[Macworld]

Post your comments for Configuring an old iPad for your child here

[BobGehling]

Handing them down to kids is not the only option. When my wife and I received our "new" iPads (i.e. gen 3), we gave our second gens to our adult children who we previously had given our first gen models. I then took one of the first gen models and reconfigured it for my mother-in-law. She had previously used her computer to play solitaire, check e-mail, and watch the movies that I loaded onto her computer. She is 81 and has rheumatoid arthritis which, at time, caused her some issues. I was surprised how ecstatic she is that iPad now allows her do those things while sitting on her couch or in bed. I also loaded her photo library to it. Last Friday, she carried it to dinner to show her friends.

[k88dad]

An obvious alternative with an older child is to share an Apple ID. Thus, no paying for apps and other content twice. One downside is having to delete n/a content.

[LindenLentz]

If you have a generous spirit and care about others, I would suggest donating it to a local school. With never-ending budget cuts, there is no money to purchase technology. The newest computer in my room is 9 years old. I teach kindergarten and have purchased an iPad with my own money and would love more for my students to use.

[jfletch]

LindenLentz, on 30 March 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

If you have a generous spirit and care about others, I would suggest donating it to a local school. With never-ending budget cuts, there is no money to purchase technology. The newest computer in my room is 9 years old. I teach kindergarten and have purchased an iPad with my own money and would love more for my students to use.

Actually, budget cuts are pushing schools MORE toward iPads because they are cheaper, more portable, the content is very cheap, and more textbooks are coming out for them. Probably not quite so much in kindergarten, though.

This post has been edited by jfletch: 31 March 2012 - 10:43 AM

[downunder]

Correction - OtterBox do not sell (any more) the original iPad Defender cases.

[Chris Breen]

downunder, on 31 March 2012 - 04:10 PM, said:

Correction - OtterBox do not sell (any more) the original iPad Defender cases.

I just purchased one four days ago from Amazon. So it may not be on OtterBox's site, but third parties have them.

[pappop]

Thanks for the great, TIMELY article, Chris. We are giving our iPad 1 to our 10 year young grandson as Grandma got an iPad 3. We are grappling with many of these issues, and hadn't considered some others that you raised. How to get an AppleID without a credit card linked in this article was super.

We think we'll create an email account for him, get him the AppleID w/out the CC as you suggest, restore the iPad 1 to its beginnings, load the apps on it we know he likes and get a sturdy case. As well as sending a link to this article to his parents, we are going to suggest they investigate some internet security measures as are available on OPENDNS, for example.

I always enjoy the Macworld Weekly email every Monday with it plethora of good articles. Continued success!

[tcbic]

Better yet:
1. Donate the older iPad to a good cause.
2. Get your children (and yourself) away from screens of all kinds.
3. Go to the park, play soccer or catch, read a book or play a board game in the evening. Do something truly together that interacts with your child that doesn't involve a screen. Watch their minds grow as they connect to real people. - Father of 3 grown daughters, one foster son.

[OldMacster]

tcbic, on 02 April 2012 - 10:24 AM, said:

Better yet:
1. Donate the older iPad to a good cause.
2. Get your children (and yourself) away from screens of all kinds.
3. Go to the park, play soccer or catch, read a book or play a board game in the evening. Do something truly together that interacts with your child that doesn't involve a screen. Watch their minds grow as they connect to real people. - Father of 3 grown daughters, one foster son.

Pardon me, but didn't you give us this advise while infront of a screen? Just checking...

[adimex]

Idiotic parents giving their 9 year old an iPad, iPhone, Internet Access then worry about online predators, credit card bills, etc... This generation of kids will be lazy and dumb as rocks, all because of the parents:

Kids don't figure stuff out on their own anymore: they use the Internet. What's the point of using your brain to figure stuff out or solve problems when you have Google?

Kids don't have to learn how to spell anymore: Papers are redacted on a computer with spell check. Most kids and most adult do not know the difference between "then" and "than" or "their", "there", "they're", etc...

Kids don't have to count anymore: Calculators! Every gadget has one. Oh and Tip calculators. Because figuring out 10%-20% of a number is rocket science now a days.

Use something simple as a map: GPS taking over. Yes, great tool. Except you can learn your way around much better using a map. Don't believe me? The human brain knows it can get information just by the click of a button so it does not bother learning anything anymore. Instead of reasoning a problem, trying to solve it on its own, the brain now says screw it, I'm using Google, 5+7? Where's my Calculator? How do I get to 44th and Park ave from 54th and Lex? We got GPS!

Machines are taking over what makes us humans (beside the thumb). Lazy brains, lack of critical thinking, ...

[Chris Breen]

adimex, on 03 April 2012 - 04:24 AM, said:

Idiotic parents giving their 9 year old an iPad, iPhone, Internet Access then worry about online predators, credit card bills, etc...

Wow, who stepped on *your* lawn?

So grumpy. So shortsighted.

[tcbic]

Ha! Good one. What a wit!
My kids are grown. They're whole and healthy and able to make real relationships with real people. Check out Sherry Turkle's Ted Talk, "Connected But Alone?" Her research points out how technology is growing new generations of people who are incapable of true connection with others...who have the "illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship."
Tragic.

[Chris Breen]

tcbic, on 03 April 2012 - 10:37 PM, said:

Ha! Good one. What a wit!
My kids are grown. They're whole and healthy and able to make real relationships with real people. Check out Sherry Turkle's Ted Talk, "Connected But Alone?" Her research points out how technology is growing new generations of people who are incapable of true connection with others...who have the "illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship."
Tragic.

Thank heavens they weren't exposed to video games, radio, movies, rock n roll, television, novels, and the many other bogeymen guaranteed to rend apart society.

Moderation in all things. My child has been exposed to countless discoveries thanks to this kind of technology, yet still manages to maintain a healthy social life and connection with the outside world.