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A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

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Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#81

Post by adriand »

ssn wrote: post #17

Clearly her previous iPhone experience was paramount.

This really can't be overemphasized. I have a child about the same age (two-and-a-half) and he's been playing with my iPod Touch since I got it December 2008. He's proficient with it, just like her - able to easily navigate between the different pages of apps, launch new apps, use the navigation within apps, etc.

But obviously, it wasn't like that when he first used it. It took time. For example, it took forever to teach him that if the hand that is holding it is touching the screen a little bit, then it won't properly register new touch events from the other hand. Eventually he just learned this, but it took a long time.

The other thing to note is that children actually learn how to use computers far more rapidly than you might think. It's not just devices like this, where people will assume that it is the multi-touch and intuitive interface that makes it easy for them to learn it. This helps, sure, but I was shocked when, after a mere two hours or so of usage, my two-year-old had learned how to navigate Flash games in a browser using the mouse. I was about to restart the game he was playing by clicking through the menus but no, he grabbed the mouse and did it himself, to my amazement.

Bottom-line: although I sense that many people will assume it is Apple's superior design that is responsible for this child's proficiency, I think that the combination of prior experience, plus the very quick learning abilities of young children, is a more important factor.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#83

Post by chollida1 »

marze wrote: post #82
ssn wrote: post #17

Clearly her previous iPhone experience was paramount.

True. But if her previous experience had been with Windows 7, would she be similarly proficient on an HP Slate?

I'm guessing not. By far the more important experience is with a touch screen and not the OS.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#84

Post by ique »

div wrote: post #64
ique wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of weeks ago everyone in the administration of the school my mom works at got Android phones. Only about 2-3 people understood anything the phone had to offer of about a dozen people. They recently had to take the entire administration through a full-day course on how to use the phone. Do you think this 2 year old could understand the android platform as easily as she does iPhone OS?

Why not ? Seems like she's proficient in using the iPad because she already was iPhone savvy, as mentioned by the blogpost. Given some time with an Android device, I think she would do just as well sampling apps on Android as she did on iPhone OS. Her way of launching an app, playing around and then pressing the Home button would work on Android just as fine. I also believe there's quite a difference between a 2.5 ye…

I haven't actually tried out the Android OS that extensively. Aside from testing it now and then on friends phones I've never really used it. Hence my question. Though my own experience with the iPhone is that a two-year-old could actually start using it right away, and that's not the feeling I get from Android.

aphyr makes a brilliant point that simplicity and power often compete with each other and maybe Apple is trying to target the less tech-savvy user.

Since I interpreted aphyrs comment as saying the Android app-switching method was easier, I was genuinely curious as to wether he thought the Android platform was overall as easy as the iPhone platform.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#85

Post by sliverstorm »

"The Apple iPad. So simple, your 2-year-old can do it."

I can't decide whether most people would be affronted or happy. I know I would turn away from an ad like that, but on the other hand based on the explosion of IT'S SO EASY ads in every sector, I'm probably a minority.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#86

Post by thejake »

skywalker wrote: post #69

Isn't the radiation dangerous for small children? EDIT: whoa! I have been downvotted after asking if it is safe for children. So, here are some references. "Children have much thinner skull bones and their brains have a lot more fluid, so their brain tissues would likely absorb twice more radiation compared to an adult’s brain. But cellphone radiation standards set by the government remains the same for both groups."…

Actually, Apple ended up going with the standard lithium ion batteries instead of the thermonuclear reactor for the iPad.

Pretty weak if you ask me. Any money that the HP Slate will have a 50MW unit.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#87

Post by stuff4ben »

adriand wrote: post #81
ssn wrote: post #17

Clearly her previous iPhone experience was paramount.

This really can't be overemphasized. I have a child about the same age (two-and-a-half) and he's been playing with my iPod Touch since I got it December 2008. He's proficient with it, just like her - able to easily navigate between the different pages of apps, launch new apps, use the navigation within apps, etc. But obviously, it wasn't like that when he first used it. It took time. For example, it took forever to t…

It's weird, my twins are almost 3 and they have yet to play with a computer except the couple of times I had some Elmo episodes up on Youtube. Most of their play comes with the old fashioned puzzles and dolls and other assorted toys. I figured they wouldn't know what to do with a computer, but clearly I need to revisit that. What kind of things can a 3 year old do with a computer? I admit I haven't the foggiest idea of how to introduce a child to a computer.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#88

Post by jrockway »

philwelch wrote: post #31
frou_dh wrote: post #14

The physical home button for bailing out when problems or boredom strike certainly works well for her.

And it's fast. Everyone complains it doesn't have multitasking, but is there really a better way to switch apps that would be any faster than that even with multitasking?

People want multi-tasking for non-interactive tasks. They want to compose email while streaming music, or browse the web while chatting on IRC. So switching doesn't matter much; that's easy with or without multitasking.

Re: A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad

#90

Post by kalid »

leviathant wrote: post #43
kalid wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are great examples. Regular PCs are like giving people drum kits because it satisfies all the "requirements". The iPad is like giving you maracas, a tambourine, or bongo drums. Same functionality? No. Vastly more fun for beginners? Yes.

I realize we're stretching the analogy thin, but maracas, bongos, and tambourines can all be had for $3-$20 each.

Very true, but are we considering cost or usability?
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