OUR FOUR YEAR OLD can touch, tap, swipe and pinch. But she isn't unique.
Her cousins and several friends in her creche form part of a newly-emerging Touch Generation that has developed a clear expectation of how computing technology should work--by touchscreen.
Mia saw us working with our phones and just took things from the point where we handed her our iPod Touches. It was easier for her to locate video files by swiping and tapping a single icon instead of trying to move keys on an old Nokia phone where Peppa Pig also resides. Like other two-year-olds, she liked getting a vibrant, colourful reactions to her touch.
I blame myself when I see Mia totally immersed in her screen and I thank Steve Jobs for designing handheld Apple gear with a limited battery life. I keep all notifications running along with the wifi so the tablet itself stops working after a half day. And we have a good stockpile of stickers, paints and storybooks that offer as much fun as an iPad for a pre-schooler.
Because Mia can see herself running inside video clips that are stored on the iPad and iPod Touch, she wants to go where I recorded her adventures. We accidentally made outdoor exercise part of the touchscreen environment because when she's watching herself on the iPad, she knows she was part of the making of the clip. So we head out and run arond two local historical monuments and get new footage several times a month.
We also visit the local library and check out books. Mia considers that experience to be a natural extension of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore on the iPad.
And she wants to visit the zoo or wildlife park to meet up with the animals that she has found in several applications.
As I write this, I realise only one person in our home has a distorted relationship with personal electronics. And it's not the pre-schooler.
