My first tech was a Sega Genesis and the family’s 486 DX2 computer running Windows 95.

While I had access to new genesis games by renting them, getting new games for the 486 was a rare event due to how expensive software was back then, and there were few places we would visit that sold it (mostly what Costco had available). That meant rotating through a lot of the same games for quite a while, which meant I would eventually get bored of them for a while until I would try them again a month later.

The effect of that is it seemed to encourage me to find other ways away from the tech to entertain myself, like play with legos, or head outside to invent games with the neighbor’s kids.

I don’t want to assume that type of exposure to tech is ideal just because it’s what I experienced, but I wonder if an artificial software limit may be a good idea today for young kids to encourage them to find new ways to solve boredom with their imagination instead of it being done for them exclusively.

I’ve also seen parents start their kids off with 90’s tech and games, and slowly introduce them to newer tech/games each year, which is an interesting idea.

I think I’d start them off with a raspberry pi running a retro emulation os and a small selection of the best games from the 90’s, a small camera, an mp3 player, and a Linux PC without internet access, but with access to some edutainment games (humongous entertainment, some point’n’clicks, etc), and programing tools with kids appropriate teaching material.

Once they’re old enough, I’d give them internet access, and eventually a phone so they can keep in touch with their friends.