I ’m charm to channelAllan Sherman(of“Camp Granada ” fame ) but I wo n’t . Instead , I ’ll just say that I ’ve pass fromApple Campwith my kids — they spent two days getting some training on how to use Apple ’s iLife applications .
This is the 4th year Apple has done Apple Camp , and an Apple illustration tells me that about 14,000 tike have file for the curriculum this yr alone . organize as two - and - a - half hour sessions and taking home at almost every Apple retail storage , the programme ply kids ages 8 to 12 with in - depth grooming on Apple ’s iApps — and conveniently holds their parents surety in the store for the duration . More on that in a bit .
Apple extend sessions in movie - making using iMovie , medicine via GarageBand , World Wide Web page macrocosm thanks to iLife 06 ’s fresh addition , iWeb , and podcasting . Each family is allowed to sign up their kids for two session , and this twelvemonth my older Logos and my daughter opted for the Movie Workshop and iWeb , which were held at our closest memory — theDerby Street locationin Hingham , Mass. , on a Wednesday and Thursday morning in mid - July .
This is the second time I ’ve been exposed to Apple Camp . Last twelvemonth , my older son , who turns 11 at the end of this month , carry an interest group in learning how to make movies on his Mac , so we signed up for the Movie Workshop at what was then the closest emplacement — theCambridgeSide Galleria storein Cambridge , Mass. Since then he ’s set about heavily involved in video production thanks to the local 4H nine and a community cable telecasting station . And Apple has flourish its Greater Boston area retail store placement southward , which hit it more commodious for us .
My 9 - year - old girl decided she , too , wanted to do Apple Camp , so I signal her up as well . Our 6 - year - old son is n’t erstwhile enough , but he came with me anyway and spiel on the iMacs in the fry ’s section of the memory board while his pal and babe filled their head with Apple noesis .
It ’s an awe-inspiring deal for the kids . Apple Store staff is friendly , helpful , and engaging , afford reasonably high - timbre preparation . And the kids get t - shirts , camp stickers , “ subject notebook ” and copies of their projects on disc — not bad give that all this is devoid .
My kids ’ gears are already spinning with the lubrication of this new found noesis — they’re planning on shooting a TV of our darling bozo , then setting him up with his own Web pages , which I think is a mythologic idea .
Now , as I noted before , if your kids are under 14 , Apple requires you to stay in the memory . I can realise why : They do n’t desire the indebtedness involve of having a kid — specially a vernal one — in a public place , unsupervised . And it draw a lot of sentience .
But there ’s an ancillary benefit , too . Each session is two and a half hours long . And parents are bound to get bored . And workshop .
That ’s what I did .
Well , I work for a little while . The free Wi - Fi access is certainly a bonus — I seize a stool at the Genius Bar ( this positioning , like most of Apple ’s new stores , lacks a theater ) , opened my cell phone and got some body of work done . Another confrere , a graphic designer who live locally and whose daughter was at the workshop , did the same .
After a while , though , the gaud wear off and I give out wandering up and down the aisle , looking for new contraption to harbour myself with . I noticed that several other parents had the same musical theme . They ’d gone from shadowing their kids to playing with the display Macs , asking the Geniuses or the other store staff questions , or browsing the iPod accessories , software system and other gear that was pile up on the shelf .
For me , I corrupt a Family Pack of iLife ‘ 06 — it ’s a bargain at $ 99 , because you could install it on up to five machine ( the single - drug user license is $ 79 ) . Now my married woman and tike each have an up to date copy of iLife on their Macs . Hey , it ’s not a young MacBook Pro , but at least Apple gotsomethingout of the deal . And I saw a couple of the other parents walk out with bags in hand , too .
Oh , and the cat ’s hear to hate it when he experience one of the nipper restrain the video camera .
