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My son was a YouTube viewer before he could talk. He is now 2 1/2, and every day he spends 20-30 minutes watching videos. Occasionally more (esp. when his parents are sick.) Sometimes he follows a video stream. Other times he asks us to put specific genres up for viewing.

He will unquestionably be able to type on the iPad long before he can actually write.

It is very much going to change the next generation.

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My 4yo nephew will watch youtube vids of tractors until he falls asleep. He can't write and can only read a few words, but he will put characters into the search field and choose the suggestions he recognizes.

I saw a 3~4yo on an airplane once playing on an iPad (some infinite runner game). He would try to buy everything in the store after each round, probably because he couldn't tell how many coins he had or needed. Most of the time the dialog to pay real money for coins came up, and he would close it.

It was just weird to watch him do that so much.

I'm not sure it's so different from the worn VHS tapes played over and over in our childhoods. Although it's definitely subject to much less parental review.

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