Mike Elgan: Why iPad is the 'Children's Toy of the Year'

Computerworld - Have you ever seen a 4-year-old play with an iPhone? It's actually kind of shocking. Kids take to the iPhone's multitouch user interface like they do trucks or dolls. They instinctively know that the iPhone is a toy, and they nag, cajole and harass their parents into letting them play with it.

Every time I spend time with any of my nephews or nieces, they never fail to ask me if they can borrow my iPhone. When I cave and hand it over, they immediately know what to do, and have an encyclopedic knowledge of which iPhone apps they want to play with.

YouTube hosts a huge number of videos of very young kids playing with iPhones -- even 1-year-olds.

You don't see anything like this with other phones. The iPhone user interface is so easy, appealing and intuitive that children naturally and immediately "get it." And they don't care about the iPhone's flaws, such as lack of tethering, lack of multitasking or lack of a physical keyboard. Children are hardwired for touch interfaces, and they love iPhones.

The role of the iPhone in the lives of children is, in my opinion, an underappreciated cultural phenomenon.

While nobody was looking, the iPhone became a universally understood part of children's culture. And hundreds of companies have responded by creating child-specific apps, which makes the device even more compelling to kids.

Another trend I've noticed is that when adults upgrade to new phones, they're increasingly handing their old iPhones to their children -- after loading them up with kids apps and canceling their wireless plans. The kids love owning their own iPhone, and the parents love not constantly handing their new phone over to the kids to play with. Everybody wins.

Here comes the iPad

I'm having two different conversations with my Buzz community about the iPad, and they have been very illuminating. One of the threads is about the iPad itself and whether it's a desirable device. Posters are divided between the enthusiasts, who can't wait to get their hands on one, and the anti-iPad crowd, who feel the gadget is an overhyped, underpowered, limited-use fad.

In the other thread, we're talking about the iPad as a children's device. And that group is divided as well, with roughly half believing the iPad will sell well in the children's market and the other half disagreeing.

One of the challenges in predicting what will happen with iPad sales is that as of this writing, none of us has really used one yet. And certainly no children beyond the families of some Apple employees have used them.

I believe a great many of today's skeptics will be won over once they've actually tried an iPad.

In the market segment of my Buzz community -- technical adult computer and gadget users -- the iPad will affect us pretty much like we expect it will. Lots of people will have them, and it will be a source of contention between the fans and the skeptics. It's an old story, where gadget freaks argue the merits and shortcomings of this product or that service.

But the reaction among children will be different. I believe that in the under-12 market, the iPad will dominate without any real competition and will completely change children's culture. Here are three reasons why I think that will happen: It's perfect for parents, the "children's culture" industry and kids themselves.