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Hardware Entertainment

Disney Enters PC Market 341

Posted by timothy from the instant-flop-predicts-timothy dept.
Zebbers writes "Disney announced today from NYC that they are entering the personal computer market. With a childish design, built in content control and other kid-friendly features, it could be a breakthrough or just another specialized device flop. Do children really need their own specialized computer?" johnpaul191 points out that frogdesign designed the box, and writes "It looks sort of like a squared-off eMac (but blue), and has a flat mouse-shaped front (the ears are speakers!). It uses a a pen for on-screen input, as well as a keyboard and mouse."
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Disney Enters PC Market More

Disney Enters PC Market

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  • Sure... (Score:5, Funny)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:33PM (#9893836)
    Just what we need, a computer from a Mickey Mouse operation...

  • Frogdesign (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Oculus Habent ( 562837 ) * <oculus.habent@g m a il.com> on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:33PM (#9893837) Journal
    Frogdesign is awesome. They've done projects for Disney [frogdesign.com] before (including the Disney Cruise ship [frogdesign.com]) not to mention their work in Windows XP, a longstanding relationship with Apple, Ford, Motorola... the list goes on and on.

    • Re:Frogdesign (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MooseByte ( 751829 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:43PM (#9893954)

      I hate to say it, but that is one seriously butt-ugly computer. Kudos to them for the Mac SE cases and such, but damn. That thing looks like a Fischer-Price reject.

      A Dell Dimension under the desk with an LCD sitting on the desktop seems like something they'll have a chance of still wanting in their room when a few years of growing up have passed.

      And that's assuming their tastes haven't shifted from Disney to SpongeBob Squarepants in just a few months' time anyway.

      Actually... A SpongeBob PC... Now THAT is an idea. ;-)

      • A Dell Dimension under the desk with an LCD sitting on the desktop seems like something they'll have a chance of still wanting in their room when a few years of growing up have passed.

        What? The Disney Computer is the coolest thing ever. Try bringing it to your favorite LAN-party.

    • Re:Frogdesign (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      My company has worked extensively with frog on a new product we're working on.
      Management has just about messed themselves over these guys, but no one with any technical sense is even remotely impressed.

      They talk a good game, but when it comes down to it, they're nothing to brag about.

      Disclosure:
      My job is a technical leadership role on the back end of our product, all their interactions are on the front end. This means I'm completely unbiased relative to "not invented here" syndrome, but it also means ev
    • That confirms it! WHen I first saw the Windows XP desktop, I thought to myself that it looked like a Mickey Mouse job!

  • PC for kids, OS for kids (Score:5, Funny)

    by xbrownx ( 459399 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:34PM (#9893840)
    Well, Windows XP's "Luna" certainly looks kiddie enough for this type of PC.

  • DOA (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Ars-Fartsica ( 166957 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:34PM (#9893841)
    Kids hate using things that are purposefully crippled for kids. Adults seem to forget that at the same time they are buying the same basketball shoes Shaq wears and the same skis the US Olympic team wears. People want to use the gear they envision themselves using in the best of all worlds. For kids that means using what adults use.

    • Re:DOA (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ayaress ( 662020 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:44PM (#9893961) Journal
      Not only that, kids raised with computers can handle a considerably higher level of input than those just a couple generations ago, and can master at least basic GUI functions very quickly. It took me all of fifteen minutes to get my five year old niece to the point where she could connect, check her own email, and handle a web browser with minimal help the very first time she sat down at a computer. Her father took a week just to get him to turn it on without recoiling from the slight clicking sound the harddrive makes spinning up. Provided the parents aren't clueless about computers and the internet (both guarding against the risks and reaping the almost infinite rewards), the kids don't NEED a crippled computer to get started. They should target the crippled computers at clueless parents and have the kids teach them how to use them.

      The commercials with the two year old pounding on the keyboard with a toy mallet and fixing a problem that had both his parents stymied are exaggerated, but not as absurdly so as they my look.

