Baby Phone Home?

The other day I overheard a mother talking about her 18 month old daughter. "She likes to play with a little calculator," she said matter-of-factly. "She holds it up to her ear like it's a cell phone."

I had to smile. It wasn't too long ago that I would have kept a toddler far away from my expensive, bulky calculator, and to hold it up to my ear as if the brick-like shape even remotely resembled a telephone handset would have been absurd. Never mind that the handset would have to be attached to the rest of the phone with the world's longest cord.

Now my entire phone is in the handset, the calculator inside is more powerful than my home computer, and the whole thing fits into a skinny, well..., brick-like shape.

And my phone is also a camera. And a music player. And a personal global locating, social networking, world wide information searching, tip calculating, star searching, game console with extra memory in case I lose mine.

And my calculator? Well, it's still just a calculator. But now I let my toddler chew on it.