In the last couple of years, tablets have been widely spread around the globe. More precisely, the tablet fever started when Apple launched its first iPad back in April 2010. Since then, Google's Android tablets, and most recently, Microsoft, have flooded the market with diverse offers and price ranges.
Three years, and almost five iPad generations later, tablets have started to populate different industries. Businesses began buying tablets for their employees, or adopting a BYOD system. Healthcare institutions adapted iPads for physicians and nurses. Then came education. Schools in Europe already count with iPad projects, facilitating an iPad to every student and member of the staff. And the market for tablets in education keeps on expanding. Kids want tablets, too.
have consequences for procurement and supply.
There is an obvious need to supply this emerging market. Electronics manufacturers have heard the bell ring, and have started to respond to the new demand as fast as they can. In a relatively short time, the market has seen new products especially designed and manufactured with the needs of little ones in mind.
Let's have a quick look at some of the options:
Polaroid’s Kids Tablet: According to the website, this 7-inch Android 4.0 8GB Internet tablet with camera and music player designed for kids is an award-winning tablet already. It includes 10 Dr. Seuss and Smithsonian interactive books, and 35 preloaded premium apps. It's an attractive option.
Toys R Us’ Tabeo: With over 50 preloaded, free apps, including games, entertainment, education, and books, it features an iHome docking station with an audio system. It looks pretty cool as a first tablet for the very little ones. It would be great in kindergartens.
OLPC’s XO Learning Tablet: This Android-based tablet comes bilingual in English/Spanish. It has 100 preloaded apps, including a really cool app that guides kids through different options after asking what they want to be when they grow up.
The options are varied, and the prices are accessible. There is little to no excuse today to not introduce kids to tablets. All the options are kid-proof: made of plastic, with rubberised outsides. They also provide a safe environment for kids to surf the Internet, including free educational apps and/or interactive books, which supports the learning by doing and learning by playing concepts, Montessori Education characteristics. Kindergartens and first grades could easily adopt these tablets with great results.
We have seen manufacturers of tablets go on nasty wars and file lawsuits in order to be on top of the market. Do you think the same will happen with the new tablets for kids? How do you see the evolution of this new market?
@Susan what is the youngest age indicated for these tablet? My daughter babysits for a baby who is just 1 1/2 years old. Her parents give a tablet loaded with educational games, but she is too young to really follow along and just presses buttons at random.
I see the kids tablet market relegated to the same market as other toys (youk now how you can buy these cheapo laptop like boxes at ToysRUs which are not real laptops). As such the margins and quality will be poor and the developers wil not go after them. I reckpn the age at which kids go onto real tablets (IPAD and the like) will get lower and lower and this will furhter relegate the toy versions.
This is a good idea but I have seen kids computers being developed but the popularity for those products have not that much significant. Anyway what I feel is we should promote some kids apps so the kids will get involved in the real Tabs.
In my opinion today's kids are smarter than our generation. My granddaughter who is just 18 months old already knows how to use the smart phones and press keys on my laptop.
So why develop specialized tablets for kids?
What we can have is kids friendly applications on the normal tablets which the parents can share with their kids
This is good to know, this is an inducation that some of our kids may never embrace a laptop or PC for anthing in the nearest future.
@prabhakar,
Well,I buy the idea of kids having their own tablets for many reason.
when they see us with our own tabblets, they are interested also but what about the handling,I feel that is why the one for kids come with rubber on the outside, not only to make it attractive to kids but also to protect it even when it mistakenly fall down.
I do not agree with tot getting tablet for learning! Let them eagerly await weekend and get ready early in the morning to walk down to local library. They may explore much more in library, play with other friends, make more friends and play in local recreation facility – swim ice skate etc. They may get interact with environment, get tired and eat/sleep good. Why kids needs tablet? – very difficult to comprehend.
@prabhakar_deosthali the reason why it pays to develop special tablets for kids is because parents may not want to risk the one sthey have for their own personal and work files. Also I believe the kids designs are supposed to be less delicate than adult ones — to hold up to rough and tumble play.
Good points, _hm. I have thought about that before as well. Personally, I don't think it is a good idea to have young kids involved a lot with electronic devices at a young age. They should go explore the world, have one-on-one social experiences, etc.
