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I was given unrestricted access to an iPad as a 6yo. My dad would always be too busy to do anything so he’d give me his iPad (2) or his iPhone (3gs) whenever I’

I was given unrestricted access to an iPad as a 6yo. My dad would always be too busy to do anything so he’d give me his iPad (2) or his iPhone (3gs) whenever I’d ask with almost no hesitation. In retrospect, I do wish he was at least a little more strict. I could sit on a screen for 18 hours in a day with no intervention from my parents… but I wouldn’t. (my parents love me by the way and didn’t neglect me…I think) I mostly mindlessly watched Minecraft youtube videos, lets play videos, and would occasionally play some mobile game. Pros: - Developed my vocabulary by listening to adult conversation (commentators) - Became adept with technology by getting familiarity with navigating the internet and jailbreaking the devices - Became a fast typer - Was able to easily make friends who watched similar YouTubers Cons: - Difficulty focusing - Became impulsive as having instant access to technology is a form of instant gratification that was drilled into me - Learned every swear at 6 years old - Discovered porn at 7 years old Regardless, I do think I turned out fine. I was a straight-A student throughout my entire K-12 education, made plenty friends, and have maintained an ambitious outlook on my career.

gfodor 3y ago
Wow, I feel old that someone can actually post this, but damn, is that illuminating.
- 01100011 3y ago
  I'm almost 50 and could say the same except instead of phones and tablets it was console video games and a personal computer with internet access. Kids definitely have a different(extreme.. worse..) experience today, I'm not going to argue with that. But I think I was 5 when I started going long stretches of the day with no parental involvement and large amounts of device time. When I was 12 I got a modem, and was suddenly exposed to porn, online socializing and trolling, underground culture, pirated games, etc. For large stretches of time it was basically all I did outside of poorly performing at school.
  - exodust 3y ago
    "Almost 50" and "got a modem at 12yo" doesn't add up... 48yo today means you were 20yo in 1995, so already an adult by the time porn and pirated games were a thing? Not trying to gotcha, but I'm left with the only possible conclusion: you spent your university years exposed to porn, trolling and pirated games! :-)
    - thetoon 3y ago
      It does somewhat add up. I'm 42, and got our first 33.6k modem around 13-14yo. And we definitely weren't the first ones in my relatives.
    - RalfWausE 3y ago
      You know how much trolling, pirated games and porn predates the internet as you may know it? Just take a look at the BBS scene and Usenet... yeah, it may have been very low res titties but alas... ;-)
    - Natsu 3y ago
      There were modems in the 70s, you were just connecting to BBSes, not AOL or local dial-up providers. For porn, I'm sure the BBSes had it, but there was also Leisure Suit Larry by 1987 which was widely pirated and known for its unique age verification system: http://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.html http://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.htm...
    - 01100011 3y ago
      In 1987 my grandparents bought me a commodore 128d with a 1200 baud modem at Toys-R-Us. I got online with Q-Link and then discovered BBSes and then quickly discovered underground BBSes. Around 1990 I started getting on the Internet via a hacked dial-in of a local UC school for which I was eventually caught, charged and did probation for (along with other computer crimes). I had 3(or 3 1/2, I forget) years probation where I was supposed to avoid computers but eventually violated it with a dumb terminal and modem I got cheap(my computers were confiscated when my parents' home was raided).
2Gkashmiri 3y ago
> Became impulsive as having instant access to technology is a form of instant gratification that was drilled into me i don't see myself as "impulsive" like you describe. I got online when i was 8 and have been online since that day. its been so long... a few years ago we were talking something and the idea was "internet gets boring after a while" and i responded almost instantly "the buzz i felt the very first time i opened a website, i still get that all these years later, every single time". instant access to information i'd say. not technology. in the first 5-8 years, there was no facebook or whatever and i had learned the mantra "lurk moar" so it was always a one sided "uh... how about reading about skateboarding" or "what's the nazkca lines" because i saw on TV. i would read something in books or on tv or newspaper and i could summon the internet and give me more details. i don't see that as instant gratification but satiety at looking for information and getting it. you have an encyclopedia open at any page so you are being given the data you requested. instant gratification is in regards to imo the whole social media, twitter, facebook, tiktok. does anyone become "addicted to wikipedia" for example?
- plutoh28 3y ago
  Me and you grew up in different ages of the internet. I was 6yo in 2010 Why read when you can watch. Why play with toys when you can play video games. Not trying to say that watching YouTube or playing video games is bad - (they can be just as educational imo) but what happens is your overall standard for gratification gets raised. This increased standard makes what should be normal tasks become mundane. The overall effect of which is compulsion to avoid the mundane task. Sounds like your experience was with the internet as a knowledge tool. Currently, id argue it’s a time-sink and mind-sink for the majority of people. p.s I don’t have adhd/autism if that’s what you’re thinking.
pickingdinner 3y ago
Ya, there we go. Can people who turned out fine yell a little louder so we can drown the alarmists.
- forgetfreeman 3y ago
  When you figure out a way to shout down controlled studies with anecdata get back to us.
  - pickingdinner 3y ago
    huh?
    - ryanklee 3y ago
      GP means that people running around yelling about their experiences is irrelevant in the face of studies that contradict them (provided the studies are good).
- triyambakam 3y ago
  > Discovered porn at 7 years old I can assure you that he/she is not fine.
  - ThePowerOfFuet 3y ago
    What makes you qualified to speak for them?
  - chownie 3y ago
    As opposed to the magazines in the woods literally everyone else discovered pre-internet? Knowing about sex is not some horrible fate we have to go through, I don't understand this perspective.
  - therealdrag0 3y ago
    What age is this discovery fine vs not fine to you?
nchase 3y ago
How old are you now?
sameerds 3y ago
Similar experience with my kids: 10 and 14 years old. They are comfortable with their smart phones and laptops, they spend hours watching mindless youtube videos. They are good at shopping on Amazon or ordering food, for the whole family. But they are turning out fine. They have ample friends in real life, good at studies and sports. They understand the difference between need and want. They put things in the shopping cart and wait to have a dialog with us about buying them. Of course, all credit cards are protected by OTPs, so they can't even purchase anything by mistake. Most importantly, they are comfortable chatting with their friends on Whatsapp and find it easy to keep up with school life. They also play Minecraft online with their friends. And yes, +1000 for a larger vocabulary!

gfodor 3y ago

Wow, I feel old that someone can actually post this, but damn, is that illuminating.

