After years of thinking about it, I finally converted - to a Mac. Understand, I have been a LONG time IBM man (I worked for them out of college during the early years of the PC). I even owned an IBM PC Jr (which make an excellent conversation if you want to talk with yourself). When I got my MacBook, my son was entranced. He was as interested in the Ipod Touch Screen as much as anything and HE can’t stop talking about it. As I thought of his attraction to the Ipod, it reminded me of a conversation I had last week with a college professor who is considering changes careers. He told me that he really misses the interaction with students. “Why is there no interaction”, I asked.  He told me there were two reasons: 1) because most classes “meet” online and 2) When the students are in class they are sending text messages to their friends. He told me it’s a different world. He went on to say that tomorrow’s business leaders would be extremely lacking. Interestinly, the next day, I read an article in USA Today titled Plugin in, Tuning Out by journalism professor Don Campbell. It’s worth a read and worth rethinking how much exposure we give our kids to technology.

I’d much rather deny my kids the Ipod Touch now then to lose touch today.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com