Stop sibling conflict with a tech-inspired solution

Are you tired of listening to your kids argue? Does it seem like a single ill-timed comment can ignite a cascade of escalating attacks and complaints? Are you sick of playing referee? This weekend we came up with an innovative strategy for stopping the sibling...

8 kid-inspired features for Apple’s iOS 7

For the past couple of years, our kids’ favorite bedtime stories have featured a feline protagonist whose best friend is Apple CEO Tim Cook. In each story, Tim Cook teleports this cat to Cupertino (Apple HQ), where Tim and cat work on various cat-friendly...

8 ways iPhones and iPads affect family discipline

There’s nothing like the beginning of a school year to illuminate gaps in your family’s, um….discipline. After a couple of rocky weeks inspired us to take a closer look at our family’s rhythms and regimes, I found myself noting the central role...

Tied to technology

My latest toy is an iPod nano watch. It’s just a plain old iPod nano, but it slides onto a watch strap specially designed to watch-ify it. I loved it for being red and iSomething and tiny but even so I wasn’t particularly sure that it was a wise (read:...

Review: ThinkGeek TK-421 Bluetooth Keyboard for iPhone

In my gift roundup for Harvard Business Review last week, I wrote that the secret to buying gadget gifts for early adopters is “to surprise us with something so new that it hasn’t yet arrived at Best Buy”. The item I suggested was a keyboard case for...

Introducing App Girl

This is a cautionary tale about the dangers of introducing children to technology. Four weeks ago, it was time for the annual ritual of Hallowe’en costume selection. Most years, I have the energy to make one costume, which means that one kid get storebought and...