To those who are saying things like "my grandson been into videogames since a young age, and he eventually turned out very smart and has now a great career into IT..."
You are not implying any causality, aren't you...? Well, at least no one mentioned yet.
It wasn't far off 50 years Dove. The first networked computers came in what, the late 60s, early 70s? I started on mainframes in 72. Network editing of code by 77 (moved on from punched cards). That is what scares me - the speed of all this. Millennia of horse and carts, maybe a bit of gunpowder, steam and the combustion engine. And then bang...it's gone beeenanas. The web is just a network, but where networks were originally limited (I recall wanting to work from home in the 80's and being quoted ludicrous money just to get my old green screen Wyse50 running over a fixed 9600 baud modem link) by location, we all now take it for granted that Australia is just a Zoom (other, better apps are available) call away. Voice and data at no cost other than your landline/broadband charge.
Where now we're just starting to challenge the wisdom of the combustion engine, I wonder if we'll do the same with the web in 100 years. I think, using another metaphor, that the horse has already bolted, sired a few kids and been made into dog food. I think it needs to be challenged now. To try to predict what pitfalls may lay ahead, before we hit them and then panic.
Knowledge was always guarded as it meant power. So you see the parallel - that access to books and libraries no longer matters as much (libraries close, books go out of print) - because of the net. All the books you want to do your homework are now there. It is not a choice. To learn now requires tech.
As for this being a hologram - totally agree, it matters not a jot if this is all real or fake if you think it's real. And if all this is VR, then the likelihood is that we're umpteen layers down (ie we've already created VR in VR). But on the off chance that we're the first to follow the rabbit down the hole, wouldn't it be sensible to ask the question if it's a sensible thing to do, before we make that mandatory for our kids? To not just accept tech as the way?
Many of the points here I agree with, many others I don't - I won't rehash them.
Returning to the OP - not buying a console is not the same as saying "all computer use us bad" or "all games are evil". It is possible to play computer games without a console. It is also possible to learn IT skills, including inventive and creative ones, without a console. I don't equate the two, tbh [personal example - my OH has had a job title something like 'Global Head of CG' (sorry, I can never remember as it's so comical) for a multi-million dollar visual effects company, many film credits etc, and early in his career he spent a few years in the games industry. Never had a console].
You (OP) are right, they are very expensive. There were times when my kids wanted one, but luckily it never lasted long - this may not be the case for your daughter, I can only speak from my own experience. My worry about spending that kind of money on a single item was that there were two alternatives: Either 1. they loved and spent loads of time on it, thus justifying the expense, but the amount of time spent to justify the expense might be more than was healthy. Also, if they loved it then it would need to be upgraded (more expense) and so on, and infinitum. There's always more to buy, more games, better consoles, and never a 'budget option'.
Or 2. They soon tired of it or preferred other activities, which would make the expense a waste.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
@steveTu Just as an aside..... I had to smile at your mentioning BT and the new digital phone service in this thread about progress.
BT have disabled my old copper phone connection as part of their new digital phone service rollout. I now have my house phone connected to the new hub they sent me. BT advise that customers must keep their mobile phones charged up at all times in case of power cuts. After all, one may need to call the emergency services, right? Or the power company? Friends and family to let them know you're okay? The fact that I have no mobile coverage in my home, therefore will be unable to contact anyone in a power cut if I need help and cannot go outside to locate a signal is not progress in my opinion. The guy from BT said " it's not BT's fault that you don't have a mobile signal." Various gadgets have been promised that will apparently keep the hub going for an hour, but in an area where overland power lines to homes are the norm, and power cuts can last for a day or more sometimes, this isn't very comforting, and they've got none in stock anyway...... For generations even remote properties have had the link to fire, police and ambulance services via the telephone, (admittedly the lines can be vulnerable to storm damage.) Now some of them will no longer have this. Progress.
I've heard that and I suppose it was obvious given that the phone is plugged into the router. Plus any UPS then has to keep both the phone unit and the router going to keep a connection. I bought a replacement UPS a few months back for an old Belkin that gave up the ghost - can you not use a standard UPS to keep the set up going? Obviously you pay more for how powerful the UPS is and I doubt it would be cost effective to have a UPS capable of keeping the phone up for 24 hours (although I don't know the power requirement of your phone/router) - but I can see why you wouldn't get at least a couple of hours plus.
