I Am Now Officially an Old Fogey
I guess it’s never too early to teach kids how to use a Visa card. At least, that’s what Parker Brothers thinks: the game manufacturer is apparently going to phase out the "old-fashioned" (humph) version of Monopoly, replacing those lovely colored bills with a Visa card and—I kid you not—a toy scanner. Because, you know, we wouldn’t want our younguns to tax their poor widdle brains trying to make change. Oh wait. We DO want that. That’s right, for a second there I forgot the key role Monopoly money has played in my children’s arithmetic education. I guess the children of tomorrow will have to rely on computer implants to calculate the interest owed on the credit cards they’ve learned how to play with (so to speak) before they lost their baby teeth.
Not that this news makes me grumpy or anything.
(HT: Chris O’Donnell)
Jenn says:
That’s terrible. 🙁
On July 26, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Sue says:
I saw that on the news. I imagine the fact that so many kids *can’t* handle the adding and subtracting it takes to play ‘old’ Monopoly is behind the change. On the up side, though, there won’t be 600,000 pieces of play money on the floor after my kids are done using the game. (Assuming of course that we were going to buy the new one–which we aren’t since the old one is still perfectly serviceable.)
On July 27, 2006 at 5:49 am
Mrs. Happy Housewife says:
This sounds like a crazy hoax. This plan is just another way to groom children to be indebted to credit card companies.
On July 27, 2006 at 6:17 am
Jodi says:
Hmmm…I wonder if the “card machine” will have a built in “buzz” to warn kids when they’re in the negative.
If done right, it could help train kids to be more responsible with credit…and being responsible with credit is, imho, a much bigger issue currently then learning to add…
On July 27, 2006 at 7:03 am
Gem says:
How horrible! We do all kinds of math with our Disney Princess Junior Monopoly money — I guess I’d better not wait to buy the original version!
On July 28, 2006 at 8:39 am
Jennifer says:
Oh my gosh! I think I need to hurry up and grab the old style – it’ll be a collector’s item soon…
On July 28, 2006 at 9:41 am
The LLama Butchers says:
Psssst, no one tell Robbo, ‘kay?
Because this will make him EXTRA cranky, as if that’s possible… Melissa’s right, of course: the whole point of Monopoly is not just what it teaches kids about math and strategy, but also the value of that sweetly-orange $500 bill…
On July 28, 2006 at 9:53 am
Jane says:
I, for one CERTAINLY agree with you, Mom. 😉
On August 8, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Jane says:
And I DON’T mean about the title, either.
On August 8, 2006 at 12:38 pm