The experts are betting that the portable communications devices will help to bring the kids back, buoyed by major television advertising campaigns this fall. Girls, especially, are shown in research groups to be great communicators, and they're being targeted by many of the manufacturers. Girls used to play with Barbies until they were 10. It also makes iSpy Jewellery, which should be in stores in the next month. It comes with a necklace transmitter for one person to wear and a receiver shaped like a cellphone for a friend.
Girls just love the whole secrets thing.
Password Journal, an electronic diary from Girl Tech that can be activated only by the owner's voice and password, showed last year when it was launched just how big the market can be. It's been phenomenal. Still, the prospect of students carrying more tech gadgets into school is sure to make educators uneasy. Besides the fact that trading electronic information in the classroom can be disruptive, it also can be a little too discreet. It can be opened only by someone with another Get Mail who knows the special code.