What age is too young?

For me I would not go on age but maturity level.

I certainly haven't lived a lot of life, and I have close to no parenting experience, but since I'm young, I will answer not only from want, but from common sense.

Number 1
The age that I would let my child have a cell phone depends. If they are involved in sports (and over 8), I would give them a phone strictly for contact use with me or my wife until the age of about 12, and then I'd give them a little more freedom.

Number 2
I could never see having my child have a smartphone until maybe around 15, and they'd be paying for it after the first year...

Number 3
I could see it as a nice 16 birthday present (thank you Craigslist)

Number 4
Whenever they want to buy it after the age of 14, although I would probably give it as a graduation present.

I would say the age that the age of 9 is too young. At nine you should only be talking to people when you go to school and go to friends homes and things. You shouldn't be texting or anything. However it varies with opinion. Like you might need to contact your child .. If that is the case then it is too young to have it at 7.. so that means the starting age is 8.

1: (Cell Phone) Depending on their need. If they are involved in school and activities out of the home, I would give them a phone for calling for rides. Around 13-14 I would let them use it for whatever they want.

2: (Smartphone) When they are mature enough, probably 15. Also, it would help if they had a job of some sort, but they wouldn't have to pay the bill (maybe apps, though)

3: iPod: whenever they really want one. I would give them a shuffle early on and if they want an iPod Touch when they are 13ish. iPad/Tablet: Birthday or Christmas when they are at least 15.

4: (Laptop) When they are 13 I would give them a cheap one (maybe 300-500 dollars) and if they grow up and become interested in computers etc. maybe I would buy them a nice one, and finally one for college when they graduate.

1: probably around 6-7 if the know what it is and how to use it. It will only be used to contact me though.

2: hmm maybe about 10-11, they should get an as early introduction to the web and SNSs as possible.

3: I would never buy an Apple product to my kid, those toys belong to grannies who don't understand computers. And I don't see the point in owning a tablet when I'll be giving him a laptop.

4: As soon as he starts the gymnasium he will need it for notetaking and being aweseome so about 13.

I would say for all of those, around 2 years old will be fine.

but with supervision, you can bring that age down to around 1.

If they are around 2, you may want to keep them from going to sites like 4chan. Though you may want to encourage them to do tasks which are more stimulating, for example, you may want to start your kid off playing some elder scrolls skyrim, saints row the third, or something a little less time consuming such as the dead space series.

Around 3 years old+ they should be able to go on any site they want and play any game they want (though try not to encourage MMO's many require monthly fees and offer little value for the money.

For a basic cell phone I say 13-14 years old. Then for a smartphone they have to get a job and pay for everything themselves, including the monthly bill. iPod could be around age 12, but no iPad and probably not a laptop until either they buy it themselves or until their 17/18

any cellphone: From 15 or 16 yr. I had mine from that age and never actually needed. Children dont need phones.

In my opinion:

1. When the child needs one for basic communication with parents. For example, what time parents should pick up child after school (if child has a schedule that changes). Or, if they go to different places and need to get picked up. However, if just going to a friends house, they could use the friend's home phone.

2. Wait until they get a job and can pay for it themselves. Maybe you could do something like pay for the phone, but then make the child pay for the service. This will truly teach someone how expensive phones are, and if a smartphone is really worth it over a simple voice phone.

3. I personally think iPads are useless devices, but iPods are very inexpensive gifts. A simple iPod shuffle of nano is a good birthday present idea. For the age, I would just say whenever the child understands what music is, no need to force the device to someone, but then again I don't think restrictions are necessary.

4. I think computers are very important devices, but are also expensive. I got my first computer at the age of 2. This was because I was always using my dad's, and he wanted me to have my own so he could work without me bothering him. I think this general rule is good enough, whenever your child is using yours too much. This varies from person to person, I use my computer all the time, but I also know people that have a family computer that works fine for them. If this doesn't really apply, then I guess the time in school when a computer is needed to type lots of papers.

Also, maturity is something to be considered with all these devices. Don't let a child use it if they can't handle it.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, I'm currently 16 years old. I have 2 iPods iPod Mini (4GB) and iPod 4th Generation (20GB). Both of these were handed down to me from my dad. Sure they are older iPods, but they do a great job of playing music.

I also wouldn't consider myself normal, and have 7 computers. All of these were also handed down to me from my dad. Some were former family computers, and others were old company computers that were going to be thrown away. I have a primary desktop that I have spend a few hundred dollars on, improving graphics, mouse, keyboard, monitors, and some other devices. I have 2 other desktops, one as a media PC and the other as a server. I have 3 laptops, this is certainly overkill, I usually only take 1 out of the house, but my new Chromebook (cr-48) (not counted as part of the 3) is my primary mobile device. I also have a real server (Poweredge 1950). This is running Hyper-V and I have many VMs inside of it. I have some failover clustering with my server desktop.

As you might have noticed, I don't have a phone at all, not even a traditional cell phone without internet. To be 100% truthful, the only time it would be useful is letting my parents know when I'm finished with a school activity, such as a sports game. I can just ask to borrow a friends phone to call home, I usually don't have any problems.

One more thing to add is that these devices don't have to be brand new. In fact, the only major electronic devices I have that I got brand new are my PS2 (which I now have a 360 which was used), some games and hardware I purchased for my PS2/360, and some hardware for my desktop. Everything else I received used. I know most parents probably don't purchase the same amount of electronic devices that my parents do, but there isn't anything wrong with having old stuff (unless of course its really old). But next time you get a new computer, phone, or iPod, consider giving the old one to your child (perhaps at a cost if the item is very expensive). Also don't be afraid to look for used devices to purchase instead of a brand new one.