01100011 3y ago
I'm almost 50 and could say the same except instead of phones and tablets it was console video games and a personal computer with internet access. Kids definitely have a different(extreme.. worse..) experience today, I'm not going to argue with that. But I think I was 5 when I started going long stretches of the day with no parental involvement and large amounts of device time. When I was 12 I got a modem, and was suddenly exposed to porn, online socializing and trolling, underground culture, pirated games, etc. For large stretches of time it was basically all I did outside of poorly performing at school.
- exodust 3y ago
  "Almost 50" and "got a modem at 12yo" doesn't add up... 48yo today means you were 20yo in 1995, so already an adult by the time porn and pirated games were a thing? Not trying to gotcha, but I'm left with the only possible conclusion: you spent your university years exposed to porn, trolling and pirated games! :-)
  - thetoon 3y ago
    It does somewhat add up. I'm 42, and got our first 33.6k modem around 13-14yo. And we definitely weren't the first ones in my relatives.
  - RalfWausE 3y ago
    You know how much trolling, pirated games and porn predates the internet as you may know it? Just take a look at the BBS scene and Usenet... yeah, it may have been very low res titties but alas... ;-)
  - Natsu 3y ago
    There were modems in the 70s, you were just connecting to BBSes, not AOL or local dial-up providers. For porn, I'm sure the BBSes had it, but there was also Leisure Suit Larry by 1987 which was widely pirated and known for its unique age verification system: http://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.html http://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.htm...
  - 01100011 3y ago
    In 1987 my grandparents bought me a commodore 128d with a 1200 baud modem at Toys-R-Us. I got online with Q-Link and then discovered BBSes and then quickly discovered underground BBSes. Around 1990 I started getting on the Internet via a hacked dial-in of a local UC school for which I was eventually caught, charged and did probation for (along with other computer crimes). I had 3(or 3 1/2, I forget) years probation where I was supposed to avoid computers but eventually violated it with a dumb terminal and modem I got cheap(my computers were confiscated when my parents' home was raided).

2Gkashmiri 3y ago

> Became impulsive as having instant access to technology is a form of instant gratification that was drilled into me i don't see myself as "impulsive" like you describe. I got online when i was 8 and have been online since that day. its been so long... a few years ago we were talking something and the idea was "internet gets boring after a while" and i responded almost instantly "the buzz i felt the very first time i opened a website, i still get that all these years later, every single time". instant access to information i'd say. not technology. in the first 5-8 years, there was no facebook or whatever and i had learned the mantra "lurk moar" so it was always a one sided "uh... how about reading about skateboarding" or "what's the nazkca lines" because i saw on TV. i would read something in books or on tv or newspaper and i could summon the internet and give me more details. i don't see that as instant gratification but satiety at looking for information and getting it. you have an encyclopedia open at any page so you are being given the data you requested. instant gratification is in regards to imo the whole social media, twitter, facebook, tiktok. does anyone become "addicted to wikipedia" for example?

plutoh28 3y ago
Me and you grew up in different ages of the internet. I was 6yo in 2010 Why read when you can watch. Why play with toys when you can play video games. Not trying to say that watching YouTube or playing video games is bad - (they can be just as educational imo) but what happens is your overall standard for gratification gets raised. This increased standard makes what should be normal tasks become mundane. The overall effect of which is compulsion to avoid the mundane task. Sounds like your experience was with the internet as a knowledge tool. Currently, id argue it’s a time-sink and mind-sink for the majority of people. p.s I don’t have adhd/autism if that’s what you’re thinking.

pickingdinner 3y ago

Ya, there we go. Can people who turned out fine yell a little louder so we can drown the alarmists.

forgetfreeman 3y ago
When you figure out a way to shout down controlled studies with anecdata get back to us.
- pickingdinner 3y ago
  huh?
  - ryanklee 3y ago
    GP means that people running around yelling about their experiences is irrelevant in the face of studies that contradict them (provided the studies are good).
triyambakam 3y ago
> Discovered porn at 7 years old I can assure you that he/she is not fine.
- ThePowerOfFuet 3y ago
  What makes you qualified to speak for them?
- chownie 3y ago
  As opposed to the magazines in the woods literally everyone else discovered pre-internet? Knowing about sex is not some horrible fate we have to go through, I don't understand this perspective.
- therealdrag0 3y ago
  What age is this discovery fine vs not fine to you?

nchase 3y ago

How old are you now?

sameerds 3y ago

Similar experience with my kids: 10 and 14 years old. They are comfortable with their smart phones and laptops, they spend hours watching mindless youtube videos. They are good at shopping on Amazon or ordering food, for the whole family. But they are turning out fine. They have ample friends in real life, good at studies and sports. They understand the difference between need and want. They put things in the shopping cart and wait to have a dialog with us about buying them. Of course, all credit cards are protected by OTPs, so they can't even purchase anything by mistake. Most importantly, they are comfortable chatting with their friends on Whatsapp and find it easy to keep up with school life. They also play Minecraft online with their friends. And yes, +1000 for a larger vocabulary!