Community
Watch out Apple Watch, 5 year old's are coming, with much bigger expectations!
As a collector of all things gadgetry, it will be no surprise to many that know me well - in my kids Christmas stocking was something either technical or that made a noise. Now, like most parents we are super super cautious with these - leaving fine long standing friends to buy drum kits and never ending speaking teddy bears (thanks guys - you know who exactly who you are!).
This year though, along with a singing Elsa Doll for my daughter (every parent of a young girl I'm confident now knows the full lyrics to 'I want to build a Snowman' - it's even interrupted my morning commute music and I've been caught singling along to it in the office) my Son received a Smart Watch. Yes, you read that correctly - a Smart Watch! He learnt to tell the time some years back, so he has the basics and likes to wear a watch like daddy at weekends.
When my wife and I were chatting through presents for Christmas, and shared that it was circa £35 at the time - I honestly expected so little. I figured it would be a cheap, plastic thing that would fall apart by Boxing Day. (We have already had two things not make it to the end of Christmas day!). We went for the VTech Kidizoom Smartwatch.
But, wow, just WOW! For many who are holding off for the ultimate release of theApple Watch, then this thing is well worth looking at - not for any personal use (maybe?) or anything, but what amazed me were a few things.
As Steve Jobs would say - 'it just works!'
Thank heavens it doesn't go online, but I can see how this would work for older kids too. But seriously, these are all features I would expect in a grownups smart watch, of course higher quality, deeper features etc. - but there is only so much you can and would want to do.
So this has really made me think of the future, his future more importantly and the kids relationship with technology. If this is the sort of kit in the hands of 5 years old today, and it's this easy to use - what will the consumer of tomorrow expect from technology?
Like us, it must be pretty daunting for most parents who want their kids to stay get the balance right between electronic stuff and the real world. After all he is still just a kid and whilst we still have control, we will still keep control - we still read lots, play board games, dress up, run around outside, jump in puddles and so much more. It's genuinely been a while since a piece of gadgetry has surpassed my expectations - I never expected it to be my 5 year olds.
More annoyingly now, both he and my wife keep teasing me that he has a smart watch and I don't!
This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author.
Nkiru Uwaje Chief Operating Officer at MANSA
03 October
Sireesh Patnaik Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) at Pennant Technologies
02 October
Jelle Van Schaick Head of Marketing at Intergiro
01 October
Ruchi Rathor Founder at Payomatix Technologies
30 September
Welcome to Finextra. We use cookies to help us to deliver our services. You may change your preferences at our Cookie Centre.
Please read our Privacy Policy.