The Fly: 'Hot' tech toy

The Fly is a fat ballpoint pen+computer that's infinitely more interesting to kids than it sounds, reports David Pogue at the New York Times, and it appears to be among the "hottest toys" of this holiday season. Here, too, is USATODAY's review of The Fly. From the educational toymakers of LeapPad fame, the Fly, which targets 8-to-14-year-olds is actually *fun* ed tech that does a mind-numbing number of things (see David's paragraph that starts with "STAGGERING possibilities"). On p. 2 he writes, "when it comes to children's technology, a sort of post-educational age has dawned. Last year, Americans bought only one-third as much educational software as they did in 2000. Once highflying children's software companies have dwindled or disappeared." So he's rooting for this exception to the current rule, though its wonderful-ness has a few exceptions too (search for "flies in the ointment" on p. 2). What I wonder is, will your kids be as starry-eyed about The Fly as David's panel of young testers were? The last LeapFrog product I gave my child was not a big hit with him and I didn't want to make him play/read with it - but we may be the exception to *that* rule (and The Fly has lots more bells 'n' whistles). Let me know what your kids think of The Fly, if they try it.