a productivity tool. But if that's all your phone is to you, you're missing its most extraordinary power: the ability to keep a preschooler silent and occupied for the length of time it takes a grown-up to eat a meal in a restaurant with actual tablecloths. Believe me I completely agree with the story. the apps (for my kids age 10 & 14) are great way to let kids get started with tech as it anyways is an imp component of growing up today.
The opportunity to download a new mobile app is now the second-most-requested privilege in our house, ahead of junk food.
Posted by: ChrisLundy
January 05 , 2010, 18:58 IST
Children are becoming a prime demographic for the burgeoning market of portable electronic entertainment. There are fun and engaging apps for adults, after all, so why not kids?
I know it sounds crazy for a kid under two to use an iPhone application, but our one year old loves to look at the animals and hear animal sounds. But i recommend Zoo for Baby, a Freestyle mode app that has pictures of animals and when you tap on them they make a sound. My little one loves it
Hi I am trisha, a work-from-home mother of twins aged 5. They love to color on ipod touch that i bought for myself last year. Its so much easy to let your children get along with tech than make them do anything else. and I am speaking from experience.
i dont mind spending $10 on apps as long as my twins are happily occupied and learn something at the end. we must thank app store for this
My 6 year old too is hooked to my Nokia 900. I have downloaded dozens of free apps to keep my kid happy.
I am not complaining really as she spends some really focussed minutes coloring and solving puzzles in the phone
I think playing on such a small screen of smartphones would not be good for children. This is just another carelessness of parents, who don't have time for kids or can't think of another innovative ways. Surely kids are more interested in gadgets, but again, instead of becoming just interested,they will become addicted from such a small age.
I shudder to think of the Brave New World we are spawning. If there is anything after death, I would like for it to be on a quieter, gentler, less population polluted world.
Posted by: moveon
January 09 , 2010, 11:58 IST
is this even relelvant thought in here? u seriously landed on a wrong page bro
My nieces (4 & 8 y/o) and Nephews (2 & 10 y/o) love to play on me and my wife's iPhone. Normally mine is handsoff but my wife has downloaded all sorts of games for FREE and it keeps them ENTHRALLED! They can't take their eyes off of it. Mainly because Apple's OS is so easy to use a 2 year old can do it.
This is the problem. 20 years from now this child will be an adult and will not know how to interact with other human beaings without the help of a computer. He is essentially being made into an anamatron by becoming equal part human and machine.
If parents "don't have the luxury to sit down at home and spend quality time with their kids" they really shouldn't be parents.
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