Dr. Thornburg discusses how technology can assist in rekindling a past time from history. The technology is not the focus; the technology changes the way the event occurs.
A past time of young girls that seems to have almost dwindled away is playing with paper dolls or the old fashion mansion of a doll house. Barbie becomes the replacement with all of the accessories available. Barbie has friends, a dream house, various cars, and of course Ken. Barbie too started to sit in the closet more or more.
The internet and handheld gaming systems have replaced this with virtual worlds. The internet has an abundance of virtual playgrounds where children can essentially do the same thing that was done with Barbie and other dolls. There are fashion worlds where the dolls can accessorize and shop. The virtual worlds also meet the needs of various age groups. SimCity allows teens to create virtual world where they choose hobbies, clothes, activities, and other aspects of life. Finally there are Avatars for adults to essentially play with dolls. The pastime of dressing up the doll and using the imagination is still there, but the user goes about doing a different way due to technology advances.
Link to SimCity: http://simcitysocieties.ea.com/index.php
This is a great example. I have two younger girls and more often than not, they are asking to visit barbie.com or some web based game. Interestingly, there is still that want to have the actual doll, however, it lasts for about an hour and then they are wanting to see my phone or computer to play the virtual version.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how toy manufacturers have embedded themselves into web based games. Most toys today come with a special code attached to visit the website and to play using the virtual version of the toy just purchased.