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PDAs For Kids

Posted by Hemos on from the get-'em-young dept.

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?"

8 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. The trend of PDA's by CmdrTaco+(editor) · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Most of the people I know, at least the ones that are in non managerial positions, have at some point in their lives bought a PDA, either a Palm or a Visor. Every single one of these people used the PDA for menial tasks, such as shopping lists and phone numbers for friends. I always argued that the PDA method was quite ineffecient, and recommended the failsafe method of a pen and paper instead. But these people insisted on carrying their PDA with them 24 x 7, and after several weeks of the extra burden of weight and having to make sure the battery was charged, most either gave up or started using their PDA exclusively to play games.

    Thus, from this slightly drawn out anecdote, I can conclude that if mature adults don't have the self control to carry a somewhat burdensome piece of productivity hardware for a significant amount of time, there is no hope for children. Their "PDA" will become a veritable Game Boy in a short amount of time.

    1. Re:The trend of PDA's by silentbozo · · Score: 2, Insightful
      After a while I found all I was using my Clie for was to play Bejeweled instead of paying attention in my courses. I ended up selling it on eBay and picking up a little Dayrunner thing for much cheaper. It's a little more bulky, but it's ten times more convenient.
      Ahh, and what happens when you put your entire life into your Dayrunner and you lose it? I used to be a Dayrunner user, but after a close call (someone found it and returned it), I lived in mortal fear of losing my Dayrunner again. Being able to backup your data and sync it to a replacement unit (I have a spare in my desk, used Palms are cheap), was the key selling point for me when I bought my Pilot 5000. Besides, you can always load it with a couple of e-texts for when you're on the bus, and it doubles as a calculator.
  2. Thieves by Hyperfrog · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Recently there has been an increase in mobile phones stolen. OVer 10% of these thefts have been from children - including the children targetted by this device.

    So, is this device just another expensive toy waiting to be stolen?

    --
    Move faster
  3. What market? by Spaceman+Spiff+II · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I can't help but think that that toy is targeting a rather small market. Who wants it? Certainly not people over say... 12? Most kids would want it, but who's parents would actually get it for them?

    I suppose some people wouldn't mind spending $50 on a toy for a 6 year old . . . just look at LEGOs.

    --
    I understand that life's not fair, just why is it never unfair in my favor?
  4. Why? by commonchaos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've seen one of these before, they are huge.

    I can't see any use for these except perhaps a wacom tablet emulator... even then, you can get a wacom 12"x12" on ebay for $40, older palms sell for less than $40...

  5. So uh, who's got one? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We need a dissection. Or at least to find out a> what kind of CPU it uses, and b> how much ram it has, of what kinds.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  6. NOT an etch-a-sketch by yetiman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This toy is not an etch-a-sketch, you are thinking of the wrong toy. This gadget is more like the old magna-doodle :-)

  7. Mentioned before by Tha_Zanthrax · · Score: 2, Insightful

    mentioned before
    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/22/173425 5&mode=thread

    nothing new to see here