@Clairvoyant,
“They should go explore the world, have one-on-one social experiences, etc.”
You are right, but I don't think there is anything wrong about kids using tablets for education purpose as long as they are subject to adult supervision.
Kids would simply have the device like normal playing things – nothing much different to something of game devices available in markets. But tablet for kids may have all game features but still CPU concepts – RAM, high picture element camera, moreso educational apps and etc
@hospice:
Adult supervision is good. But in general both parents work and may not devote so much of time for supervision. Also, generally they succumb to kids demand for some reasons.
If you convolute all these for thier wonder years, and compare it with neighbour kids who was active in other outdoor extra curricular activities, you repent and regreat your mistakes for your kids development for rest of your life. These are once a life opportunity. If you miss it, you miss many more future possiblities of life.
First, I thank Apple for not introducing kid/tot version of tablet – let tots be free to explore universe.
New technology devices are quite enticing for everyone. And to group of people they are very effective and they should embrace these objects of desire as soon as possible.
However, for rest majority of us it looks prudent to introduce lag and wait for technology to get matured. This is advantageous for both saving significant amount of time and money. It also provides good time to cool down. If one can not absolutely dispense with thought of having that gizmo for month to three months, they should have it.
@Wale: don't you think these kind of gadgets will allow kids to think a bit more freely? I think games do make kids think in a more innovative manner.
Tablets for kids especially kindergarten ones is good idea. KIds definitely would love to have something like that. Also for the business point of view its quite lucrative.
SP,
Exactly. This is positive from different perspectives. Think also in how the future generations' brain will evolve, and how knowledge acquisition and learning slills are going to be improved.
At an early age kids are going to be able to do and understand more things than what we can even imagine now. It's fascinating.
-Susan
hash.era,
“don't you think these kind of gadgets will allow kids to think a bit more freely? I think games do make kids think in a more innovative manner. “
Oh, yes! I definitely agree with you. 🙂
-Susan
Ariella,
“My daughter babysits for a baby who is just 1 1/2 years old. Her parents give a tablet loaded with educational games, but she is too young to really follow along and just presses buttons at random.”
Her senses and brain are capturing the information, even if it seems she is not follwoing along.
Is the tablet one of these tablets designed for kids, or a regular iPad or Android tablet? If there is an adult guiding the baby in the educational games, modeling and showing, so the baby can see and repeat what the adult did she will learn as her brain is already ready for a learning process. However, giving a tablet to the baby without any guiding is the same as giving her one of those toys that do things only when the kid knows which buttons she has to press.
Your daughter can use those educational games to play with the baby. The baby is learning at all times. I don't think a 1 1/2 year-old is too young for learning. I think it's a perfect age to start, even before that. As soon as a kids start speaking their first words they are ready for lerning a second language, which works great if the baby has been exposed to a second language since day one.
-Susan
@Susan My daughter says it looks like a regular iPad, though it's packed in a colorful case. It's meant for schools, likely for special ed children. Among the features are stories that it will read to/with the child. She says the baby doesn't have the patience to sit through a whole story on it, though she does enjoy the music. That suggests to me that children that young are just using these the same way they use some of the baby toys that were available years back — activating music, lights, and such. I recall reading that children younger than two should not be in front of screens in general. From Parent Debate: Do iPads and Smartphones Really Teach Toddlers to Read?
Some pediatricians say handing kids an iPad is pretty much the same as letting them watch television.
“(We) recommend that children under the age of 2 don't have any screen time whatsoever,” said Dr. Alanna Levine of the American Association of Pediatrics.
But Levine adds that if you interact with your toddler while playing an iPad game that may be ok for short periods of time.
In a non-scientific experiment to assess these learning apps, I let my 3-year-old twins play with the First Words Animals app and a counting app called Toddler Teasers Numbers.
Angela Booker, a professor and educational researcher at the University of California, Davis watched as I let my kids play with the apps unsupervised.
She helped me decipher the kids' experience.
At first, it seems like they're absorbing all the information and significantly learning.
My son seemed to recognize letters and words.
As a parent, I beam with pride thinking he's practically reading — that he's learned his letters.
But then I bring flash cards out with the very same words from the game and ask the kids, “Do you know what this word is?”
They answer a resounding no to every word.