      • Re:DOA (Score:3, Interesting)

        by xanadu-xtroot.com ( 450073 )
        I have to just quick agree with you. My five year old son knows how to use Gentoo/KDE better than he knows how to use Windows (or the old Mac at his pre school). It's what I use so that's what he's grown most experience with.

        Granted he doesn't really know anything about "system administration" and all that stuff, but the point is that he's very familiar with "Daddy's Computer" and knows how to mount cd's and launch cedega (WineX) to get Jedi Academy running and knows how to get to Playhouse Disney, and

        • Re:DOA (Score:5, Funny)

          by pnatural ( 59329 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:59PM (#9894136)
          When my son was 2 (now 3) he used to say "ew, windows is icky!" when mommy's computer booted up.

          Now, when ever he sees a penguin, he says "tux is cool!"

          Brainwashing is one of the greatest joys of parenthood. :D

          • Re:DOA (Score:5, Funny)

            by xanadu-xtroot.com ( 450073 ) <(moc.tibroni) (ta) (udanax)> on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:04PM (#9894187) Homepage Journal
            I agree. :-) [drirc.net]

          • Re:DOA (Score:4, Funny)

            by B747SP ( 179471 ) <slashdot@selfabusedelephant.com> on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:08PM (#9894221)
            Brainwashing is one of the greatest joys of parenthood. :D

            Brainwashing is certainly the best bit. When it came time for my nephew to learn the colours, he had everything down pat, except for 'purple'. His Dad told him that it was called 'orange'. 'course, he had to eventually own up and explain that he was messing with his head... but while it lasted... :-)

          • Re:DOA (Score:3, Funny)

            by Krafty Koder ( 697396 )
            "Now, when ever he sees a penguin, he says "tux is cool!" my 2 year old's favourite cuddly toy is a penguin. goes everywhere with it - probably in no small part to Daddy having tux wallpapers on his desktops. (and the brainwashing of "tux is good, mmmkay.... windows is bad... mmmmkay...")

          • Re:DOA (Score:5, Funny)

            by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:13PM (#9894258) Homepage Journal
            "Brainwashing is one of the greatest joys of parenthood. :D"

            Pity promoting Linux to your kid is detrimental to grandparenthood.

          • Re:DOA (Score:4, Funny)

            by L. VeGas ( 580015 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:40PM (#9894476) Homepage Journal
            Brainwashing is one of the greatest joys of parenthood.

            Things I've told my five-year-old

            "When I was your age, I went to school with a boy that grew up to be the greatest skateboarder ever. Tony Orlando"

            [While watching a mariachi band at a Mexican restaurant.] "I could do that if I really wanted to."

            "Easter is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. TO FEAST ON THE FLESH OF THE LIVING! I'm just kidding. Don't tell your mom."

            "You could grow up to be the first person ever on Mars. Like me. I was the first person to ever go swimming."

            "You catch enchiladas by picking them up behind the head and holding them underwater until they don't kick anymore."

          • Re:DOA (Score:5, Insightful)

            by utexaspunk ( 527541 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @06:08PM (#9894695)
            Brainwashing is one of the greatest joys of parenthood. :D

            too bad so many people are relegating that joy to corporations like Disney...
        • I initially taught my niece on KDE too, since my main Windows computer was tied up downloading things she shouldn't see, and my old Windows computer was packed up in their car. She caught on with Windows after a couple phone calls, though, and can use both fairly well now (although not as well as your son, heh). I have no doubt that if I sat her in front of a Mac, she'd have it figured out before I could explain it. You gotta take advantage of the fact that kids learn so quickly and get them exposed to the
      • Crippled as in hardware design yes but I see no problem having filtering software on it. Kid's won't like MS Bob like computing either because it looks nothing like what daddy uses.

    • Re:DOA (Score:2, Funny)

      by Norgus ( 770127 )
      >> Kids hate using things that are purposefully crippled for kids. Adults aparently don't. look at XP.
    • I think I'll buy it for my kid- then when he gets to be 6, and can read, I'll install Linux or DOS or whatever the heck he wants instead after wiping the hard drive.

