Back in our day, we were lucky if we got a lump of mud as a toy (Luxury! – editor), but kids today are spoilt rotten with an endless succession of frivolous gadgets demanding an unwelcome draining of parents’ wallets.
Latest in a long line of toys for the tiny tot that must have everything is the new ‘Kid Tough’ range from Fisher-Price.
Aimed at preschoolers as young as three years old, the brightly coloured digital camera and digital music player look set to distract kids from boring tasks like, you know, playing with other children, reading books and talking to their parents.
Camera
The durable camera looks like it might survive several tantrums and buggy-lobbing fits, and offers a two-eye viewfinder, sturdy hand grips and a small colour LCD preview screen.
Fisher Price’s website doesn’t offer any details about camera resolution, but we figure it’s going to be pretty crappy.
There’s no memory card slots for kids to dribble into, with the camera offering built in storage for 60 pictures, backed up USB connectivity for transferring photos to a desktop PC.
Music player
Styled in a similarly chunky design, the Kid-Tough FP3 player comes pre-loaded with six songs (which will no doubt be repeated for infinity) as well as a less-than-generous two stories in what appears to be Fisher-Price’s proprietary FP3 format.
The circular player features big buttons and an LCD screen with icons to let kids pick their own choons and be a junior DJ Selectaaaaaa!
Naturally, there’s an option to buy some silence from your kid by buying and downloading songs and stories from the Fisher-Price Song and Story Online Store.
The FP3 player can store over 30 songs and 15 stories with the option to add a memory card and rip banging techno tunes for your kids from your own CDs.
With safety in mind, the child-sized headphones are restricted to kid-friendly volume levels and the neck strap is designed to snap if the local bully tries to swing your child around by his/her FP3 player.
The camera and FP3 player are predictably available in pink or blue, and are described as ‘coming soon’ on Fisher-Price’s website. No details of pricing have emerged yet.