The article on typography made me think about what my first computer really was. I'd have to say it was Cricket. Cricket was a huge doll that spoke to you through a cassette player in her (extremely boxy) torso. It's not really a good example of typography, but neither is a talking Barbie. I really didnt understand where Ms. Heftland was going with her Barbie comments, but they were pretty entertaining nonetheless. After Cricket, I moved on up to a Whiz Kid. I'm sure some of you had a Whiz Kid(or maybe I was just a dork). Anyway, the Whiz Kid worked off of cards with barcodes on the back. There was very little motion or sound.
Nowadays, kids have an entire section in a toy store donated to interactive toys, for example, the Leap Frog computer. I see them as an extension of typography. They add the element of touch to the written word as well. Touch screens are everywhere also--at the bank, grocery store, etc. I played with this huge touch screen computer over in the new Health Services building last week, which was pretty cool. Not a day goes by that I don't use the touch pad/screen credit card swipers, which are(sometimes) really annoying. None of this technology, even Cricket or the Whiz Kid, would have been possible without the use of typography.