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Retro-Tech Parenting

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Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#201

Post by TimTheTinker »

hdb2 wrote: post #168
TimTheTinker wrote: post #18

Some of the things my wife and I have provided for our kids: - lots of bookcases with probably >1500 books (including lots of kids/picture books) - what we've collected over the years - a family laptop (2012 MacBook Pro) with no internet connection, pre-loaded with Pages, Sheets, Affinity Photo/Designer, a few small games, and some coding tools (Python, Ruby, VSCode, Scratch, etc.). - Lego Spike and Spike Prime robot…

That's really interesting! Not too long ago, I got unreasonably upset at a streaming service forcing me to watch ads on a subscription plan, so I went out and got a Blu-ray player. I've been periodically visiting my used DVD store, and I've been able to STOCK UP on movies for next-to-nothing. While this isn't the most low-tech solution, it's been kinda fun for someone who spent their youth with CDs/DVDs.

Old CDs and movies are decently cheap on eBay, but local sales (antique stores, library sales, thrift stores, etc.) can be amazing for stocking up on media in bulk.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#202

Post by perilunar »

contingencies wrote: post #119
japhyr wrote: post #45

This is great, but it's also easy to go too far in this direction. This can work through elementary school and into middle school, but I don't think it works in high school. It's really hard to be a high school student without your own phone. I know some people who have kept their kids from having phones into high school. It avoids some of the addictive and distracting issues that come from having phones at a young a…

I know some people who have kept their kids from having phones into high school. In Australia this is normal. The distribution of phones increases slowly during high school, not before. Kids don't really use phones anyway, they use some combination of online games and messaging apps so they can do it from a computer or tablet without a phone.

> Kids don't really use phones anyway

My kids used the home phone for many years before they got their own cell phones. They would call their friends and grandparents. (The grandparents loved it)

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#203

Post by perilunar »

ares623 wrote: post #133

Glad I'm not alone. I do it mostly for me, but there is also the ulterior motive/hope that my young kids will enjoy media that isn't constantly trying to get them addicted; or at least know that _alternatives_ exist. So far I've: - gotten into film photography. It's so much more enjoyable and I cherish the few crappy photos I take. I have thousands of "perfect" photos on my phone but there's only few dozen that reall…

> cassettes for music

Yes. Lots of mentions here about CDs, but cassettes are a better tech for small children. Mine loved playing tapes, and could use a cassette player well before they could read. The bigger physical buttons help too.

Also, most cassette players are also recorders — get them some blank tapes and show them how to record — they'll love it.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#204

Post by utopiah »

IMHO the intent is good but amalgamating problems causing confusion and strange solutions.

What actually does make "old" tech good?

I'd argue it's agency. It can be the physicality of it too but if so then one has to pinpoint actually what it is, e.g is the presence of CD covers in the living room as reminder that you do have a collection? If so would a poster suffice?

I think kids can absolutely use contemporary tech but it has to be done responsibly.

A smartphone or a laptop is not the problem. The problems are :

- advertisements prompting for "more"

- friction-less unlimited availability

- unmetered unplanned usage

- content that requires no effort, no actual thinking, to consume

but holding the physical medium or have a "retro" look is superficial. It doesn't actually matter.

You can absolutely give a smartphone to a very young kid, say a 5 years old. What you can not do though is hand them that smartphone with installed an app that will provide limitless uncurated videos or games. Give them a phone with a 2hrs long documentary on animals or with challenging pedagogical games and you will see that they enjoy it, for a bit, then have to move on. It's NOT the device, it's the content and the software that makes that content available. I really get tired of "screen" time. No kid get hooked on hard to complete digital homework. They get hooked on apps designed and providing content itself made to be addictive.

It's really not about the shape or age of the device.

PS: I shared some resources at https://forum.techreclaimers.club/d/36-reclaming-for-kids/2 to provide actual alternatives.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#205

Post by perilunar »

There's an old saying in biology: "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" [1], which is how the developing embryo of an animal (the ontogeny), goes through stages resembling the evolution of the animal (phylogeny).

I sometimes think that would also be a great way to educate kids when it comes to technology. Start them with simple old tech (sticks, stones, string, camp fires) and gradually add new tech over time, so that by the time they are adults they have a basic knowledge and familiarity with a wide range of technology, not just the current stuff they are surrounded by.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recapitulation_theory

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#206

Post by bfkwlfkjf »

utopiah wrote: post #204

IMHO the intent is good but amalgamating problems causing confusion and strange solutions. What actually does make "old" tech good? I'd argue it's agency. It can be the physicality of it too but if so then one has to pinpoint actually what it is, e.g is the presence of CD covers in the living room as reminder that you do have a collection? If so would a poster suffice? I think kids can absolutely use contemporary tec…

Partly agree. I agree that what makes old tech good is agency, but I find it strange that you offer as an example "handing a 5yo a phone with a documentary". Phones give you no agency, other than play and stop. They don't work for you, they work for their master (Google or apple).

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#207

Post by voidUpdate »

cma5 wrote: post #109
nameless912 wrote: post #81

I was just talking about this with my partner the other day. We have an amazing retro games shop/arcade not far from our house, so I think for probably my kiddo's 5th birthday I'm going to take him to buy a Gameboy Advance SP and a couple of games He's already shown interest in video games and I think this is a great way to introduce him without overwhelming him. I'm sure the whole package will be We aren't a fully s…

Used DS + R4 / M3 Card also does the job and you can use it as a walkman too

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of a softmodded DSi that reads game ROMs off an SD card. I haven't loaded it up with every single game ever, just some that I like, and it's been great to play on when I'm in bed. I've almost 100%'d picross 3D (unless it has secret extra content for after you finish)

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#208

Post by keybored »

I'm a technologist. In my dayjob I implement digital versions of analog solutions. In my work I get frustrated by the tech. In my work I get frustrated that our own software is difficult to use and buggy. In my freetime I read about how technologists elsewhere are successful at making society uniformly worse. I also read about how other technologists buy new iPhones and throttle them so they won't doomscroll. Then I worry about the kids who just want to play cursed mobile games and watch absolute slop junk AI filth. Then they rage when they get them yanked. Then I think to myself. I'm a technologist. But technology? That is for the peons without self-control or throttled iPhone 17.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#209

Post by petemill »

hgoel wrote: post #176

Time for more anecdotes from people who think they're geniuses, about how socially isolating your children is actually good for them. Just going to be more of the same shit many of us dealt with in our childhoods, having productive pursuits mocked because the adults think they're the smartest people in the world.

It's not social isolation it's creating a learning experience filled with resistance instead of handing everything on a platter

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#210

Post by mghackerlady »

jumpkick wrote: post #6

Ironic, the picture on this article appears to be AI generated. I thought the Sony CD player looked neat, and I'd never seen one like it before. I thought I might try to buy one on eBay, that's how cool I thought it was. But Google says "Digital fingerprints embedded within the file verify that this is an artificially generated rendering."

I thought it was fishy, but the text on one of the CD cases gave it away
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