iPod Nano - what age child is this appropriate for?

[RattusRattus]

Open question really - DH and I in debate.

Can I ask a really thick question?
Is an ipod nano for playing music on with little head phones?
the modern day equivalent to a walk man?
or is it also a phone?

I got a Walkman for Christmas when I was 9. I probably wouldn't give an iPod to a child any younger than that but I can't really say why? Same reason I wouldn't put a tv in their rooms I suppose...it's such a teenage thing

iPods are music players, iPhones are phones cj

DD1 saved up for hers and got it when she was 12.
DD2 got hers for her eleventh birthday.
DD3 is nine and wants one, but I won't let her have one until I think she can be trusted not to lose it. DD2 is constantly mislaying hers, although has managed not to lose it permanently yet. I would say 10+ unless they are incredibly careful and responsible or you can afford to endlessly replace.

It's one up from an iPod shuffle - it plays music, you can create playlists and it has a small screen and you can put photos on it but that's about it.

Here's one www.johnlewis.com/Electricals/iPods+_26+MP3+Players/iPods+_26+MP3+Players/Apple+iPods/Nano/-/Type++Apple+iPods/1379/ProductCategory.aspx

My reasoning, btw, is all to do with the tiny size and ridiculous price of the nano. Am perfectly happy for DD3 to have a larger and cheaper mp3player but she wants a nano

I got a walkman when I was six.

DS was seven when I got my iPhone so he automatically got my nano. He's almost nine now and has recently got an ipod touch (it was a sort of end of school year/we're moving half way across the country and away from all your friends and family, present).

For those that say 9, 10+ what about a shuffle then?

so it's just to listen to music on then?
well I guess they'd only need it when they are into music and can select what they want to listen to? about 10?

I don't see why they need one though? I only use my iPod for when I'm travelling on my own on the train or walking. If I'm with people I talk to them...or put a cd/the radio on.

Why does a child who presumably doesn't go anywhere that far on their own even need one? What's wrong with a cd player?

I reserve the right to revoke this statement once ds starts asking for one though and I see the light

my thoughts exactly magnento
presumably they;d only need one from yr 6 upwards when they walk about on their own

But a child wouln't use one when walking about outside.

It's more for travelling, or listening to the Batman soundtrack on a loop without annoying the hell out of everyone else etc. .

I'd say from about 6 or 7.

The problem with a shuffle is that you don't really have any control over what plays next, or a screen to display the playlist on, so you can't select what's coming up next. I would imagine a child would find this really frustrating.

Do they really need it to be on the move? Would a regular small CD player (possibly with and iPod slot for the future) be better?

"Why does a child who presumably doesn't go anywhere that far on their own even need one? What's wrong with a cd player?" well, technically nothing. But in the digital age we live in lots of music isn't bought on cd's any more but digitally.

And an iPod doesn't just have to be for when you're walking around - stick it on a dock and you have an in-house music player without the need for cd's which are A, expensive, b: clutter up the house and C, can get broken.

ah so in the olden days people used to buy radio's and cd players but now people buy ipods?

I really should know this stuff

in that case it's appropriate from birth as most babies love a good rhyming tune

At 6 or 7 surely they're listening to whatever the parents are listening too? With a few really annoying exceptions obviously (like batman ) So if mum or dad has one why wouldn't you just put that in the dock?

I'm getting an iPhone so DD will get my nano when she turns 8 in a month (hope I have my phone by then!)

She got an MP3 player last Christmas, just a cheap one because I didn't know how it would go down. She loved it, but unfortunately it was cheap so it doesn't work anymore! She doesn't listen to it with headphones on, she puts it in a docking station and dances around the living room, but in my mind it's the equivalent of a mixed tape (showing my age) - she doesn't have to keep changing CDs to get to the songs she likes, she just puts all her favourites together. She has a CD player as well, I have to make copies of all the CDs she has because the originals get scratched up pretty quickly in this house, I am forever picking them up off the ground. iPod is much tidier!

well, my ds used his for some music but also for audio books. We didn't buy it specifically for him - it was mine and I got an iPhone.

Now he has an iPod touch which has games etc on it and is no different IMO from the nintendo ds etc which people for much younger children than this.

Ds is 8 about to turn 9, and he has a cd player, which he loves, but he also has a younger brother who has been known to reach the cd's and break them.
I think we are going to give him a shuffle, and see how he goes. He definately has his own taste in music - he likes stuff like the Heartbeat soundtrack
Dd is 10, and she will also get a shuffle (my old one) filled up with her favourite songs (Beatles).
Just typing this makes me feel really unsure about it actually - I love to hear their music coming from their bedrooms, I don't think Shuffles fit in a dock to they?
I can't afford a nano for my two, so if they want an ipod, it must be a shuffle.

DS2 is 8 and bought an MP3 player with some birthday money this year.

Not a i-anything tho - it's a £10 player a bit like an ipod shuffle I guess.

I really like it as it's v light and clips on to your clothes so I wear it when running (hate having anything in pocket when running).

He listens to it less often now, but uses it when he wants to listen to something while we are doing something else. If that makes sense.

My 6.5 year old has an iPod touch he loves music and has it on a dock in his bedroom or just in the car or on holiday etc, he has movies on it as well and it's great.

He only gets free age appropriate games, I'm a childminder and have various educational apps such as handwriting on my iPad, I don't see anything wrong with a child using things like this.

Ds had a nano when he was 7. He listens to it on a docking station when he goes to sleep. We also go away quite a lot so he takes it with a mini speaker to listen to music or audio books at bedtime while we're away or while we're travelling.

We've had a problem with him mis-placing it.

My niece has just been bought a shuffle for her 9th birthday and is delighted with it.

As for why they need one, why not? I had a Walkman stuck in my ears since 1982 and the age of 10. I am close to my family, have a full and varied life and hold down a job. I just liked to listen to music a lot on car journeys etc. it's not the road to ruin :o

my ds is nearly 7 and it will be a long while before i let him have something small and expensive and easy to loose. He is generally good with looking after his things but i still wouldn't let him have something like this for a few more years. He does however have a cd player in his bedroom which he loves so has no need for an ipod