Just as an example of where I think Aral’s three laws are insufficient, I bought an iPad years ago (specifically because I wanted to be able to communicate with my grandson #A1). Over the years, I’ve never been thrilled with it. For one thing, everything goes through and is controlled by Apple. You cannot even get a decent browser for it, because every browser is merely a facade over the Safari engine.
But if you own an iDevice, your only hope to displace Apple’s control is to “jailbreak” it, which is _by design_ not easy.
Following Aral’s laws, iOS / iPadOS would be designed to obey me, not Apple, but what if I want to replace their software with my own? If it is my device, the choice of what software runs on it (with limited exceptions, such as the Wi-Fi drivers and embedded OS that keep the device in compliance with FCC rules about transmitting frequencies and power) must be mine alone, and subject to some means of ensuring that some intruder cannot easily simulate my approval to switch to their operating system, the switch should be easily performed by a normal individual who is willing to learn a little about the system and how it works.
I brought both of them on this trip, but in 3 months, I haven’t had either one turned on for more than ten minutes total. I really should have brought the #PSP instead.
But if he and I play together, it will be worth it.
I shipped #A1's books today. I included a list of books I could not obtain, so that #Daddy_A can purchase the missing books in the series.
Also bought two books in a series that were in the ages 8-13 section but appear too mature for 8 year olds. I requested that my son pre-read to decide if and when A1 is ready for them.
This is a trick that he should have caught onto by now, but so far he hasn't let on that he figured it out. We talk about it and then within a week or two, he has what we talked about.
We talk about plenty of things that he's not getting, but we do talk about the items that will be in the box.
However, they don’t have ‘A Tale of Two Kitties’ or ‘Dog Man and Cat Kid’ in stock. Those are the two Dog Man books I’m missing for #GD2.
I still do not have a list of which books #A1 already has, so he’s going to have to wait. #Daddy_A is still too worried about the medical issue to either get me a list himself or hand the phone to his son and say “take photos of the book covers” and then send them to me.
Meanwhile, #sonTwo has committed to read them to #GS3 if I send them. Which means he’s likely to get some of the books.
Autoplay is nice if you hand your tablet to your 2 year old, because the child doesn't have to keep pressing things. But it also means they can be exposed to every sort of random garbage.
When #A1 was doing this, he mostly found Thomas the Tank Engine videos and other train stuff. (So nothing like the weirdness that people used to talk about.)
He found one where people set up model trains to have a train wreck and he emulated that with his Thomas toys for months.
Reminds me of his cousin #A1, whose “terrible twos” was that he said “no” to his mom a couple of times. (He’s very much like his dad … we used to arrange “supervised rebellion” for #Daddy_A so that he wouldn’t wait until his thirties to disobediently try something.)
Also, I showed #GS3 a couple of books I bought for his cousin #A1. He said “books!” and got a big smile. So I guess he’s going to get the Captain Underpants and Dog Man series like his cousins.
But not right away. He’s still at the stage where books need to have stiff tear-proof pages.
I normally have one with #sonOne and #GD1 and #GD2 (on rare occasions daughter-in-law pops in for a few minutes) Sunday afternoons, but recently, his work schedule has interfered.
I normally have them Fridays and Sundays with #sonTwo and #GS3 and #GS4 (sometimes daughter-in-law, but she's often busy), but we missed tonight's session.
Sessions with #Daddy_A, #A1, #A2, and #A3 are infrequent, and he often has device issues that prevent it. (That is, his iPhone and iPad don't display notifications or make sounds ... he even took the phone in for service; they couldn't correct it, so they replaced it.)
The books were in the 8-13 section at Target, but the kids are 8 and 9, so I wanted to be sure the books weren’t too mature for the kids.
Also got two “Baby-sitters Club” graphic novels (also 8-13, so same notice to #sonOne) and two “Captain Underpants” (no need for a notice, #Daddy_A used read those himself).
It is amazing how much #GS3 likes books and reading with the adults in his life. His dad was much older when he discovered that reading was enjoyable. He's at the stage where he wants to read the same books over and over until he can recite most of it along with you.
Likewise, #A1 and #GD2 both really like books. I noticed that Target has several Captain Underpants and Dog Man books (but for some reason, the Dog Man books do not say which one is book 1, book 2, etc). I'm going to plan on buying them each several books in those series.