'Controversial' reason why Steve Jobs didn't let his children use an iPad
He limited access to technology for his children
Featured Image Credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty
Very few people if any knew more about Apple products than Steve Jobs when he was alive, as the company's co-founder was notoriously obsessive over everything the tech giant created, yet you might be surprised to find out that he specifically banned his children from ever using an iPad.
If you had created a gadget that millions of people used worldwide then why wouldn't you want your children to use it, especially if they could prove to be a brilliant testing ground for any improvements or issues that might crop up with the device.
Yet that couldn't be further from the reality when it came to Steve Jobs' home and family life, as he appeared to keep his children not only away from iPads but broadly away from the technology that he himself became so obsessed with.
As reported by the Independent, journalist and author Nick Bilton revealed in the New York Times back in 2014 that he found out about Jobs' iPad ban while having a conversation with the enigmatic chief executive after the device's initial launch.
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Bilton asked whether Jobs' children liked the iPad following its release, yet the Apple co-founder offered an unexpected response: "They haven't used it," he revealed. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home."
A similar experience was echoed by Walter Isaacson, who wrote a biography on Steve Jobs, as he illustrated that "every evening Steve made a point of having dinner at the big long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things."
It has become almost common practice for parents to let their children loose on iPads that it's shocking for the creator of that very gadget to be so against giving it to his own children, but perhaps he knew better than most how harmful it might be for them.
Jobs perhaps saw it better for the development of his own children for them to stay away from technology and focus on other more beneficial things, even if that broadly amounted to having frequent conversations with their parents, especially at meal times.
This perspective is also backed up by fellow tech innovator Chris Anderson, who is the co-founder of drone manufacturer 3D Robotics. Anderson explained that while his children accuse him of being too strict surrounding their technology use, it's "because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand.
"I've seen it in myself, I don't want to see that happen to my kids," he added.
This is especially true as technology becomes increasingly dominant in the lives of many, and while plenty of people accept that they are unable to separate themselves from it, they would rather spare or delay their children from succumbing too, especially in their early years.