The new Apple iPad - Tech-junkie parents could call it an investment.

My colleague Geoff Sowrey mused on Facebook that, given the right educational applications, the iPad would be ideal for kids.

The first reply was a bit sarcastic: "You mean, rich kids?" Admittedly, at a range of $500-$700, it sounds steep. However, our dollar is always subject to inflation, and I know that for a few years now, there are stores selling jeans that cost that much to preteens. This got me thinking about the value of technology and the possible return on investment.

I recall that when I was still in diapers, my dad got our family a "top of the line" business computer. It would have been purchased sometime around 1986-1988, and it was the just-released IBM XT (eXtended Technology) with a CGA monitor in stunning 640x200 pixel resolution and 4-bit colour! (16 colours at once.) The processor was a blazing fast 4.77 MHz, paired with 640kb of memory. The hard drive was a whopping 10 megabytes.

My backup cellphone easily surpasses all of that, and it's eight years old.

Now, looking back and doing some research, I find that the price at launch for the XT was $4000 USD without taking any of the upgrade options. The historical USD to CAD exchange rate puts that at around $5600 CAD. This price, even before taking into account inflation, seems insane to me. If you are buying a six thousand dollar computer for home use these days, it's only likely if you are a hardcore gamer or someone needing to do some intensive work, like rendering or audio/video production. If you're in IT, you'd spend the same amount, but on two self-built computers. With some quick (and likely inaccurate) searching, I get a ballpark cost of $10,800 for that XT today, adjusted for inflation.

My father decided that the computer was a worthwhile investment, and he must have looked at it more like buying a car--especially to commit such a large portion of his mid 1980's salary. My brothers and I have never been to Disneyland, we ate boring and non-sugary cereal all of our childhood, and we never had many toys aside from a pile of Lego and the much cheaper knock-off Mega-Blocks. However, my dad decided computers would be a big thing in the future, and a worthy investment for our education. So, regardless if you're rich or not (and my parents are certainly not!), I think that Geoff's idea is not so crazy after all--it's a matter of priorities. The potential educational returns may make that cost quite reasonable.

I remember my older brother using DOS and BASIC on that XT at 8 years old. He would "hack" the BASIC games we played and later on, got me involved with using the rudimentary networking of dialup Bulletin Board Systems before the internet became more accessible. It was the start of an interest that turned into his education in computer science and career in IT.

I do not claim to do anything very complex with computers these days--graphic design and digital photography tools are now almost universal skills for the younger generations--but I was always a few years ahead of my peers, when it came to having a facility with computers. I might be considered an "early adopter" with technology, although my budget doesn't allow me to splurge on every new tech gadget. My younger brother is similarly comfortable with computers, and he's the "go-to" guy for computer problems at his optometry college.

And my parents? It's still kinda embarassing to watch try to use their computers for more than browsing... but they gave something worth certainly more than a few thousand dollars to their kids. I am sure that our early start in using technology once considered "too complicated for children" was at least a partial factor in shaping how my brothers and I are today.

You might think buying a $500 or $800 "toy" is overkill, but new parents easily spend more than that in a year on countless other baby/toddler toys that get neglected only after a few months. The child either gets bored of it, or they outgrow its challenges. At least this device has a volume control and lithium-ion batteries. For parents, I imagine that sounds like a brilliant innovation.

I don't have kids--yet? However, I see this iPad as not being a breakthrough in technology, relative to the smaller iPod Touch and iPhone, but it is very much a leap in accessibility, given its size and specifications. A solid-state, multiple-touch-sensitive device that can change software as your kid grows up? Which could be used for the entire family's education and entertainment alike? Sold.

I'm sure someone will design some custom heavy-duty protective sleeves to make it more shockproof, and perhaps even biteproof.