  • They should make a monster version. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Crowhead ( 577505 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:34PM (#9893845)
    You know, for the bad kids.

  • Great - (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    now all we need is a fully-immersive virtual reality where schoolboys and girls can send impressive suicide notes to all their friends, one of whom will realize that she is much more important to the Internet than she ever thought.

    Oh, and tentacle porn in the last episode.

  • More importantly... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mikael ( 484 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:34PM (#9893847)
    ... does the mouse have circular black ears and a cheesy grin?
  • The old ?partner=google thing didn't work for me. :( Anyone got a registration-free link?

  • Everyone remember what a hit the Barbie PC was? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Transient0 ( 175617 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:35PM (#9893861) Homepage
    The market of people who are willing to pay several thousand dollars for an underpowered PC because it appeals to their children is a small one.

    Besides, we should have all learned by now that if you plop a small child in front of a normal PC they will figure things out at an alarming rate. No animated rodent middle-man required.

  • ick (Score:5, Funny)

    by blackmonday ( 607916 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:35PM (#9893863) Homepage
    I would feel so dirty browsing for porn on that thing.

  • The noise noise noise noise! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by FooAtWFU ( 699187 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:36PM (#9893882) Homepage
    If it's like any of the other Disney electronics, it will incessantly play its cheery, bippy, sub-MIDI-quality theme tunes nonstop as long as you have it on and drive everyone in the house absolutely crazy.

    Seriously, I've seen MickyMouse-ized TVs, TV/VCRs, and even telephones (my mom actually HAS a Mickey Mouse telephone). Is Disney actually manufacturing this computer instead of just licensing it? Even then, I really, really do not see Disney becoming a Big Name in the computer industry, kids or no kids.

  • And why not branch into computers? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:37PM (#9893888)
    And why not branch into computers? Disney has had the best mouse design in the the business for over 75 years!

  • And of course... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tuxedo Jack ( 648130 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:37PM (#9893890) Homepage
    Disney-based DRM to boot.

    I can just see it now - Mickey pops up, a smile on his face and a shotgun in his hands.

    "Ho ho, kiddies, I'm afraid you can't do that! It's called copyright infringement, and if you do," he cocks the shotgun and points it at the user, "I'm going to blow up your fucking computer, so put the fucking mouse down, bitch, and move away from the keyboard before the mouse gets mad! Ho ho!"

  • One button mouse? (Score:5, Funny)

    by neuro.slug ( 628600 ) <neuro__.hotmail@com> on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:37PM (#9893895)
    Simplify the darn thing for kids... oh wait.

  • Computers are necessary (Score:5, Funny)

    by Hoplite3 ( 671379 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:38PM (#9893908)
    Without a computer, how will a child sync his PDA or download new ringtones for his phone?

  • Let the puns role... (Score:4, Funny)

    by LiquidMind ( 150126 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:39PM (#9893912)
    (upon opening the case)

    "Man, this design is goofy."
    "You're telling me" ...alright, I'm done.
  • Slashdot story from THE FUTURE!!!

    Disney announced today it is getting out of the PC market due to lack of sales. The remaining unsold stock will be used to build a renderfarm to compete against Pixar.

  • This might be cute... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MinusBlindfold ( 775913 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:39PM (#9893915) Journal
    for Kiosks in Disney stores, Disney Land/World etc, maybe daycare centres. I expect that Disney would be bundling a suite of Disney related software titles etc. This is most definately targeting the 2-6 year old range. It may actually take off, its amazing how many people I know whos young childrens bedrooms have a Disney theme... adding a Disney PC would be the icing on the cake.
    • It would be a great way to hook them on the Disney franchise at a very early age or accelerate the process ...

      This may not differ too much from other operations where the hardware isn't sold to make a profit, but rather to strengthen the brand and bring more people in. That it's marketed towards children is a little spooky, but then again, it's Disney ...

