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Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category
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A Parenting Dis-Kinect: Coming Around 360
By Daddy Clay Friday, January 6th, 2012
I’m thinking about the challenges faced by previous generations of parents. I’m thinking about parents that had to cope with the arrival of Rock ‘n’ Roll or the Sexual Revolution; parents that had to send their kids off to the factory or the draft.
I’m thinking about these parents as I try to figure out how to attach the Kinect Sensor to the XBOX.
If you had to distill the greatest challenges faced by this generation parents down to a single word, would it start with a lowercase i? Read the rest of this entry »
Dear Sprint, Limit the iPhone? Let Me Count the Ways
By Daddy Clay Monday, November 28th, 2011
You’ve seen the apps drifting across the cityscape in the most recent commercial from Sprint. The one that ends with a cherubic kiddo, maybe 5 years old, playing with what we assume is his parent’s iPhone 4S as the voice over asks, “Why would anyone want to limit the iPhone?”
Did I hear that right?
What next? Disney touting parent-free cruises to Amsterdam? Read the rest of this entry »
Beats by Dre: Giving Def a Whole New Meaning
By Daddy Clay Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
If you have a tween or a teen, you know what Beats by Dre are. And if this recent, breathless piece in the New York Times business section is right — there are going to be Benetton-hued, obscenely-priced headphones under a lot of trees this Christmas. While there is some debate about whether the sound quality of the Beats is crisp or craptastic, there is no doubt about one thing: Plug those ‘phones into an iPod, crank the volume, and your child can have permanent hearing damage in just two songs. Read the rest of this entry »
Death of a Trade Show: RIP ABC Kids Expo
By Daddy Clay Thursday, September 29th, 2011
As we worked our way across the floor of the ABC Kids Expo, the doom and gloom among the BPA-free bottles and cloth diapers was palpable. Listless exhibitors would meet us at the front of their booths with tales of woe — low foot traffic, poor food choices at the convention center, spotty internet.
And that was at last year’s show. In Vegas. At that show, most of the problems with the expo were blamed on a sputtering economy. The overall sense was that the attendees, and the show itself would soldier on. Read the rest of this entry »