The same experience happens with the numbers.
When I asked Angela if she was surprised, she said the games weren't specifically teaching the kids to verbalize the numbers, but more to visually recognize matches of shapes.
@SP There have been studies about tablet use for 3-7 set, and there a benefit is seen, but for kids 2 and under, it's a different matter.
There have been studies about tablet use for 3-7 set, and there a benefit is seen,
@Ariella, thanks for sharing this info. Curious to know if such tablets already available in market and how these tablets will help kids aged 3-7 ?
I think games do make kids think in a more innovative manner.
@hash.era, I totally agree with your opinion. Games like Cargo-Bot teaches programming concepts to the players. We can use such creative games to enhance the analytical thinking of the kids.
What we can have is kids friendly applications on the normal tablets which the parents can share with their kids
@prabhakar_deosthali, good idea but what if parents dont want to share certain apps with the kids. It would be difficult for the parents to luck such apps. Moreoever such tablets give safe environment for kids to surf the Internet.
I think these tablets seem like special purpose tablets dedicated for educational apps. Since the underlying hardware technology is no different than normal tablets, I think the same can be achieved through an Android or iOS tablet with apps for kids rather than getting a special purpose tablet for this purpose.
FlyingScot,
These are not toys. They are real tablets, just not as sophisticated and as an iPad or other tablets.
-Susan
Nimantha,
These are real tablets, too. They have apps for kids.
-Susan
@SP: I think it's not just a good idea for parents at home but if priced accordingly, these tablets can also be sold at schools. Schools are looking for ways to differentiate themselves and this may be one of the ways they can use to teach kids.
Prabhakar,
“In my opinion today's kids are smarter than our generation”
Oh, yes, they are! There is no magic there. They are smarter because their intellectual development starts earlier, which is great. We are using only a small percentage of the capacity of the brain.
-Susan
@Susan,
I really agree with you on that, the children of this generation are born smart, so its not taking them time to understand the smart devices.
agreed it would be too much for kids under 2 or even for 2. The best results or use of a kid tablet can be seen on 4 and above.
They have apps for kids.
@Susan, I am curious to know what is the most popular app among kids ? Is it some education app or some game app ?
I think it's not just a good idea for parents at home but if priced accordingly, these tablets can also be sold at schools.
@Taimoorz, its already happening in India. Indian government has launched tablet called AAKASH which is being distributed to students in schools and colleges at very nominal price. I really hope other countries will take similar steps so that all the kids get access to tablets.
I think the same can be achieved through an Android or iOS tablet with apps for kids rather than getting a special purpose tablet for this purpose.
@Taimoorz, valid point but I am sure these tabelts are priced very less compared to normal tablets because these tablets have limited usage. If these tablets are priced same as that of normal tablet then we can convert normal tablets itself into kids tablet.
Absolutely agreed. 4 years olds know how to play angry birds on smartphone, they can lock and unlock phones. THe kids now have access to things that we got only when we started earning so I guess times have changed. Also they will stop disturbing our laptops or PCs 🙂
@anandvy: Glad to know about the Akaash tablet. Any idea about it's price? How does the price compare to other leading tablet models? Also, is there a compromise on the quality of hardware (particularly the display technology) to keep the price down?
“ I am sure these tabelts are priced very less compared to normal tablets because these tablets have limited usage”
@anandvy: I don't think the limited use can keep the cost of manufacturing these tablets low. The processor and display has to be like any other tablets. The limited functionality comes with the software as these tablets would only run a selected apps. That does not impact the cost much as bulk of the cost is related to the hardware.
The best results or use of a kid tablet can be seen on 4 and above.
@SP, I feel kids aged below 4 can also use tablets to learn about new rhyme songs, about colors etc. Kids really get attracted to colors and music and tablets can help us to create that interest among kids.
Any idea about it's price?
@Taimoorz, I believe the price is somewhere between 20$ to 30$. Government is giving subsidy on Aakash tablet so that every kid can buy this tablet.
THe kids now have access to things that we got only when we started earning so I guess times have changed.
@SP, I totally agree with your opinion. Kids these days know more about technology than we know. They know everything about smartphones, social network sites etc and this is good news for electronic industry.
The processor and display has to be like any other tablets.
