Personally, I think that ANY parent who finds a reason to give a child a 500+ dollar piece of technology is a bad parent who is just too lazy to deal with their children. My mother is an elementary school teacher, she instructs 3rd grade. These little kids are 8 and 9 years old. My mother only recently bought her first "advanced" phone, the iPhone 4, she has a class of 21 children and according to her, 7 of them have the latest iPhone and 3 have personal, unrestricted laptops! That is DISGUSTING! Let kids be kids! What happened to giving a kid a doll or an action figure or a boardgame and having them be happy with age-appropriate things? But now you can't even do that, even little girls' dolls are dressed like sluts. (Bratz are a fine example...) I have also personally been to restaurants where I've seen families bring small children with them, and when the child begins to grow impatient, instead of making ANY attempt to correct the child's behaviour, the parent will immediately hand over their iPhone or iPad to silence them, and move on with their adult conversations. Am I honestly the only one who finds this sad and sick?! I'm 29, and a mother of an 8 year old daughter an 1 year old son, and it will be a LONG time before either of them see their first cellphone. I can't believe the idiocy of people today. Yes, technology is a necessary, progressive part of everyday life now, but that's no reason to shove it down toddlers' throats! Another thing that everyone seems to overlook is that certain people wonder why childhood obesity is becoming such a widespread problem when they're the ones handing their kids unlimited games, laptops, iPads loaded with appealing apps, etc. What child is going to want to go out and run around when they've got all that garbage right at hand? Like I said, I'm all for technology and a modern lifestyle, but like it or not, my kids aren't getting cellphones until they're in high school (as I did) and they won't have a laptop until it's needed for college (as I did) or when they can get a job and purchase it in high school. I actually want to listen to my kids when they cry, or have a tantrum, or get impatient, and stop the bad behaviour with reasoning and words, rather than shoving a piece of technology at them and hoping they'll shut up.