* On iOS vs Android: I imagine this is a price/quality tradeoff when it comes to educational apps? (any recommendations for specific apps appreciated). That said the cbeebies games on my android phone seem reasonable.
* Against both iOS/Android: compared to a laptop, I get the sense these ecosystems, by dumbing things down, funnel users into being more product than customer. I'm well aware windows does shady stuff as well, but I feel that learning to use abstractions such as a filesystem will likely put children more in charge of their own data.
* Against windows: I imagine there aren't so many good touchscreen focused educational apps as either iOS or Android, though I may be wrong?
* Against Linux (because I'm sure someone's going to bring it up). Presumably not so many educational apps/games?
* Against any device at all: I think we all know the reasons and honestly I'm willing to be persuaded not to get any device at all. Our daughter already gets to watch videos / play educational games on our phones enough as it is. Is there something I'm missing which makes a tablet preferable to continuing the status quo here?
Other HN parents you must have made a decision yourselves, I'd be interested to know your take on the above (plus any other concerns I've missed).
We bought an iPad for family use. We use it for videochats with relatives, for watching PBS (Xbox doesn't have an app for PBS yet), for watching How It's Made videos on YouTube, and some games and activities we do together (or at least parallel play, namely for the drawing apps). Our daughter doesn't seem to care much about the tablet, thankfully. It doesn't pull her like videogames pulled me for so many decades. We don't know why this is the case.
Linux (you guessed it): there are some decent educational options. Check the Software Manager - Education section in Linux Mint, for example. I know this from looking to see if anything would be a good fit for my classrooms (I used to teach) and for our daughter. Settled on no in both cases, mainly because flash cards and table games are so much better for socializing and occupational therapy / motor skills.
I would put off significant computer training for as long as possible. Those who benefit from us using computers have an incentive to make these "magical" devices easy to use, and one way to not fall into the trap of being a product or being used is to not need these devices in the first place. They're an extraordinary luxury that I also mentally prepare to do without (easy for me to say, as I'm of the Star Wars generation, grew up with a rotary phone and countless hours exploring the woods, helping in the garden, trading labor for meat, and sleeping outside, and I had a hand-me-down Commodore 64- a squandered opportunity as I just used it for games and didn't learn to program anything). I far prefer reading to my child, playing made-up word games, and walking & talking outside, observing all the life and death around us.
I would say skip it and spend more time doing simple, rich things together that cost little to no money.
Another concern: how quickly do you want your child to increase the number of exploited people they benefit from? These devices come at significant cost to other lives on earth.[0] I wouldn't have agreed to buying this tablet if I hadn't been convinced by my spouse and our daughter's medical team that it might help augment her vision development. If your child has no relevant disabilities, I say skip it.
[0] Blindboy Undestroys the World, episode 2: how many slaves do you own? ( https://youtu.be/za3QJFWLv_M )
At 6, brain development is still very active so if I had a child I’d have their brain get trained by physical and social interactions.
Benefits of PC
- easy to install games from my steam account or internet
- better sitting posture with desk and chair
- cheaper than new device and bigger screen
- he learned how to use keyboard and pc in general
- we do some 3d printing projects on his PC
- we play together on minecraft with private discord server
- he is saving money for upgrades
- very hard to damage by accident