1.
A computer in the palm of your hand. Especially when you've got a newborn baby, there are a lot of parenting activities you have to do that occupy one hand but leave the other one free -- feeding, burping, rocking. The iPod Touch has most of the basic functions a laptop computer does -- e-mail, web browing, calculator -- but you can operate it quite easily with just one hand. Which means if you're expecting a really important e-mail, or just need to pass the time, you can do it with the Touch in situations where you can't use your computer.
2.
It's a lot more discreet than a computer. I don't know about you. But in our house, we simply can't open up the laptop computer without The Boy -- who is now 16-months -- banging on the keys or grabbing the screen. This is especially true now that he knows all his videos and photos are on the computer. Which means that, if I want to quickly send an email or check a website in peace, I just grab for my iPod Touch instead of booting my computer.
3.
The iPod Touch is virtually indestructible. Most young children have difficulty with the idea of being gentle with delicate electronics. I now keep our laptop out of The Boy's reach after he popped out one of the keys after banging the keyboard too often. In contrast, if your kid is fascinated with the Touch, you can hand it to them being reasonably sure you'll get it back in one piece. YouTube is full of videos of people trying -- and failing -- to scratch the Touch's scratch-resistance Screen . And because the Touch has solid-state flash memory -- not a hard drive with moving parts -- your kid can drop it, stomp on it or throw it against the wall and it will probably be fine.
4.
A photo album and home-movie library right in your pocket. Remember when people used to have three or four photos of their kids in their wallet? Try a couple hundred. Using iTunes, you can easily move tons and tons of photos of your little ones onto your iPod Touch and still have plenty of space to spare. That way, whenever anyone asks if you've got any photos of your kids, you can just hand them your Touch and let them flick their way through the library on its super-sharp 3.5-inch screen. You can also load up your home movies on the Touch using a program called Videora, that can convert any movie file into one that will play on your iPod. And since the new versions of the Touch have built-in speakers, you can let people hear the audio on your movies without having to share your earbuds.
5.
Helps ease the fight over the family computer. If you've only got one laptop or desktop computer in your house, chances are you'll find yourself having less and less access to it as your kids get older. Or, since you and your spouse are busy taking care of the kids during the day, you may both want to use the computer during the few hours of peace you have in the evening. Luckily, most of the idle browsing, emailing and Facebook-checking that you'd want to do on your computer, you can do on the Touch -- which means you don't have to wait your turn on the family computer to get connected. In general, the web browser on the Touch is so good that you can view most websites pretty well. But to make things even easier, a number of websites -- including Gmail, Google Reader and, as of this week, The vancouver Sun -- also have special mobile websites that are designed specifically for the Touch and iPhone.
6.
The iPod Touch is so simple a child can use it. The gesture commands on the Touch are so simple and intuitive that The Boy can already browse photos on it more or less by himself. And because the Touch is so durable (see item #3), you can let your kid play with your Touch without worrying they'll break it.
7.
Downloadable podcasts give your brain a workout. As much fun as it is to be a stay-at-home parent, there's no denying that it can sometimes be tedious. To help keep my mind at least moderately active put just one of the earbuds in and listen to a podcast when I'm out with The Boy in his stroller. I'll likely write a future post specifically about some of my favourite podcasts, but there are some great radio programs (like NPR's This American life and the BBC statistics show More to Less) that you can download in iTunes for free.
8.
Great Apps for you. In addition to podcasts, music and movies, you can also download little prorams -- called Apps -- onto your iPod Touch, everything from games to productivity applications. These are great for just passing the time at the grocery store or for keeping your mind active. Some of my favourite games include Flightcontrol , Quordy and touchphysics
http://www.148apps.com/reviews/touch-physics/. And I regular use the WeatherEye
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/mobile/weathereyeiphone, tweetDeck WunderRadio and instapaper apps.
9.
Great Apps for your kids. There are a number of applications that are designed specifically for children and others that -- while not meant for kids -- they seem to love. Parenting.com recently ran a list of its 25 to apps for kids. Some of the ones friend of mine say their kids love include Aqua Forest, Pocket God
http://pocketgod.blogspot.com/ and Cube Runner. There are also plenty of different finger-painting apps available.
10.
The iPod Touch is a lot cheaper than an iPhone. The Touch is basically just an iPhone without the phone. With the recent price drop, the basic 8GB Touch runs for about $200. Now, you can get an iPhone for as little as $99, depending on the model. But that means signing up for a data plan and a multi-year contract which, overall, is likely to cost you more than $1,000 overall. In contrast, once you buy your Touch, that's it (except for the odd optional software upgrade fee
http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/parenting/archive/2009/06/09/apple-charges-poor-ipod-touch-owners-9-99-for-3-0-upgrade.aspx). Now, if you need a smartphone anyways, the iPhone may be a good deal. But if you've got a perfectly good phone already, I'd stick with the Touch. The only downside is that, since the Touch relies on WiFi instead of a cell network, you won't always have Internet access. But free WiFi is so easy to find these days, I don't think that's an issue unless you're the kind of person who always needs access to their email.
