Age limits on technology?

[Turboaaa2001]

I currently work in sales and 40% of our profit come from cell phone activations. We also sell prepaid wireless as well but make almost nothing on them.

With that said, I had a lady come in asking for a "realistic cell phone" for her 2 year old son. I sold her a $19.99 USD prepaid. I might as well have had it stolen since we made nothing on it.

The bottom line is, why buy an actuall cell phone for a 2 year old when you could get a toy for $1 USD next door? She said she wanted something more realistic, but what the $*%@!!!

I know I will put together a notebook computer for my son as soon as he developes his motor skills (hes 3 months old and standing up) but I would not get him a cell phone. The computer will have software that will make noises and respond when he bangs on the keyboard, but a cell phone would be lost an any kid. They would like it for 1 day and forget about it. I would go as far as sayiong they would forget to use it if they got into trouble if the phone was actually usable.

What do you have to say about this? What electronics should kids have or not have based on being able to either learn from or appreciate them?

[Nezing]

I do draw the line.My seven year old son can use a Play Station,better than "dad".I tend to lose the plot.Well,that is my excuse.I wont let him use the pc.Are you crazy,he'd ruin my Ubuntu set up!! :o
No,seven is far too young to be exposed to cyberspace.There will be plenty of time,when he reaches eleven,and school work,"via the monitor",becomes the norm.Heck,my mom can use a pc with ease.Okey she has a laptop damn it!!
Mobile phones (cell phone),handhelds,pda's,Notebooks.The list goes on.I see people of all ages using them.Of course,you cannot avoid technology today,although it does not really affect me much.All I want is a plasma television,Blu-Ray Player,a squillion movies,and I will be happy.

:guitar:

[yabbadabbadont]

Video games (Pong in my case) didn't exist until I was 11... Now you've gone and made me feel old. :(

:lol:

Edit: Oops. I just read the Wikipedia article on Pong. Appears that I need to change my vote to "6 - 10" since it came out in 1972. (I still feel old though ;))

[cunawarit]

Real cell phone? WTF indeed...

In any case, I was 4 when I played my first video game, back in 1981, on an Atari 2600... First two games my parents bought were Combat, and Stampede.

[Nezing]

Yabba.I remember Chookie Egg,on a Sinclair Plus (pc),circa 1984? Oh my god....

[yabbadabbadont]

Real cell phone? WTF indeed...

In any case, I was 4 when I played my first video game, back in 1981, on an Atari 2600... First two games my parents bought were Combat, and Stampede.

Combat was usually included with the console when you purchased the Atari 2600. I've still got a shoebox full of 2600 games somewhere. I have the console too, but not a transformer for it, nor the video adapter.

[Turboaaa2001]

I remember growing up with Jazz Jackrabbit and Lost Vikings on the 486 PC w/ DOS and then Win 95 when I was 4 - 6 years old. I'm 20 BTW DOB 04/07/1987.

I'm a strong believer in technology. I'm also a die hard geek that loves Star Trek, so you can see that I would want children to grow up with tech and not be shelterd from it.

What I'm trying to say is the appropriate technology should be matched to the right age group. My son will have a custom Linux interface that will make animal noises when he bashes the keys. It will be on a PC I don't care about. What he will not have until hes at least 7 + years old is a cell phone that is beyond his comprehension.