Seventh Early Literacy Skill?

There's an article in SLJ/Aug. by Ann Crewdson in which she makes the case for identifying and supporting a seventh, technology-based, early literacy skill. She provides a nice description of several gaming systems and CD-Roms that support the six early literacy skills. I'm not sure that the mere use of technology to support literacy needs to be elevated to the status of "literacy skill" and Crewdson admits that the 7th early literacy variable "remains elusive". She says it is out there, though, and evolving and she further urges librarians to help parents locate early literacy software. Do you think that video games for the 2-5 year old crowd (even with a literacy component) can really promote literacy or will they compete with books for a child's attention? I'm particularly thinking about recent studies that have shown Baby Einstein videos and the like to be detrimental to a child's early literacy development...

Developmentally Appropriate Technology

An article written earlier this year in the New York Times by technology expert Warren Buckleitner, editor of the Children's Technology Review.

He uses the developmental stages of psychologist Jean Piaget to help make decisions about what technologies are appropriate for children at different ages.

Read it and let us know what you think. Does this match up with what you experienced as a child, or what your children experienced? Do you have different ideas? What about technologies that the author didn't discuss? Where would you place them developmentally? Does this have implications for children's collections and programming?