Smart toys?

Ok, as if iTeDDy wasn't enough for now, another potentially popular electronic toy for toddlers is the unimaginatively titled 'Puppy grows and knows your name'. This toy grows from puppy size to full size over time and linked to a computer by USB can be personalised to recognise a child's name, birthday and so on. The marketing blurb suggests that 'together you will sing songs and play a fun barking game'. Can't wait to hear that...anyhow, I am flying to Australia tomorrow, back in a few weeks and not sure how much opportunity I will get to blog, so don't expect any posts for a while. In the meantime, an interesting read is Lydia Plowman and Rosemary Luckin's article on 'smart toys'. Wonder what they would make of the growing and knowing puppy?

Happy birthday?

Well, I do have a 3-year-old nephew with an upcoming birthday and so it was not for purely research reasons that I purchased an iTeDDy this week...although I am tempted to keep it a little longer! I liked the fact that my family was able to make a short video for my nephew in which we sang “Happy birthday” to him and then uploaded the video onto the MP3 player, along with family photographs and some of his favourite songs. OK, so no doubt when he is able to, some of these files will be the first he deletes, but we liked the idea! The manufacturers are emphasising the receptiveness of iTeDDy to user-generated content, so it will be interesting to examine how families use this feature, if at all, and how children react to it. I will report here if my nephew howls with joy or horror at his family’s rendition of the birthday song coming straight at him from his iTeDDy’s tummy...

Hi to iTeDDy

There is widespread interest in iTeDDy in the UK, which recently launched itself at a press conference. This MP3 playing teddy is set to be the number-one selling toy this Christmas, according to the superstore Argos. Given how much children love cuddly creatures with technology embedded in their tummies (remember the Teletubbies?), then I would not be surprised. The adult interest in this toy reminds us of the social and cultural roles that toys play in society, as discussed by cultural theorists such as Barthes and Agamben. Children are inducted into society's technological interests and practices through such toys, as I argued five years ago now in this piece. Whilst the article might now be old and outdated, I stick by the sentiments!