Dan’s Blog (2.0)

The experience my kids (2 and 4) have of media is radically different from my experience when I was growing up. Of course, they clamor to watch certain programs and it’s always a challenge to balance the “right” amount of television with their wants, what’s good for them, and the temptation that television can have for exhausted parents who just need some down time. But what’s different is what these kids expect from media. Of course, they want to watch what they want when they want — which is enabled by video-on-demand from Homechoice for us, but they’re also just as likely to want to play (Web-based) computer games associated with the characters they like (like Dora games on NickJr., Sesame Street or Teletubbies) as to want to passively sit there and watch things. In the case of Sesame street, this is rarely seen on UK TV so most of their knowledge of these characters is actually through the Sesame street Web site. Many of these sites also let them stream video clips. So they are beginning to “curate” their own experience of media in much the same way that adults are. They are demanding more from their media. And why not? Why sit there and passively watch Teletubbies when you can go play an interactive Teletubby game with lots of direct feedback?

Filed by Daniel Appelquist at 10:10 under Kids, Web 2.0

No Comments

So on Sunday I went to something called the “Design Festa” at Tokyo Big Sight, an enormous expo center on the outskirts of the city. From what I understand, it’s a twice yearly event where hundreds of artists and designers from Tokyo come to display their wares, sell stuff, create art, etc… Everything from iron-work to painting to hand-made t-shirts to music was on display and/or on sale there. I got an artist to do this rendition of my two kids, Alex and Emily, from a picture I had stored in my camera. I’ll post some more pictures from the “Festa” soon.

Filed by Daniel Appelquist at 5:20 under Kids, Travel

No Comments

So tonight — apart from starting this blog — I am taking care of “the kids” while my wife goes out to a friend’s shower (at a Pub — this is London, remember). The 3-year-old (Alex) is no problem — he’s asleep upstairs. The 4-month-old (Emily) is another story. She’s asleep right now in her car seat. She has never been this far apart from her mother for this long — and Allison only left an hour and a half ago. If Emily wakes up, she will be cranky — she will demand to be fed. Because she is 4 months old, this demand will be in the form of long, anguished wails that, if a passerby were to hear them, might sound like I am in here torturing her with cigarette butts. In fact, I will be calmly walking her back and forth in the living room, singing softly to her and patting her on the back. She is going to be really pissed off when she realizes that her milk supply has gone out on the binge. Of course, I have some expressed milk in the fridge, but I know this will go in 2 seconds. My only hope is to keep watching and whenever she moves, even a twitch, run over and immediately lull her back to sleep by rocking her gently back and forth in her seat. Wish me luck!

Filed by Daniel Appelquist at 20:12 under Kids

3 Comments