  • Like other Disney products styled by Frog, the design firm behind the original Macintosh SE, the model sports rounded edges, big buttons and soothing colors.

    Ouch. Maybe they took a few design cues from ... the Macintosh 128k, the Macintosh 512k, the Macintosh Plus? ....and yes, all us mac users really appreciate the comparisons between our computers and disney toys.

    (i'm also curious as to what part of nyc the writer lives in. the computer looks like a box with mouse ears - not exactly a mouse)

  • from the article (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LBArrettAnderson ( 655246 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:40PM (#9893920)
    It comes bundled with ContentWatch's Internet filtering tools and multimedia children's software called Disney Flix, Pix and Mix.

    I believe their biggest mistake here is using Content Watch. My wonderful mother had that lousy filter installed on our computer when I was just a young-in and it is the buggiest thing I have ever seen. It crashes the computer, takes up the resources, and DOESN'T work. It blocks programs from running that are perfectly fine programs (like VTI from ticalc.org). (and one of the bugs present here is that if you leave the "this program uses a bad word 'sex'" window on and open the program again, it doesn't catch it).

    Anyway, I don't mind filtering the internet for children (i know i'll get flamed by the 'yro' crowd here at /.), but content-watch is a bad program.
    • Ok how long ago was this? All software changes with time and I am sure even if this was only a couple years ago that a new version may be out. IN any case, your talking about things that kids between 5 and 13 ain't going to do. Like running VTI.
      • You'd be surprised. There are a lot of TI programmers who are 13.

        and besides, VTI is not the only program it blocks. It blocks many perfectly fine programs. It looks through the binaries for any of a number of words which can simply be part of an excecution string that happens to form the ascii characters associated with a bad word.

        And yes, this was a few years ago, so there's a good chance that it's less buggy, but just the concepts of how the program works is part of what sucks about it.

  • bugmenot (Score:4, Informative)

    by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:40PM (#9893922)
    Account #1
    user: stupid6
    pass: stupid

    fyi.

  • Reg Free (Score:4, Informative)

    by c0dedude ( 587568 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:41PM (#9893928)
    Go Here [google.com] and click top link.
  • Wasn't IBM's "PC Jr." an attempt at making a computer for kids? What about the Tandy Color Computer 3 (my first "Computer" by the way)?

    Full on computers geared for kids don't work...it's better having parents install kid-related software on regular PC's/Mac's...no point in buying another PC just for the tykes (instead, you could buy them educational electronic toys, but not full on computers)..

    • Re:Didn't we already try this, i.e., PC JR? (Score:4, Informative)

      by RatBastard ( 949 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:53PM (#9894071) Homepage
      Actually, the PC jr. was IBM's attempt at making a home computer at all. In some ways it was tehcnologically superior to the IBM PC, but its complete lack of DMA made it useless for anything more demanding than Word Perfect 4.2 for DOS.

      I never owned one, but a good friend (as opposed to all of my evil friends) had two of them.

      The Color Computer 3 was Tandy's last-ditch effort to keep its venerable Color Computer line afloat. I owned a Color Computer 2 for a while and they were fun, if not limited, computers.

      (I am a huge nerd.)
  • Would it be morally wrong to run Doom3 on a Mickey Mouse computer?

  • Aha! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The-Bus ( 138060 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:44PM (#9893973)
    Reminds me of the Disney electronics:



    It's brilliant, really. The guts of a PC are about as much of a commodity market as you can imagine. Just add some flourishes to the OS (which I'm sure MS would be happy to oblige to) -- and here we're talking some new icons, backgrounds, etc. Something I could accomplish in a weekend. Add some kid-friendly interweb-nanny software, some prebundled crappy games, and TADA! you've got a Disney computer which you can now mark up. And since Toby and Caitlin don't need to run Photoshop or FoxPro, it doesn't need 1GB of RAM. Then make each case a different color, sell them as limited editions for one year (Tan and brown Lion King PC available only through fall! Get yours now!), pull in profit.

