Disney subsequently developed several Toy Story products, based in part on such research. The Internet stretches the envelope of what marketers can do with kids, and studies show that families that access the Net watch less television. But it would be misleading to suggest that the Net even approaches the reach of television. The number of kids with home access to the Internet remains dwarfed by TV, which is nearly universal. But from a marketer's point of view, it is a nearly ideal audience.
Internet users tend to consist of upscale, well-educated families.
Much of the parental preference for CD-ROMs, however, is based on low awareness of the benefits of online services and the Internet. What Internet-enabled kids do when they go online varies, quite naturally, by age. By this point, however, children tend to develop strong preferences of their own for certain types of content, especially chat and online encyclopedias. By high school, kids are going online by themselves. They primarily chat, look at news, and tap online encyclopedias to use for homework.