I recently went on a trip which required a long car ride with my son. I figured he would do fine – just as I did when I was his age. I did not have a DVD player and was entertained by just looking out the window or listening to my parent’s 8 tracks. When Amy suggested we bring along a portable DVD player so Evan could watch DVDs in the car to keep him content I was very against it. I have a thing about him not being too dependent on constant entertainment (TV) but in the end, Amy would not give up and we brought the DVD player. Evan spent almost 20 hours in the car in a 4 day period and I do not think we heard one cry, or scream. I am still not excited with the DVD player in the car, but after listening to Amy talk about the grad class she is taking on technology and this generation – it made me think.
This generation of kids has just about everything they want entertainment-wise at any moment. Not only do they have TV – they have several TVs. Not only do they have several TVs, they have hundreds of channels. Not only do they have hundreds of channels, they have the ability to watch their shows/movies without commercials using DVRs, TiVOs, etc. They do not need to get in the car and go to the theatre to watch a movie – they do not even need to go to Blockbuster – they can just automatically download it or order it using their Apple TV or cable box. So – with all of this – there is more. I carry around movies and shows on my iPhone so now they can even watch what the want, listen to what they want anywhere. Instant access to entertainment everywhere, every second of every day.
I will be very interested to see how this turns out long term. Will tuning out become the hip thing in 10 years or will being connected to constant entertainment get even more personal?
Ken
Portable DVD players are a life saver. I remember sitting on long car rides being bored out of my mind as a kid – I’d have given my left arm for a DVD player or video game system.
Now, Ashley is a whiz with the iPhone and watches movies on it at her leisure (our portable DVD player – the 5th we’ve burned through – just died).
As far as tuning out in the future, I doubt it. I think we’ll become even more connected. Personally, I can’t wait. Stick a WiFi chip in my brain already!