    Genius.
    • The picture in the article shows a novel idea in the field of creating a PC with integrated monitor... just take a stock LCD and mount it to a stock metal case. :)

  • Blah... marketing crap (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hellfire ( 86129 ) <deviladv AT gmail DOT com> on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:45PM (#9893978) Homepage
    I'll tell you why this will flop, and it's not just some "I think disney sucks" diatribe.

    In the computer industry, you either have to have a superior design and high profit margins, or deal in large volume. Niche markets for low volume in the computer world don't work. Also, tie in's between computers and other products have always flopped. Look at the barbie computer and matchbox computer. Last a couple months.

    Parents buy computers, not kids. Some kids will be able to get their parents to buy this stuff, but its a very small niche, and there's no margin to justify the industrial design costs for things like this. You just won't get the volume of purchases. People like well designed computers, but they look at it more like an appliance.

    Apple can get away with high cost industrial design because of their niche, and their niche has nothing to do with appealing to kids. Back in the day they targeted education in order to get kids to grow up on macs, but it had nothing to do with how the macs looked.

    I also noticed this line in the end of the article:

    "There may not be anything technologically new about any of the gadgets, but it's easy to imagine them inspiring toy lust. "

    If that's not corporate pandering I don't know what is. This computer will not make anyone gadget envious, and either the author is an idiot for thinking that or he's kissing up to the corporate parents. I mean c'mon, people don't have printer envy these days, and joysticks and digital cameras are common place.

    Finally, I'd just like to say that the spin of the poster makes it seem like disney is actually into the computer business to compete with Dell. This is just a brand tie in, and is nothing new.

  • Non NYT Link (Score:2, Informative)

    by bbeebe ( 661968 )
    For those wanting to RTA without registering [pcmag.com].
  • I know the kids I know (6months-12years) would rather have a real pc with a real keyboard and mice because they like to use the computer cause that is what they see me doing. I showed a 2 year old my laptop for the first time and he said he didnt want to use it cause it was just a toy, he wanted to use the computer at the desk. adding a cool shape and crippling the OS does nothing to teach the children how to use a computer

  • It's been done before... but not so well. (Score:5, Informative)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:45PM (#9893992)
    Mattel has tried this trick before by licensing their Barbie and Hot Wheels brands to a small PC maker known as Patriot Computers back in 1999. [com.com]

    However, parents who paid $699 for the units just before Christmas Y2K got seriously burned when Patriot Computers went bankrupt. [com.com] Nearly 1100 customers ended up out their money and getting only a $100 coupon for Matel products. For families that only had $700 to spend on toys for the kids, this was a fiasco.

  • DRM and lockdown? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tehanu ( 682528 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:46PM (#9894000)
    Of course being a Disney computer, my first response is - so what's the DRM on it like and how badly is it locked down eg. are you actually *allowed* to do anything on it besides Disney (TM) approved actions? I just keep on thinking of another big megacorp who tries to do hardware and is part of big media *cough*Sony*cough*. They make good hardware that is badly crippled with DRM and anything else their media side wants to put in - and I don't mean crippled as in the Slashdot version "Anything with DRM is bad" but crippled as in it is actually a pain for normal people to use and people keep on mentioning it in reviews "Well this is a great piece of hardware but..." I can just imagine that Disney's dream of a perfect Disney computer is one where you have to ring Disney for permission everytime you want to do something not specifically Disney (TM) approved eg. installing software not on the Disney (TM) approved list.

  • Wireless? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by flinxmeister ( 601654 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:47PM (#9894008) Homepage
    I haven't RTFA'd yet, but I'm wondering if this has wireless?

    That has been the most important aspect of my daughter's (5 yo) acceptance of the machine. No matter where you 'think' they want the PC, they always want to drag it somewhere else. With 802.11b, I was able to build it into a self contained unit where it could be moved anywhere she wanted. (Well anywhere there was a power cord). Now she has one of my old laptops, and can even go sans power cord.

