Babes in iPodland
Children Go from $30 Toys
To $300 Electronic Gadgets
At Alarmingly Early Ages
December is a big gift month for 8-year-old Lauren Jenkins: She'll get her first load of presents when she turns 9 on Dec. 4, and her second haul on Christmas morning. A look at the items on her wish list indicates the December gift tab this year may be a bit of an eye-popper: She wants a cellphone, an iPod, a laptop computer and -- why not? -- a Nintendo GameBoy.
Lauren's father, Arthur Jenkins, raised an eyebrow and shrugged to hear his daughter request roughly $1,000 in consumer electronics. "They're moving beyond toys," he said, as Lauren ran off to join some friends hanging out near a fountain on a recent afternoon in West Los Angeles. "I'm not hearing so much about dolls anymore." The laptop is out, he added, but he'll consider the other gadgets.
As children at ever younger ages clamor for the kind of tech-laden products that used to be for teens and adults, their parents are wrestling with whether and when to cave in to requests for everything from videogame consoles and digital video cameras to cellphones and MP3 players. Before opening up their wallets, parents and other gift givers are negotiating not just the high price tags, but also the question of whether these items are appropriate for kids who in some cases haven't yet mastered riding a bicycle.
There is no denying that the consumer-electronics market is getting younger, as children grow up with technology embedded into their lives. According to market research firm NPD Funworld, of Port Washington, N.Y., kids on average are playing with personal computers starting at age 5 or 6; CD and DVD players by 7 or 8 and MP3 players and digital cameras by 10 or 11. NPD says the market for electronic items aimed at so-called 'tweens, defined as kids ages 8 to 12, grew 46% in 2004.
The options are overwhelming. Some kids are torn between the ultrasmall iPod Nano ($199) and the video iPod ($299) -- even if they already have the original model. There are juvenile versions of just about any consumer-electronics item one can name. Typically, the kiddie version offers capabilities similar to the adult version but at a somewhat lower price.
For example, toy maker Hasbro Inc.'s VuGo Multimedia System, selling in stores for around $119.99, is used by kids to download music, video and photos from the Web and watch them on a 3-inch screen. Mattel Inc. has the Vidster digital video camera (priced around $79.99) while MGA Entertainment Inc. is offering a Bratz MP3 player shaped like a lipstick (also $79.99). Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, which costs from $99 to $399, is a hot 'tween item this year. Among other companies cashing in is Chicago-based Zizzle, which is selling a $39.99, three-legged speaker called the iZ that flashes lights and dances when plugged into an MP3 player.
Of course, there's also the Xbox 360 -- or rather, it was in stores for about an hour early Tuesday morning. Many retailers report they have blown through their stocks of Microsoft Corp.'s new videogame system and won't be getting more until next year. A few retailers were selling the new Xbox system only to customers who also bought a set of games and additional software, bringing the total purchase in some places above $800.
One fact that has become blindingly clear to many parents: Gadgets cost more than most toys.
Amy H. Brantley of Huntsville, Ala., recently ordered her 10-year-old son, Patrick, a Pyramat Sound Lounger from FAO Schwarz. The $150 cushioned lounge chair features a subwoofer, which can amplify sound from DVD, CD and MP3 players and also from home-theater systems. She didn't get him Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Portable game system or an electric skateboard, each of which runs about $200. Ms. Brantley says those two gifts would have put her above the $300 she planned to spend on her son's gifts this year. "There's always something bigger and better," she says.
Patrick already has one PlayStation console and a Nintendo GameBoy. His parents limit the time he gets to play on them each week. "We have to be careful not to get into too much material consumption with kids during the holidays," Ms. Brantley says. "It's hard, especially in our community, because it's almost like a competition. ... But just because we can do it doesn't mean we should do it."
Kids' changing tastes in toys may be starting to change the nature of holiday gift-giving. MJ Urist, a Tully, N.Y., mother, says the Xbox 360 was the one and only gift her 12-year-old and 14-year-old sons wanted this year. "In the past," she says, "it has always been who has the most presents to open. Now you can get one huge thing that you really want ... so the pressure is on." She tried to score the Microsoft machine in two crack-of-dawn attempts at Target stores last week but came home empty-handed. "I've talked to the kids, and they are prepared for delayed gratification," she says. Still, "there is no joy on a child's face when they get a rain check wrapped up in a box" on Christmas morning, she adds.
As for Plan B, Ms. Urist says she isn't sure what she'll do. "I suppose I could get them an HDTV, or one of the plasma TVs," she says jokingly.
Parents of younger children, however, often are reluctant to dive into electronics mode so fast. Laurie Pink, a Calabasas, Calif., mother of an 8-year-old girl, Chessa, and a 9-year-old boy, Gianni, is weighing whether to fill their requests for iPods this year. She bought Chessa a ChatNow, Hasbro's walkie-talkie-type device, selling for around $69.99 a pair, which kids use to talk and send text messages. "I saw it and wanted to get it so my brother and me could text each other," Chessa says.
