Rockabye, Baby...Hey, That's a Sweet MP3 Player!

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You know those teenie weenie little LCD TV screens that you sometimes see flashing cartoons at dummified children in the back of SUVs? I hate those things. Seriously, if I was buying a car (not an SUV, just a car) and the sales rep told me that the little TV thingie came free, I'd tell them to take it out. And if they said that they couldn't, I'd get a different car. That's how much I hate them.

Also on my list of hated items are MP3 players for babies. Does this make me a Luddite? Am I hopelessly stuck in the past? Sobeit. Following Fisher-Price's lead with the iTod, we now have Hasbro teaming up with Creative Labs to market an MP3 player targeted at "the parents" of "infants from birth to 3." "The insight for the Playskool 'Made for Me' line is about delivering a unique system of toys and gear that resonate with new parents," says Nancy Kufferman, Playskool's senior brand manager. "These parents are primarily Gen X and Y and technology is typically a big part of their world. They not only embrace new technology, but they seek out ways to maximize its potential into their everyday lives." One proven way that the potential of new technology can be maximized in the everyday lives of new parents is by providing them with a way to distract and shut their kids up. The MP3 player is one of three products the company will introduce as part of its "Made for Me" infant product line. Parents use the products to stimulate or soothe their infants by choosing to play classic lullabies that come with the digital music player, or customizing it by transferring songs from CDs or downloading tunes from the Internet. Here's an idea: Try singing that very same lullaby to the hump dumpling. You two just might have a bonding moment, and maybe he won't grow up to be a socially retarded, navigationally-challenged (turn the damn LCD TV off and tell him to look at the window) droid.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/geek/22062/Rockabye-Baby...Hey-Thats-a-Sweet-MP3-Player/