I haven’t read through all 6 pages of this thread, but I can guarantee your daughter won’t thank you as an adult for depriving her of a key modern day childhood/adolescence experience - video games. You can surely dictate how much time she plays so that it doesn’t become unhealthy, just as with anything else. And you can dictate which games you allow. Why does everything need to be educational? Is she not allowed to do something just because it’s fun? It’s certainly not in the overpriced tat category, it’s a sophisticated electronic device that has had a lot of engineering involved in making it. I hope for your daughter’s sake you reconsider your position.
To those who are saying things like "my grandson been into videogames since a young age, and he eventually turned out very smart and has now a great career into IT..."
You are not implying any causality, aren't you...? Well, at least no one mentioned yet.
See my first post where I said ...
"... Even though not all games are 'educational' I understand that there's increasing evidence that gaming increases the brain's plasticity which equals an agile and intelligent mind..."
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Think that's been covered by folk advising consulting with school, using the tv as a way of using the device amongst the family, and setting rules and boundaries, and keeping lines of communication in your family open. It's to do with parenting ... there have been some awful things happen in the past, but as with the rest of life, the intelligent thing to do is learn from the experiences of those who've gone before. The OP doesn't sound like an unaware 'hands off' parent
We would still be driving around with a chap walking in front with a red flag if we didn't learn from the past, assess risk to make an informed decision and act accordingly.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
"... Even though not all games are 'educational' I understand that there's increasing evidence that gaming increases the brain's plasticity which equals an agile and intelligent mind..."
Dove, are we expressing opinions, and yours and mine are different and fair enough with that, or are there systematic peer reviewed studies with statistical significance?
Posts
To those who are saying things like "my grandson been into videogames since a young age, and he eventually turned out very smart and has now a great career into IT..."
You are not implying any causality, aren't you...? Well, at least no one mentioned yet.
Returning to the OP - not buying a console is not the same as saying "all computer use us bad" or "all games are evil". It is possible to play computer games without a console. It is also possible to learn IT skills, including inventive and creative ones, without a console. I don't equate the two, tbh [personal example - my OH has had a job title something like 'Global Head of CG' (sorry, I can never remember as it's so comical) for a multi-million dollar visual effects company, many film credits etc, and early in his career he spent a few years in the games industry. Never had a console].
You (OP) are right, they are very expensive. There were times when my kids wanted one, but luckily it never lasted long - this may not be the case for your daughter, I can only speak from my own experience.
My worry about spending that kind of money on a single item was that there were two alternatives:
Either 1. they loved and spent loads of time on it, thus justifying the expense, but the amount of time spent to justify the expense might be more than was healthy. Also, if they loved it then it would need to be upgraded (more expense) and so on, and infinitum. There's always more to buy, more games, better consoles, and never a 'budget option'.
I had to smile at your mentioning BT and the new digital phone service in this thread about progress.
BT have disabled my old copper phone connection as part of their new digital phone service rollout. I now have my house phone connected to the new hub they sent me.
BT advise that customers must keep their mobile phones charged up at all times in case of power cuts.
After all, one may need to call the emergency services, right? Or the power company? Friends and family to let them know you're okay?
The fact that I have no mobile coverage in my home, therefore will be unable to contact anyone in a power cut if I need help and cannot go outside to locate a signal is not progress in my opinion.
The guy from BT said " it's not BT's fault that you don't have a mobile signal."
Various gadgets have been promised that will apparently keep the hub going for an hour, but in an area where overland power lines to homes are the norm, and power cuts can last for a day or more sometimes, this isn't very comforting, and they've got none in stock anyway......
For generations even remote properties have had the link to fire, police and ambulance services via the telephone, (admittedly the lines can be vulnerable to storm damage.)
Now some of them will no longer have this.
Progress.
"... Even though not all games are 'educational' I understand that there's increasing evidence that gaming increases the brain's plasticity which equals an agile and intelligent mind..."
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We would still be driving around with a chap walking in front with a red flag if we didn't learn from the past, assess risk to make an informed decision and act accordingly.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.