"Technology is not always good," Ms. Pink says. Does listening to loud music through the players' ear "buds" hurt kids' hearing? she wonders. And she isn't thrilled about what could happen to their play patterns. "The music thing is a little isolating," she says.
Still, Ms. Pink is gung-ho about certain electronics with an educational bent. She bought Gianni a FLY, the $99 pen-computer hybrid from LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. He also asked for Hasbro's VCam Now, a pocket-size digital videocamera selling for around $79.99. "That seems very creative, a great outlet for him," she says.
Some parents have a sneaking suspicion their kids really aren't ready for all the potential of these gadgets. "Ninety-nine percent of what we do buy for them is above their age," says Heather Thomas, a mother of four, including 8-year-old twin boys and an 11-year-old. "Every year, I believe we're buying things ... that they don't have the ability to take care of."
This year, her 11-year-old son, Trae, will get a $30 DVD player and a game for learning how to play poker. The twins will get skateboards, an iPod and a Laser Tag game set that Ms. Thomas says costs about $90. "I didn't even know what an iPod was," Ms. Thomas confesses. "Then I looked at the price and I was like, 'Good grief.' "
To keep their pricey toys in good condition, and to help the boys learn to manage their time, Ms. Thomas says she keeps certain things -- expensive art supplies, PlayStation games, remote-control cars and their digital camera -- on a shelf in the master bedroom. Her kids have to ask permission before they can use one, and they have to put it back when they are done.
The one thing none of her boys are likely to see under the tree anytime soon is a cellphone. "No way," she says, echoing the sentiment of many parents who have chosen to draw the line directly in front of the gadget that has become their own favorite toy.
She recalls how she used her first cellphone. "Even as a young adult, I didn't have the discipline to get off that phone," she says, adding: "Minutes mean money. I can't imagine a young preteen would have that concept." She paused. "When they've got their first job and they're holding it down, maybe then."
iPod时代，小孩子也要挤进来
12月，这对8岁的劳伦?詹金斯(Lauren Jenkins)来说可是个收获礼物的好季节：首先是12月4日的生日礼物，然后是圣诞节大礼包。看看她自己开出的期望礼物清单，你不目瞪口呆才怪：手机、iPod、笔记本电脑──还有，任天堂(Nintendo)的GameBoy似乎也不错。
听著女儿这张总值上千美元消费电子产品的清单，父亲亚瑟?詹金斯(Arthur Jenkins)的眉毛都要竖起来了。“这些可不是玩具，”他说。话音未落，女儿就一溜烟地跑开，和小朋友们到附近的喷泉去玩了。他又说，笔记本电脑不行，不过，其他玩意儿他可能会考虑一下。