@Taimoorz, true but then there are wide variety of processors and displays available in the market. Celeron based processors cost very less compared to other processors. So we can always use low cost parts to manufacture low-cost tablets.
@SP I would think so. It's not because younger children are not smart or able to absorb. The fact is that between a year and two years a child is learning a lot . That is when she perfects her ability to walk and really develops her ability to talk. Even before a baby can pronounce a word, he learns its meaning. Aside from recognizing these verbal signals, they learn to recognize visual signals. But that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be pushed to learn to read then.
@ anandvy,
You made a good point, I hope many political leaders will welcome this as a good idea.
@Ariela, absolutely agreed. Wanted to make the same point.
@Taimoor, The Aakaash table tis priced at 35$. Its manufactured and designed in India and also government has kept the price low so as to give it all students. I had booked one for myself but its been more than a year but haven't got. I think in India the bureacracy and corruption will never let the technology come up.
The Aakaash table tis priced at 35$.
@SP, Currently the government is buying the tablets from DataWind and if institution like Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) starts developing such technologies then the cost might fall further.
@Susan: Also it will make them more interested in technology. If you take a kid of 5 years and check their knowledge in technology, its far more advanced than someone at the age of 50 sometimes.
SP,
I am writing about the Aakash at this very moment. 🙂 When I converted the currency I got $27, though. Do you have the price in Rs?
-Susan
Anand,
I was telling SP below that I am writing about the Aakash right now. Stay tuned here. 🙂 The price I got after converting the currency is $27 tops, not $35.
-Susan
Yes, you are right. In nowaday society, people have largely reduced the mutural communications. Children should spend more time in accessing nature, play with friends, which benefits their EQ.
hash.era,
True. Many times you see children with more knowledge about how devices work that adults. For children techonology is normal. For many adults is something they don't understand, and don't want to try to understand. This is why many adults are not able to understand that kids need their tablets.
-Susan
@Susan Here is the info when I booked last year, was priced at Rupees 2999
The product features are:
7″ Android 2.3 Tablet at an Unbeatable Price of Rs. 2999
Faster Cortex A8 — 700 Mhz Processor
High Quality Web Anytime & Anywhere
WiFi & GPRS (SIM & Phone functionality)
Multimedia Powerhouse
Full sized-USB port & Micro-SD slot and much more
@susan truly agree. Kids today have strong grasping power. They have no inhibitions and ready to learn what excites them.
SP,
Thanks so much for this. I was waiting for your reply before sending the article in order to check the price. The price I had found was between 1,300 and 1500 Rupees as the selling price. Do you know how much the government pays for each piece? The price I have is 2,262 Rupees.
-Susan
SP,
Do me a favor, could you let me know how long you waited for the tablet, or if you are still waiting for it? Do you know what is the estimated waiting time? Here is my email: susan.fourtane@gmail.com
I think the waiting time may improve this year, though. (you'll see 🙂
-Susan
Susan, well i applied in Jan2012. Got a confirmation also back from them. But they wanted me to pay in advance and were not sure of delivey date. I am still waiting.
@Susan: That would be awesome. I just wonder how unlucky we were when were young since we did not have such facilities to learn new things. Anyway the future generation will have a better knowledge on the future techniques
Nimantha,
I suppose that has happened to all the generations. Don't forget that the technology we have today is going to be very old technology in ten years' time.
The tablets that we will have in 2026 will make these tablets we have today like toys, and I am not talking about the tablets for kids. Just think in some of the old mobile phones that were available 10 years ago, and the smartphones we have today.
-Susan
SP,
It's not clear to me if you pay for the tablet last year or not.
-Susan
@nimantha.d,
you are right on that, permit me to say “you had your time”.
It was like that too when you were very young and some elderly people wrere wondering how fast things were changing then.
Changing is the only constant thing anyway.
Susan, I did not pay as they could not promise the delivery date.
SP,
I see. First I thought you have been waiting for the delivery of the tablet for a year. But if you didn't pay, there is no delivery. 😀
Maybe you want to try again now. The prices are lower than the one they had last year. I also believe the delivery time will be better. The tablet is also improved from the previous one. I look forward to your comments on the Aakash3 tablet article when it's published here. 🙂
-Susan
I quickly looked for prices and found most cost >150. Seeing how we can find tablets for under 100, and really good tablets (Nexus, Kindle) for 200… what's going on with these prices? What's different that makes them more expensive?
