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New 'Pentop' Computer To Help Children Learn

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the one-more-gadget-for-kids-to-lose dept.

theodp writes "Educational toymaker LeapFrog is introducing the Fly "pentop" computer, a talking computer hidden within a pen the size of an electric toothbrush. Available in mid-October for $99 at Wal-Mart and Target, the device responds to written commands and is aimed at 9-14 year-olds who can use it as a calculator, a calendar, to create and record music, and to play logic and geography games."

16 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Are they mad? by Zachary+Kessin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I have 2 kids who are about 14, and I got to say there is no way I would give them something that costs $99 and is the size of a pen. They would loose it in 3 days.

    --
    Erlang Developer and podcaster
    1. Re:Are they mad? by AlphaJoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Uhmmmm...it isn't the size of a pen, it is the size of an electric toothbrush. Substantially bigger than a pen, I must say. Which, unless it is lighter than the average electric toothbrush, I think it may be a bit unwieldy for younger kids.

      --
      A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
    2. Re:Are they mad? by ExKoopaTroopa · · Score: 3, Funny

      I always thought pens were like umbrellas, they don't belong to anyone in particular, they just appear and you pick one up when you need one...

      --
      Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!
  2. I feel so duped! by AndroidCat · · Score: 3, Informative

    Leapfrog Talking Pen

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  3. No...no...no!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I said consummate v's...CONSUMMATE!

  4. another computer? by michalf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    great!

    Now how can I tell my children that hiking, climbing, biking gives much more fun than electronic gadgets??? Do you really think such gadgets are good for children?

    Somehow I am getting more and more sceptical about these pseudo-educational gadgets.

    michal

    1. Re:another computer? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now how can I tell my children that hiking, climbing, biking gives much more fun than electronic gadgets???

      How? by getting off your ass and doing it with them. my techno-girl daughter hated camping and hiking until I exposed her to geo-cache activities. I bought her a $119.99 GPS and she combines computers and hiking, camping, biking and outdoor activities. Plus we get to do these things as a family, she is learning a skill that 99.997% of the populace lack.... the ability to search for and find things that are hidden or not obvious with neon signs pointing at them.

      This summer I upped the ante. we did a geo-cache locating hunt without a gps. we plotted the location on a paper map and went searching with only the map and a compass.

      THAT is how you get your kids outside.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  5. over-priced and kinda ... dumb by YuriGherkin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it just me, or does this gadget come across as just ... stupid and overpriced ? Seriously, you have to buy their "special" paper to use it!

    Why would you pay so much for a device without a screen? You can pick up a Palm Zire 31 for around USD$130 and you get something that kids would think is SO much better than a talking pen.

    "[the pen] can "see" what you write, read it out loud, and respond to written commands."

    Oh yeah, I can just see kids using it to spell a whole load of non-educational words and have the pen read them out aloud in the classroom. LOL!

  6. Yeah, _THIS_ looks valuable by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Insightful
    One of the many gushing tidbits from TFA:

    It took me a while to get hang of using the calculator (the circled "C" is the shortcut), one of Fly's really cool features. Following Fly's instructions, you draw a calculator box with numbers including "plus" and "minus" symbols on a piece of Fly paper. Then, you tap the numbers you want to calculate with the pen, and the gadget makes additions, subtractions, divisions, and multiplications for you. Here, too, you need good handwriting.

    OK, so I need special paper, good handwriting, I draw a picture of a calculator, tap the numbers, and it speaks the answer. What could be simpler?

    The UI on this thing sounds horrible, and the features it provides don't sound fun or useful, but other than that, it seems like a great device.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    1. Re:Yeah, _THIS_ looks valuable by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Not to mention that the calculator doesn't have an actual display, just the pen talking. That seems awkward when it's some large number. Any bets that if you start writing the number down (with the pen) as the pen speaks it, you'll interrupt it?

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  7. normal paper by LosManos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    hejdig.

    Remove the neccessity for special paper (with an accelerometer or some fancy triangulating gadget) and increase its computing power by connecting it to a computer or PDA (by bluetooth) and you might have something. I am not sure exactly what but something.

    For instance have the pen somehow buzz which way to draw a line and it/you could make up a new interface on the fly.

    I have tried digital whiteboard and wacom board and these solve other problems. If someone figures out how to put these solutions together into yet another solution we might have a cool thing.

    /OF

  8. Special paper? Smells like IP licensing :) by Emil+Brink · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I bet it's based on technology from Anoto. The whole thing sounds very much like what their technology is said to be capable of, and the "special paper" is very much in line as well. Cool application, but it does sound rather annoying, heh.

    --
    main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
  9. Terrible joke time! by SFA_AOK · · Score: 5, Funny
    I guess it's powered by a PEN-tium?

    ...

    I'll get my coat.
  10. Well... by mangus_angus · · Score: 5, Funny

    judging by the number of 9-14 year-olds that told me how bad they "pwnd my n00b ass" at Counter Strike last night, something tells me they are beyond this.

  11. Technology Overrated by szfsoft · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am a big supporter of technology in our school systems - it only makes sense to acquaint kids - to some degree- with what technology is available. However, as per useless technology like this: the focus needs to be taken AWAY from trying to substitute real teaching with toys like this. Plus it's expensive and I wouldn't want my kid taking a $99 pen to school - When I was that age it was hard to keep track of a pencil.

  12. May I suggest? by Simonetta · · Score: 4, Informative

    Suzie's about to lose her anal virginity. After that happens, her ass will be very loose.

        Bobby's about to lose his button. After that happens, his collar will be very loose.

        There's no real need to invoke extreme vulgarity when all that you are trying to do is make a grammar point.

        Getting into the habit of being extremely and unnecessarily vulgar is easy, but it's a difficult habit to break. And it can be very costly if you misjudge the extent that it might cause offence.

        Just a thought.