有些更小的孩子甚至也开始索要这些以往为青少年和大人们准备的科技产品。面对从视频游戏机、数码相机，到手机和MP3播放器等五花八门的要求，父母们已经有些招架无力了。不知道是否以及何时应该满足这些要求。打开钱包前，父母和长辈们交涉的不只是高价格的问题，还要想一想，它们是否适合那些甚至还没学会骑车的小孩呢。
毫无疑问，由于孩子们在遍布科技产品的氛围中长大，电子消费品市场也在日趋年轻化。据市场研究公司NPD Funworld的数据，开始接触电脑的孩子们的平均年龄为5岁或6岁，开始玩CD或DVD的平均年龄为7岁或8岁，MP3播放器和数码相机已走进10岁或11岁孩子的生活。NPF表示，定位于8至12岁孩子的电子产品市场去年增长了46%。
电子产品的诱惑是难以抗拒的。孩子们经常在超小型iPod Nano（售价199美元）和视频iPod（售价299美元）间难以取舍──即便他们已经有了旧款iPod。人们能叫得上名字的电子消费品几乎都有少年版。通常，厂商还提供与成人版类似但价格略低的儿童版。
比如，玩具制造商Hasbro Inc.的VuGo多媒体系统在商店售价119.99美元，孩子们可以用它从网上下载音乐、录像和图片，然后在3英寸的屏幕上欣赏。Mattel Inc.有Vidster数码照相机（售价79.99美元），而MGA Entertainment Inc.则即将推出唇膏状的Bratz MP3播放器。苹果电脑(Apple Computer Inc.)的iPod（售价在99美元至399美元之间）今年在青少年群体中异常火爆。其他不甘示弱的公司还包括Zizzle，该公司正在出售39.99美元的三条腿扩音器，取名iZ，接上MP3播放器后就会闪闪发光，扩音器随著节拍舞动。
当然，Xbox 360也不能不提──上周二早间上市后一个小时即抢购而空。很多零售商表示已经向微软(Microsoft Corp.)预订这种新款视频游戏机，但要等到明年才能到货。一些零售商甚至只向同时购买一套游戏及辅助软件的客户出售新款Xbox，某些地方的整套售价甚至超过了800美元。
摆在父母面前一个显而易见的事实就是：这些小玩意儿比大多数玩具都贵得多。
亚拉巴马州的艾米?布兰特丽(Amy H. Brantley)最近从FAO Schwarz为10岁的儿子帕特里克(Patrick)订了一款Pyramat Sound Lounger。这款150美元的软垫休闲椅附带扬声器功能，能将DVD、CD和MP3播放器的声音放出来，也可以连接到家庭影院设备上。她没有买索尼(Sony Corp.)的PlayStation Portable游戏或者电子滑板（两者售价均在200美元左右）。布兰特丽说，这两样礼物会让她今年的礼物预算超支，她原计划给儿子买礼物的钱不超过300美元。她说，“总会有些东西更贵，更好玩。”
帕特里克已经有一款PlayStation游戏机和一件任天堂的GameBoy。父母为他严格规定了每周的游戏时间。“我们不得不小心谨慎，不要在孩子身上在假日期间投入太多的物质消费，”布兰特丽说。“不过这很难，特别是在我们这个社区，因为它就像一种竞赛一样……不过我们买得起并不意味著就应该去买。”
孩子们对玩具的品味变化可能也在改变著假日赠礼的特点。纽约州的乌利斯特(MJ Urist)说，她12岁和14岁的儿子只想要Xbox 360。“过去都是看谁的礼物最多。现在却要准备他们真正喜欢的一个大礼物……所以，压力就大了。”上周，她两次都是大清早到Target排队，但都是空手而归。“我对孩子们说过了，他们也做好了礼物延期到到达的准备。但是，节日那天他们看到礼物盒子上系著延期保证条时，有个孩子的脸上仍然看不到一丝高兴的样子，”她说。
关于替代计划，乌利斯特说，她还没想好。“我想我会为他们买一台高清晰电视吧，或者等离子电视，”她开著玩笑说。
但更小一些的孩子的父母却不愿意这么快让孩子进入电子时代。加州的劳里?平克(Laurie Pink)有一个8岁的女儿和一个9岁的儿子，她正在考虑今年要不要满足他们对iPod的要求。她给女儿凯萨(Chessa)买了一个ChatNow，给儿子詹尼(Gianni)准备了69.99美元的Hasbro对讲机，孩子们可以互相通话并发送文字短信。“我见了这个，想要一个，这样我和我哥哥就可以互发短信了，”凯萨说。
“科技产品未必总是有益的，”平克说。用耳机听那些吵闹的音乐会不会损伤孩子的听力呢？她想。孩子们的游戏方式也让她担心。“音乐会让人（与外界）隔绝，”她说。
但平克对某些与教育有关的电子产品情有独锺。她从LeapFrog Enterprises Inc.为詹尼买了一台99美元的手写电脑综合器FLY。他还要一了一部Hasbro的VCam Now，是一个口袋大小的数码摄像机，售价79.99美元。“这看上去很有创意，能给他很多启发，”她说。
有些父母已经开始渐渐怀疑孩子们是否真的具备驾驭这些小玩意儿的能力。“我们为孩子们买的科技产品99%都超过了他们的年龄，”4个孩子的母亲布瑟?托马斯(Heather Thomas)说。她有一对8岁的双胞胎儿子和一个11岁的儿子。“年复一年，我们不停地买礼物……但他们根本不懂该怎么用。”
今年，11岁的儿子特雷(Trae)将得到一台30美元的DVD播放器以及一款教孩子怎么玩扑克牌的游戏机。双胞胎儿子将得到一副滑板、一个iPod和一台据托马斯说价值90美元的Laser Tag游戏机。“我甚至不知道iPod是什么，”托马斯说。“然后我看了价格，天啊！”
为了让孩子们学会将这些昂贵的玩具保持在良好状态，帮助他们学会管理时间，托马斯说，她会把一些昂贵精密的东西放在主卧室的架子上，比如PlayStation游戏机，遥控汽车和数码照相机等。孩子们玩之前必须得到允许，玩完之后必须放回原处。
她在近期内可能还不会送儿子手机。“这不可能，”她斩钉截铁。很多父母也都在这一点上态度明确（手机是自己最锺爱的玩具）。
她想起她第一次用手机的情景。“作为一个年轻的成年人，我们甚至无法节制自己的通话时间，”她说，“每分钟都意味著更多钱。我无法想像一个不到10岁的孩子会有这种观念。”停顿片刻之后她又说。“当他们开始工作时，花钱能有所节制时，或许会的。”
