I just think the jury is out on the early heavy use of technology by kids. We know that TV is NOT beneficial to children under age 3 (some benefits for older kids from some shows). Of course, it could be different for gifted kids, and the iPad and computer games are not the same as TV, but there's quite a bit of research on this. Like I said, the jury is still out, and it'll be interesting to see what the research finds. (There's a little bit of stuff out there showing that iPad book reading is quite different for kids than traditional books.) But I think the 3-d world has a lot of important developmental advantages for kids.
Also, I would never want my kids' primary exposure to literature to come through the iPad, Leappad, etc, because in my experience, the quality of the literature on these devices is wretched. Maybe it's improving now, but I really prefer to avoid all the TV character tie-ins and nonbooks written by ghost authors.
That said, of course sanity is important and I get that you have to entertain these Energizer bunnies. We have relied heavily on books on tape.
