My iPhone-savvy 2.5 year-old daughter held an iPad for the very first time last night, and it turned out to be an interesting user-interface experiment.
As you can see, after geeking out on my Sutro Tower homescreen, she took right to it — including figuring out how to enlarge some of her favorite iPhone-legacy apps to 2x to display full-size on the iPad screen. If you’re good at understanding kid-speak, you’ll also notice that she immediately saw its potential as a video-display device. She lamented the lack of a camera, and wondered about its potential for playing games.
On the downside, she had the same frustration as many adults, where touching the screen-edge with your thumb while holding the iPad blocks input to all home screen icons. Notice also that she was confused by the splash page for FirstWords Animals, her favorite spelling game: Because the start button looked like a graphic, rather than a conventional button, she couldn’t figure out how to start the game.
Most of all, though, it’s cool to consider that as one of the new Children of Cyberspace, her expectations about computing will be shaped by the fact that she’s growing up in a touchscreen world.
This is amazing! When my mother first saw the iPad she immediately thought of my youngest brother who is developmentally disabled. She said "I wish people would create software for kids like Philip who are smart, but their fine motor skills are not the best, a touch screen would be perfect"
I wanted to thank you for sharing this video because it really demonstrates the power of the device and how simple it is to use!
100% awesome + cute!
Maybe we should do a cagematch when my 77 year old soon to be exLuddite dad get's his although from watching this I'm not sure that it would be fair competition.
Peter, I'd love to compare notes when your dad gets his iPad. My 79 year old pop is about to jump headfirst into the brave new world also.
That sounds like fun. @petermello
Not a big fan of my iPad myself, or any Apple products, for that matter… but this video is quite cute. :)
Must say though… I literally laughed out loud when she said "I want the one that takes a picture!" (0:29) @Apple: Oops!
Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for this video. I run a blog on Technology/Gadgets and the Elderly. Yesterday I wrote a post wondering whether the iPad would be senior friendly. I believe this video answers that question. If your 2 year old daughter can use it, so can my 79 year old dad!
As a parent, computer geek and sometime UI designer I thought this was an awesome video. Thanks for sharing!
If only Apple used little kids like this to test their new gadgets, they might actually have a better product! :P For a "magical" new Apple product, I'm not dazzled but I understand this is more of a venture into what will come in the future. the iPad just seems like an oversized iPhone with iBooks and lack of camera (as noticed by the 2 year old, but not Steve Jobs) and phone. If Apple puts the A4 chip in the next iPhone gen., I will be thrilled and happily buy that, but I'll pass on the iPad, at least until the 2nd generation! Cute video!
Thanks so much for this post. It's a great demonstration of the play power of the iPad. And of the power of play.
Such a great video and really goes to show that even children (and we as humans) are constantly adapting to new technologies!
I guess this is one of the most effective proofs of the potential of touch interfaces.
It's not about the software, it's all about the interaction.
Compare to a 22 month old using a Mac in 1987: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdL6dzWvm5M
A large part of basic human development is sensory feedback, and manipulating real world objects with your hands. This is something that the iPad or iPhone doesn't provide.
That's cute!
My two year old has been using Windows 7 for the better part of a year now. He knows how to use the Start Menu, desktop shortcuts, etc. He can navigate Windows Explorer to find his photos and videos. He even knows how to use Firefox to find his favorite sites and play his online games. He loves surfing YouTube, although we limit his time on it. He even knows his way around XBMC and the Wii. He routinely out bowls challengers.
It is absolutely amazing what a two year old can learn. I think exposing them to computers at such a young age is great. The connections they make and the problem solving skills they develop will surely put them ahead of their peers.
cute!
Awesome! How much experience does she have with an iPhone/iPod touch?
Honestly, I feel something deep about this. Unfortunately, I'm yet to be a parent. And I'm occasionally worried that I may become too obsessed with experimenting with her or him. But this seems to me appropriate, insightful, fun, playful, interesting, and even useful. I can see myself doing something similar with my child, once she/he is born.
While Negroponte was pushing his OLPC engineering project as an education project, he was talking a lot about concepts coming from constructionism. This short video, to me, contains a strong dose of constructivist insight and is fun to watch.
Those who oppose the iPad on, let's face it, ideological bases are missing out on occasions to discuss broader issues. No, the iPad isn't the ultimate tool. No, Apple didn't invent multitouch (though it may have patented some uses for it). But it seems rather clear that there's something quite fundamental about a thoroughly-exploited multitouch interface which is makes the iPad a part of a bigger puzzle.
We're not talking about Mozart Effect or pop theories of how children should be "educated." We're talking about playfulness, experimentation, fun, interaction, human connections.
Lots of small "a-ha moments" during this. Not full-fledged epiphanies but moments when the mind wanders and wonders. For instance, when she flips the iPad to show the screen, it's such a simple gesture (and it requires little learning, if any), but it can get one to think of the true possibilities of having a device which really can be handled in diverse orientations. I still don't have an iPad but one of the things I've been thinking about is how I could just show things to my mother on the iPad. I do this with my iPod touch but I just know how significant the experience will be with an iPad.
Sure, much of this seems to be about "consumption," if you think in terms of mere I/O, But there's something very creative in the kind of playful HCI we're talking about. The kind of creativity Sir Ken Robinson so eloquently described.
At any rate, thanks a whole lot for sharing. Honestly, this video is valuable beyond how touching it is.
I'm wondering if the electromagnetic fields from the iPad are promoting the health of this child.
Anyone know?
Great video!! Kids are great testers. I love the "Emperor has no clothes" moments kids give us.
Where is the camera, daddy?
Why does all the Flash videos on my favorite sites show up as blue cubes, daddy? Why?
lol
What a cute little girl. Great that she she's so skilled at using technology.
In all honesty, though, I'd love to see what she would make of the box and packing materials iPad came in. To me, *that* kind of play is what's truly engaging and amazing…
Sweet kid.