Kids and technology

In 1986, the older of my sisters, then 3 years old loved to play Barbie on the Commodore 64. She would load the game floppy disc into the drive, turn on the computer and drive and enter the appropriate text on the keyboard to load, followed by the sys code to begin execution. I was amazed back then that this kid who could not read or write was able to do all this, yet she did.

Fast forward to 2020 and my nephew is the one now amazing me. Again just 3 years old, he has adapted to using modern technology with relative ease. Though he has things easier than did his aunt before him, no codes to execute programs nowadays, he has taken to developing his own Spotify playlist and knows how to play his music to all Google speakers within the household, much to his parents delight.

As I gifted him a pair of over ear Bluetooth headphones for Christmas, my sisters suggestion, my nephew quickly demonstrated his proficiency using his iPad, Spotify and his general comfort with technology. It is interesting though to watch kids approach to using technology, they learn so quickly as they experiment, explore and generally lack fear that adults often experience when exposed for the first time.

Watching my nephew rearranging his Spotify playlist via drag-n-drop was a proud uncle moment, that he understands such concepts and uses them with ease. I’ve joked with his parents that by age five he will require his own DJ mixing deck as rearranging tracks within Spotify will become so old for him.