Gadget or plaything? Let the child decide

IHT - NY Times: "Etch A Sketch, which has been a staple of toy chests for more than 45 years, has gotten an electronic makeover. A new battery-powered Etch A Sketch will rely on digital electronics for a speedy interpretation of each knob twist. It is designed, its makers say, to transmit data along a wire plugged into a television set that will display every line and detail in real time, with accompanying sounds and optional color. It will cost $20, twice the price of the traditional Etch A Sketch.

It is no longer surprising, he said, to see a child of grade school age carrying a $300 iPod, an expensive cellphone or a portable DVD player. To draw children back to toy aisles, where sales have been faltering for years, Fisher-Price, Wow Wee, Hasbro, Razor USA and other manufacturers have responded with more high-tech toys that parents can afford.

For example, Tek Nek Toys is releasing a $30 MP3 player called the CoolP3 for 4- to 8-year-olds. It comes with candy-colored stereo headphones and software for making playlists and downloading up to an hour of music from the Internet or CDs. Unlike digital music players for teenagers and adults, the CoolP3 will include a parental volume control, its makers promise.

Also scheduled for release in the fall is the Blueberry Databank Organizer Phone for those too young for a BlackBerry; a hand-held electronic gaming system for toddlers; a battery-powered scooter that can go 15 miles, or 24 kilometers, an hour; and a pen-based talking computer young people can use to compose music or translate languages.

Consider the I-Dog Interactive Music Companion by Hasbro. At first glance, the palm-size puppy with luminous white contours and shiny metal trim looks like a gene splice of Apple's iPod and Sony's Aibo robot dog. What it does is listen to and respond to music, either from speakers or played through its own earphone jack.

The Fly, billed by its maker, LeapFrog, as a computer in a pen, has attracted a lot of interest in the toy industry since it was introduced early last month. The gray-and-white pen, priced at $100 and scheduled to reach market shelves this fall, manages a variety of tasks, including games, music and language translation, by reading words and symbols its users write on special paper. Rather than display its data, it speaks.

The Fly is aimed at children 8 to 12 years old and up, but LeapFrog maintains that it is not a toy. Mattel is applying digital technology to one of the oldest toys: a doll house. Its $30 palm-size doll house toy called Pixel Chix is filled with tiny furniture, fixtures and a talking, interactive virtual girl."