This year Music Blocks have spawned imitators. And Neurosmith is introducing an Internet cartridge that allows parents to download their music of choice into the toy. The marriage of the Internet with toys is among the fastest-growing genres. The K'nex construction system connects with the Web this year with CyberK'nex, similar in principle to MindStorms. Kids bring creations to life with a walking, talking attitude by inserting a small computerized device that has been programmed by the child.
Kids can download information from the Web to alter their model's personality.
It will get here much more faster than people think. Building a brighter baby might bother some experts, but education is incredibly important to today's parents, she says. Along those lines, Neurosmith has developed the Babbler, a plush crib toy that introduces babies to the sounds of English, Spanish, French and Japanese, to prepare them for a society that grows ever more global. Little Linguist, which introduces languages to ages 1-5, will be distributed nationwide next month. Even if technology does it better, it's doing the same thing that's already been done and not making a deep difference.