Kids Of Steve Jobs Were Not Addicted To Apple Devices

Hefty price discounts is one of the perks of working for Apple. Under the Cupertino-based Employee Purchase Programme, workers get a 25 per cent discount when they buy an Apple computer and each model of iPod and iPad, and 50 per cent off on software. After three months of employment with the tech giant, there is another $500 price cut for any Mac products, except the Mini, and $250 off on an iPad.

It could be presumed that children of Apple executives would receive Apple devices as gifts from their parents, even if the occasion happens to be the launch of a new gadget such as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus roll out on Sept 9.

However, had Apple co-founder Steve Jobs been alive, getting a free iPhone or iPad on its launch day isn't a perk of being a Jobs child.

An article in New York Times by its technology reporter Nick Bilton said that in 2010, just before the launch of the iPad, Jobs surprised Bilton by stating that his kids haven't tried the Apple-made tablet then. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home," Jobs said.

A typical evening at the Jobs home would have family members discussing books, history and other non-tech topics over dinner. "No one ever pulled out an iPad or computer. The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices," said Walter Isaacson, author of a book about Jobs, whom Bilton interviewed later after the Apple co-founder died in 2011 of pancreatic cancer.

That vignette about Jobs extends to his choice of listening to music, not from an iPod, but from vinyl records when at home.

Other parents of tech giant officials have similar limited use policy when it comes to their teenage kids. Bilton disclosed that Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo allowed their two teenage children to use gadgets when in their living room only.

Costolo based his decision of allowing limited use to his university experience of living in a dorm a student at the University of Michigan where one male student stashed cases of Coca-Cola and other sodas as a way of compensating for his parent's total ban on soft drinks when he used to live at home.

"If you don't let your kids have some exposure to this stuff, what problems does it cause later?" Costolo explained.

While parents have different approaches when it comes to allowing their kids access to devices with Internet connectivity, it is inevitable that once these kids become adults, they would have 24/7 access to various gadgets in their workplace as well as home.

As people rely more on modern technology via their devices - with Jobs being an ironic exception to the rule when it comes to his household only but not his workplace - it is inevitable that demand for data would continue to grow over time.

While the good legacy left behind by Jobs on his kids of nurturing them so that they would not become addicted to Apple devices probably is being upheld, the sale of 4 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus within 24 hours of the devices' launch is just another indicator that Jobs's other legacy of changing the world because of these gadgets also goes on.