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PDAs For Kids
fiftyfly writes "Wired's running a story about the Pixter - a sort of etch-a-sketch/palm love child. At an estimated $50.00 I'm sure someone out there must have had a go at hacking it.
No mention of anyway of getting the drawings off, I'd imagine that would be a good place to start. For $75CAD I'd give it a go, eh?"
For those looking for a cheap PDA, the Visor Basic can be had for as little as $55. Check Pricewatch.
This device was released a few years ago and it is basically a PDA for the younger generation. They go for about $100 CDN here ($65 USD).
No, the Pixter is for like 4 or 5 year olds -- I think this Cybiko is more for young teens.
R.
This looks like it is aimed at an even younger generation. Cybiko appears to me to be aimed at kids who can already read and write. This appears to be aimed at kids who can't yet.
As there appears to be a modular software interface, I would suspect that this will be a toy that will grow with the kid until he or she decides that it is time to move up to a more powerful PDA, like a Cybiko.
Also with the modular interface, I expect that a pc interface will be developed within the next year, if for nothing more than to be able to send grandma and grandpa the pictures that little tyke has drawn.
-Rusty
You never know...
I can't belive slashdot actually posted this story. Why is this such a big deal. Look at the VTech Phusion, it's long been discontinued, but it has got a ton more features than this Fisher Price. Phusion has all the features of the Fusher Price, but the Phusion has a built in camera. Get it here for $29.00.c phuspcli. html
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/iitemcom/vte
I don't know why slashdot crew has to post this childs stuff. How about some REAL news. Yea Rite.
Etch-A-Sketch made something just like this back in the 80's. It was called the Etch-A-Sketch Animator and as I recall, it sucked. Maybe they've got something better here, but I feel that for my money, you can't beat a tablet of paper and a 64 pack of Crayolas.
There is, of course, the Speak and Spell Simulator. Not really an emulator, but it's quite fun.
Not me. My kid (7yo) *has* an etch-a-sketch. She would much rather draw on my Palm M105 than doodle with that. She's from the battery generation. If it doesn't have batteries, she doesn't care about it. Her birthday is Thurs. and I know what I'm getting her now...
jred
I'm not a mechanic but I play one in my garage...
I recall the old pull-back, carbon-paper drawing pads with which I used to play when I was younger.
I believe they were made of a black, wax coated cardboard overlayed by an opaque plastic sheet. Where the stylus touched, the plastic would stick to the wax and the underlying black color would show through. Lifting the sheet would cause it to unstick and "erase" the drawn image.
How's that for knowing too much about too little?
This has already been discussed before.
For my seven year old a Christmas time. I was rather unimpressed, the pixel size sucks so all your lines (when you are drawing) are fat and nasty plus the tracking (angled lines, direction change) when you draw just isn't as good as even the cheapest PDA. The ROM packs that you can load into the top have some fun games but the base unit grew boring quickly. As a hack / mod it might be fun but the issues with the screen make me think its not worth the effort.