Kids spend too much time playing on their phones and tablets.” Heard that before? And, even though I try not to say things like that, sometimes I do anyway, and I’m certainly guilty of thinking it. All too often.

I’m someone who doesn’t believe that technology is inherently good or bad. To me, what matters is what content the technology presents. Alas, people, whether adults or children, like to be entertained with mindless content. The producers of that content have found ways to build profitable businesses on it. It’s not always bad, although sometimes it is. It tends to be formulaic and predictable. And, although it appeals to us, when we think about it, we often don’t like that it appeals to us.

However, people of all ages also like mindful content. We like to think, to learn, to gain useful skills and abilities. And, when we stop to think about it, we tend to feel good about ourselves that this kind of content appeals to us. This is the kind of content that we want to present at Nuhubit — educational games: math games, music games, games that help people learn things that might take a lot of effort to learn. The aspects of human nature that enjoy and appreciate mindful content are the ones we would like to appeal to.

Among adults who agree with all of that, it can still be hard to cheerfully embrace the large amount of time kids spend on their phones. One reason is that content that is both beneficial and enjoyable can be rare and hard to find. Another explanation is that each generation is naturally comfortable with how they grew up, and suspicious of the environment faced by the next generation. It’s probably always been that way.

When I was a kid, people used to say almost the same things they do now, except the villain was television. Back then, it was “Kids spend too much time watching TV.” It was probably true in many ways, but, in my opinion, that was also a question of content. Recently, I had the chance to watch Schoolhouse Rock, a show that was popular when I was a kid. What a good show! I sincerely hope that we can develop games that follow in those footsteps.