    (what does a 5 y.o. need with 'net access? Well besides the normal kids flash sites, it's amazing what you can do on a homepage. She left her ever-present stuffed lamb toy at a hotel once, and some photoshopped googling showed that lamby was 'on vacation' with all sorts of pictures from the road)

    I also find this makes the machine become more than just a glorified PC with a mouse. When you put it in the kid's little world it becomes a tool for 'normal' play activities instead of another ADD training excercise. She plays Barbie.com with friends (real and stuffed) and integrates the happenings of Disney games on screen with the physical toy world around her.

    When the machine is locked down at a desk, it's amazing how it becomes the sit-straight-mouse-in-hand-1000-yard-stare effect.

    Of course this is anecdotal, but I bet there's some universal truth to it. So I'm interested to see if this machine is intended to be an enhancement of the kids normal playworld, or just another implementation of what's been done before.
    • Or you could tell you 5 year old that this is where the computer will be and if she doesn't like it she doesn't have to use it.

  • With a childish design, built in content control and other kid-friendly features, it could be a breakthrough or just another specialized device flop. Do children really need their own specialized computer?

    The more important question is... Will it play Doom 3?
  • Just wait until your kids draw on the screen with real pens. If bozos at Kroger can't figure out to use the pen attached to the display, how is my 3-year old supposed to?

  • Hotwheels PC? Anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Vaginal Discharge ( 706367 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:49PM (#9894035)

    Anyone remember when they had those Hotwheels PC for boys, and Barbie PC for girls? That company went bankrupt real fast. Apparently this type of marketing is just plain stupid. Kids want "kid-themed" PCs as much as women want "female-themed" cars. Frankly, if I was a kid, I'd be insulted.

    Also, the target market (kids who were born in the 90's) know as much about Micky Mouse as I know about Charlie Chaplin. They grew up with Buzz Lightyear, not Micky.

  • so there is no doubt that eventually a kid will be at their computer and a nice little popup will come up saying, "fucking 03wnz0r3d by Goofy" and then of course direct the young tike to some fun sites

  • Family Friendly (Score:4, Interesting)

    by John Jorsett ( 171560 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:56PM (#9894096)
    I thought it was amusing when the substitute host on the Cavuto show on CNBC asked the company president if the computer would block references to Disney's Gay Days at the park. Hummina hummina hummina.

  • The most diseducative thing ever (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cyclop ( 780354 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @04:58PM (#9894120) Homepage Journal

    I think it will be a bad flop (yeah, children hate things made for children),but anyway it's a diseducative move.

    Children have to learn computing on real computers. Real computers are NOT difficult for children (expecially now),and there was a /. story about 3-y.o. people using Linux ;)

    Anyway,I remember I learned computers when I was 5, on my dad's VIC-20. I remember I was amazed I could tell that machine what to do!. I just typed :

    10 PRINT "HELLO"
    20 GOTO 10

    and I stared looking that machine that did what I asked it...Ok,I asked something stupid,but I felt powerful! And I had just learned what a loop is...

    Later (when I was 6-7) I learned to POKE around...and,guys,there were *worlds* in the memory of that machine! I remember I thought I would have "decrypted" the odd character noise that happened with some POKE command...

    The fact is with that computer I learned how to program and how computers were made, seamlessly, and having fun. Because it was a real machine, and because I had to program to make it work. I felt powerful.

    Therefore, wanna build a children-oriented computer? Just do it :

    -Install Linux (Mandrake -or any other well-done KDE/Gnome desktop will work)(oh,I know this advice is pure mod-gold ;) )
    -Install all xmms/mplayer codecs etc.
    -DON'T install all games you can think of : tell him/her how to find and install them!
    -Give your child a good Python tutorial and tell him/her "Can't you find that game?You can do YOUR GAME.Now."

  • The question on my mind: (Score:5, Funny)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:04PM (#9894176)
    ...does it meet the minimum hardware specs for Doom3?

