Doctorow's "think of the children" argument is absurd. How many kids are really going to have an iPad? Their parents might have one, but does anyone think that'

Doctorow's "think of the children" argument is absurd. How many kids are really going to have an iPad? Their parents might have one, but does anyone think that'll be the only computer in the house? Apple doesn't make commodity devices, they don't compete in the low-end, and they rarely drop prices. If I had an 8-year-old son, do you think I'd let him take a $500 anything to school? Children who weren't as fortunate as Doctorow to have parents who could afford an Apple ][ will likely have a cheaper, open alternative. Commodity hardware that wasn't available in the good old days. Back when you had to be either lucky enough to attend a private school with a computer lab (Gates), or have an engineer father working at Lockheed (Woz), or any number of other examples.