@Mr.Roques: It's the brand name they charge for. If you really consider the features and the techniques behind it, there is no such big difference. Only the name makes the difference.
@Susan: I don't think I can agree with your comment on technology will get old in 10 years. Maybe it will get outdated but not old at any cost. Things will change for sure but will not die. We do need to get updated but in a reasonable pace.
@Susan: Yes and the reason behind it is that most of the children now days have hands on experience on many technical devices. It gains a lot of confidence for them and it's a good sign for the future.
“I had booked one for myself but its been more than a year but haven't got.”
@SP: I think the $35 price is almost like giving it away for free. No wonder they may have gotten thousands of orders for it are not able to meet such a high demand.
Mr. R.,
Do you mean why Nexus and Kindle are more expensive to some of these tablets? These tablets have basic software, educational applications mainly. Also, there is at least one priced at less than $50. You also pay for the brand.
-Susan
Nimantha,
Well, if something gets outdated is gets old. As technology is evolving so fast today 10 years is a very long time. Pleanty of other new technology, and improvings to the ones we know today will happen in the next 10 years.
Maybe I said this before, but a phone that was the latest technology ten years ago, is old today. I dare to say that we will not see too many phones as we know them today in 10 years' time.
-Susan
hash.era,
Yes. Tablets, smartphones, laptops, and all have been part of their world since they were born. I have said this many times, but again, they are not afraid of technology.
-Susan
Taomoor,
If I am right, according to the exchange rate $35 is not close to free in India, even though it's a more accessible price for many who do need a tablet. If the plan of manufacturing the tablets in India goes well, this year they will be able to meet the demand of orders.
-Susan
“f I am right, according to the exchange rate $35 is not close to free in India, even though it's a more accessible price for many who do need a tablet”
@Susan: Compared to the price of normal tablets that most Indians can afford (usually around $200 – $300), $35 does seem to be a very low price. It may still be unaffordable for a lot of people, but a significantly large number would be able to afford it at this price and hence there's a high demand.
@taimoorZ Yes, and perhaps they can work out payment terms or loans to make the $35 tablets more acessible.
Taimoor,
“Compared to the price of normal tablets that most Indians can afford (usually around $200 – $300), $35 does seem to be a very low price. It may still be unaffordable for a lot of people, but a significantly large number would be able to afford it at this price and hence there's a high demand.”
I seem to be missing your point here. The goal of the Aakash tablet initiative is to provide a tablet to every poor Indian, every student, and schools. The government is paying for most of it. Maybe the price is somehow symbolic as a way of not saying they are free.
I don't see anything bad in this. On the contrary, I believe this is wonderful. Even with troubles in delivering high demand, everyone should be happy about this.
If this would be targeted to “most Indians” it would miss the point. The point being to every Indian .
Could you explain to me why you are complaining about the very low price? Don't you think every Indian deserves to have a tablet?
I already explained that the obvious high demand is solved this year by adding more Indian manifacturers into the project.
-Susan
Taimoor,
The low-price Aakash tablet in India article that we are discussing it's here: http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=1364&doc_id=261017& It's a different article.
-Susan
Ariella,
The Aakash tablet Taimoor is discussing in not one from this article, but from this other article: http://www.ebnonline.com/author.asp?section_id=1364&doc_id=261017& , where the intention of the government is to facilitate a an Aakash tablet to every poor Indian, every student, and schools.
-Susan
“Could you explain to me why you are complaining about the very low price? Don't you think every Indian deserves to have a tablet? “
@Susan: The idea of the cheap tablet is to make a large number of people own one. These are people who are not able to afford it at the regular price. When you lower the price, what's the guarantee that only the poor are buying it? How can you stop some rich person who can afford to buy the normal tablet to not buy 10 of it because he can afford them? If you want a fair distribution, the low price tool is not a good idea. What they can do is something similar to a provincial government in Pakistan did – give the tablets for free to students enrolled in public universities.
@Taimoor: Yes it's a good option but the quality and the functionalities are limited. Especially the quality, which will cause a major issue since less quality will make a negative impression on the user about tablets.