Sree's Thoughts on Ribbit TV
Thursday, March 12, 2003

We all know parents who struggle to control how much TV their kids watch. I know mine did. They couldn't stand how much TV I watched in my pre-teen days and so they had to put me on a quota of certain hours of TV a week. I got to pick what I watched (within reason), but I had to write out in advance what I wanted to see. All these years later, my revenge is that I work in the TV biz.

For frustrated parents of more modern times, there's the Ribbit TV, a product that will be launched at the end of the month. It's a bright green 13-inch television that actually tries to teach as it entertains. Among its features: you have to solve a simple math question before you can watch TV; you can play games on it; you can do puzzles. Parents can put activate timers so that the TV can be turned on only during certain times of the day.

Otherwise, it works just like a regular TV (including attaching, a cable box, a VCR or headphone). It costs $250 and will be available in toy stores and educational stores at the end of March.

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