'Baby Laptop' will whip that 1-year-old into shape

(Credit: Discovery Communications)

Now that the OLPC is finally becoming a reality, it's time to get your kids up to speed so they can compete in the global economy--and it's never too soon to start.

Hardware and software for preschoolers have been around for years, of course, but do you really want to wait that long before they become computer-savvy? To give them a running--or crawling--start, there's always Discovery's "Baby Laptop" as seen on Random Good Stuff.

The Baby Laptop helps teach numbers, colors, shapes and the alphabet, at least in concept, in six learning activities. And for those stragglers, it can just be used to improve motor skills and hand-eye coordination. But don't worry, you can still give your progeny time to be a kid before they have to knuckle down: The Baby Laptop isn't recommended until they're at least 1 year old. We're going to go weep now.

(Thanks, Juergen)

[itstheoldindy]

Busybox: the next generation

The concept of a toy that produces visual/aural stimuli depending on which actions are performed has been around for a long time. I have pictures of myself as a one-year-old in a playpen, thirty years ago, pushing buttons on a Fisher-Price Busybox. This thing here is a rebranding, to convince modern parents of one more practical life skill that a classic toy will teach their kid.