  • USA Today article (Score:3, Informative)

    by Joey Patterson ( 547891 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:05PM (#9894192)
    USA Today has an article [usatoday.com] about this as well, along with a photo of the monitor with "mouse ears" and a matching blue printer.
  • Kids these days are so computer literate that this will only appeal for possibly 1 or 2 weeks before they are coding PHP and recompiling the Linux Kernel. I always feel like such a chump talking to my gf's 10 year old nephew. I have less intelligent IT conversations at work.
  • ...character string:


    "(the ears are speakers!)"

    ...my troll-o-meter went up to 70/100. ;P

  • Good! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Infonaut ( 96956 ) <infonaut@gmail.com> on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:22PM (#9894334) Homepage Journal
    Now can we *please* move past the Apple/Disney merger rumors and on to other more interesting rumors like:

    * Microsoft and Disney will partner to create a cobranded OS called "Lion King" to compete with Apple's "Tiger" OS X rev.

    * It wasn't Bill Gates that invented the Internet. It was Walt Disney.

    * Disney is in violation of copyright with SCO and will be sued shortly.

  • case-mod stories, please

  • Kids would destroy it (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jhagler ( 102984 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:28PM (#9894384)
    First off, I'm not going to buy my kid a $900 computer just cuz it's blue and has mouse ears. Now to my actual point.

    The nifty blue LCD monitor with the ears with speakers in them was obviously designed by someone who doesn't have a kid in the age range this computer is aiming at. I bought my youngest daughter an old Apple 7500 with a 15" monitor when she was about 18 months old so she could play the Jump Start and Blues Clues games, she is now 4 and has graduated to an iMac so she can play internet games, but that's a whole other subject. The monitor is thouroughly covered with stickers, has been colored on with crayons, and generally beat to hell. This is a nice solid CRT, think of what would have heppened to an LCD, it'd be toast. Moreover, I want to know how they're going to lock it down so the kiddos don't accidentally throw the Windows folder in the trash. Can you imagine having to reinstall and reconfigure it everytime something happens? The joy of that old 7500 was that it ran OS 8 and I could boot from a CD and recopy known good system folders and such over in about 5 min if necessary (and believe me it will be).

    I have always seen kids as the perfect computer recyclers, they don't need a 2.6 GHz P4 to play Reader Rabit, even 500 MHz is overkill for most kids in the target age group. You hand your old computers down to them and buy yourself the new stuff. I see this going the way of the Barbie and Hot Wheels PC's that were on sale ever so breifly a while back. I take that back, I bet most of these will go to the grownups who are Disney freaks and would never consider letting a kid use it since it 's a "collectable"

  • Disney Proxy? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by zakezuke ( 229119 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @05:45PM (#9894509)
    Why do I have this mental image of a Disney webproxy that when you surf to porn sites you get tame MickeyMouse stuff instead. Like "hotmale.com" for example, rather then gay porn popups from hell you get Disney(tm) popups from hell.

  • The DRM foot in the door (Score:3, Interesting)

    by WillWare ( 11935 ) on Thursday August 05, 2004 @10:46PM (#9896532) Homepage Journal
    I'm surprised to see relatively few posts talking about the DRM implications of this. (Maybe my threshold is set too high.) Let's remember who we're talking about here. Remember that whole Sonny Bono perpetual copyright thing?

    Disney is the legal powerhouse trying to make general-purpose computers illegal. You want to be free to install any OS and perform any computation, they want to sell you a welded-shut box with pushbuttons labelled "Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Little Mermaid", and no disk drives, slots, or connectors.

    This version may be crude and we may laugh at it, but this is the start of the slippery slope. This machine can utterly fail in the marketplace and it won't matter because they'll learn from it and they'll be back. If they win the war, it won't matter to them or to us how many battles they lost along the way.

    When I was a kid in the 1960s nobody worried about Japanese competition because they only made junk. Twenty years later they were eating our lunch. Disney knows exactly where they want to go and they have the blessings of the current administration and they don't have the disadvantages of centuries of cultural isolation and a language barrier.

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