In response to your recent post, Beth - I wholeheartedly support your switch to the iPhone and I’ll tell you why. But, before I go further, I must come clean and admit my phone is a Blackberry (for those who were about to call me out). BUT, for Mother’s Day this year, my husband (currently on his 3rd iPhone) and daughter gave me the iPod Touch. I know what you’re thinking…..exactly what I was thinking. “Wow honey. Thanks for all the thought you put into this gift.” But because my husband doesn’t go anywhere without his phone (including the bathroom), to him, this was a true gesture of love. Although I did not understand this at the time, it only took a few brief tutorials before I was addicted.
There are practical uses, like storing all the music I’m currently listening to; having my grocery list handy at all times with “shopper” (myshopperapp.com); and, getting my up-to-the-minute current People Magazine updates - one must stay current, you know (people.com/iphoneapp)…..as well as spreading the word on lousy cab drivers around the city. But the biggest attraction for me is how much my daughter loves it. Gone are the days when crayons and a piece of paper kept a toddler entertained at a restaurant or in a waiting room - now it’s “Momma? Can I play a game on your phone?” (I haven’t bothered to clarify that mine is not a phone….details, details.)
Between “300 Bowl” (bowling with your forefinger - anyone can do it!), “Balloonimals,” “MyMakeUp” (you can apply makeup and jewelry to 4 girls with irritating British accents…bugs me, but Lily loves it) and “Ant Hill” - as the tiny ants march around building their colony, you can crush them with stones or burn them alive with your magnifying glass), she can be entertained for hours. A particular favorite of hers is “Bug Squash” (sticking with the torture theme) where you select a bug option (from beetles to flys, spiders to bed bugs) and then squash them with your thumbs as they crawl across the screen. Depending on the bug selection, the noise made when the bug is squashed varies….and never ceases to delight Lily. And there are always a couple of her favorite movies stored for the long waits at the eye doctor (as well as some episodes of mom’s favorite shows….for downtime when traveling, of course).
So Beth, although you don’t currently have children of your own (at least none that I know about), if this “phone” can keep a 3 year old engaged for long stretches at a time, imagine how much fun an adult can have.
Hey, all the cool kids are doing it.
The first question I get from my niece and nephew now is “Did you bring your iPod?”. They are obsessed with the games. I will have to check out Lily’s favorites.
This happens all the time when I visit my cousins’ or my brother’s house. The kids all want to play a game on my phone! It’s not like I haven’t driven the hour to visit them, spend time with them, play some Nintendo Wii or read a book with the early-readers — they want to play Crayon Physics or Rollando!
Kids these days, I tells ya!