iPads for Preschool?

From Jocelyn Blake:

The Los Angeles Times reported that "A school district in Maine is proposing to spend about $200,000 on Apple iPad 2s to get the devices into the hands of about 300 kindergartners." This article caught my eye because as we discuss our Next Big Thing, this proves that companies are producing technology that makes the public feel the need to purchase. I grew up in the poorest zip code in Memphis and I doubt that our schools system would dish out $200, 000 for iPads. In the case of Maine, it is viewed as a necessity for children to learn. Somehow the use of this mind boggling product will improve the reading of 5 year olds. I will agree that children are more likely to retain information when they are stimulated and engaged. However, I'm not sure if this was the best way to go about it. 

Source: LA Times Technology Blog

Comment from Ben Bates
There's a researcher, Sherry Turkle, (now at MIT), who's been studying how young kids can learn to play and use computing since the 1980s.  Part of her findings is that you don't need formal language skills or formal programming skills to use computers - that young kids can use a more visually-based iconic system to use computers for play and other things.  iPads make more sense than laptops in that case.