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Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

blog.smartere.dk

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Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#111
post #3

> Modern TVs are very poorly suited for kids. They require using complicated remotes or mobile phones, and navigating apps that continually try to lure you into watching something else than you intended to. I'd argue that's not too different for grown-ups. ;)

My biggest gripe is how terribly slow it is to navigate UI on a TV. The latency between user input and the UI responding can be upwards of 10-20 seconds. Just incredibly user hostile.

10-20 seconds? What TV are you using?

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#112

My 3 year old watched TV for the first time for 2 minutes in her life (it was hard hiding it from her in an airplane on an overhead screen) and I can tell that TV is generally bad for kids at that age.

My kids never had tablets or individual access to screens and yet we have tv and movies and now video games as the children age.

The current rule is video games require 1 minute of exercise for one minute of usage. This is a self regulating time limit that has worked well.

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#113

There’s a product with a similar UX for audio books called a Yoto Box https://us.yotoplay.com/ It’s very popular in Charlotte Mason homeschool circles

Looks like fun and educational toy, interesting find. But why the mention of it being popular in homeschooling circles? Mentioning that in the same context makes it seem like you're not recommending the product because of that :P

I didn't read that connotation into it, but maybe in your social circles people have a problem with homeschooling?

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#115
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She was so focussed on it and started crying when we hid it after only a very short time. This is not normal a behaviour. This only happens with things that are very addictive (also for example sugar). I do understand that not everybody can do it like that, but if you can create such an environment it's much better for them (in my opinion).

Interesting, thanks for elaborating.

Understanding of what is happening is often very limited. When I read books or talk to her, I sometimes use words that are unknown to her, she only started asking for the meaning of them recently (she just turned 3). So she will probably only understand 20%-30% even when she understands conversations quite well at home. She is still missing cultural context. She is only starting to understand the difference between a living and a stuffed animal.

In an animation movie somebody might hit somebody else, which appears funny to an adult. A child might just take this as normal behaviour and repeats it the next time she sees somebody and doesn't understand why it's not funny.

Understanding the real world is difficult enough for her.

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#116
post #78

My 3 year old watched TV for the first time for 2 minutes in her life (it was hard hiding it from her in an airplane on an overhead screen) and I can tell that TV is generally bad for kids at that age.

How can you tell? What's the thing that made you say "this is bad for her", and why is it not the same for you?

I won't argue that it is a universal truth but it has played out the same for my kids and my friends groups kids.

They treat it like a drug and lose all emotional regulation. I don't believe all screen time is bad, but it is something you have to teach them to regulate and 3 year olds and younger are just bad at regulating emotion in general. Teaching them to do this is just part of parenting. One of the most important things we can teach our kids is that it is okay to be bored. In fact it is great to be bored sometimes.

On the other hand, being a parent is hard and keeping your sanity is important in order to be a good parent. So if it helps you be a better parent all other times, it could be worth it.

The issue is when screens are used to in place of parenting. Parents using it as a way to fuel their own screen addiction.

On the other hand, for me airplanes are a special case and all rules go out the window to help keep the kid calm.

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#117
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, I remember visiting my aunt's house in the mid-2000s, who had a surround sound set up her husband had set up. It required three or four remotes to work and no one but him could ever get it working. I think UX has forgotten a few generations by now.

Has anybody ever been able to program a VCR ?

I was so happy when we got a VCR+ enabled VCR. Stupid simple to program. Just punch in a few digit code in the TV guide magazine and it would schedule it automatically.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_recorder_scheduling_code

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkXQqVMt6SE

The last couple of VCRs we owned even had automatic time setting. It read extra data in the vertical blanking interval from our local PBS station.

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#118
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you tell? What's the thing that made you say "this is bad for her", and why is it not the same for you?

their vision is still developing and staring at a screen is not good for eye development. it removes stimulation and interaction with the environment and replaces it with sedentary and no physical interactions. While the exact reasons are not common knowledge, knowing TV is bad for toddlers is.

> their vision is still developing and staring at a screen is not good for eye development.

Is that true? The American Association of Pediatrics doesn't list that as a concern on their page "Health Effects Of Young Kids Being On Screens Too Long" (which is focused on children aged 2-11). Do you have a source I could review for that claim?

https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/cente...

---

(The AAP page about media recommendations for 0-2 also doesn't say anything about eye-development, but _does_ recommend entirely against screen-time for that age-group except for video conversations with people)

https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/media-and-children/cente...

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#119
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anybody ever been able to program a VCR ?

Sure, but uncle (who drove a truck for a job) sat down with the manual for several hours one night and figured it out. He was probably the only person in the entire town he lived in. Most people could have as well - but it would mean spending several hours of study and most people won't do that unless forced (and rarely even then - see all the tropes about homework...)

I mean that's exaggerating. I did it, it took maybe 10 minutes following the examples in the manual. It was not very intuitive though, so if it wasn't something you set up often you'd always have to go back and read the instructions again the next time.

Re: Floppy disks turn out to be the greatest TV remote for kids

#120
post #85

I found an unopened pack of 3.5" floppies the other day They must be _over_ 20 years old

Probably closer to 30 years. Were floppies still prominent in 2005-2006 (legitimate question)?

In 2004 I think I would have a floppy disk in my schoolbag.

Actually buying a new pack would probably have been a few years prior to that, they last a long time with only occasional use.

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