A recent consumer survey by Nielsen found that for the second year in a row, the iPad is the most highly desired consumer electronic item on the holiday wish lists of kids ages 6-12. A whopping 44 percent of children polled hoped to find an iPad under the tree this year, which is up from 31 percent in 2010. Following close behind the iPad are the iPod Touch and iPhone in second and third place, respectively, at 30 percent and 27 percent each.
In this age bracket, computers, non-iPad tablet computers and the Nintendo 3DS were each desired by 25 percent of kids. The majority of the rest of the list is comprised of video game consoles and accessories, with Microsoft"s Kinect and Nintendo"s older DS iterations ranking higher than items like the Xbox 360 and Wii.
For the older age bracket of 13 years and up, the iPad again took the top spot with 24 percent, beating out computers at 18 percent, which was last year"s hottest item. Interestingly, video game items in general seem to be less popular with this older age group, with other electronic devices like E-readers, television sets, Blu-ray players and phones beating out video game consoles and accessories.
Let"s not forget that the cheapest iPad model begins at $499. Even in my wildest dreams, I would never have dared to ask for such a pricey Christmas present as a young kid. It"s surprising, eye-opening and a little amusing to me to learn that children even under 10 years old are so audacious, and it makes me wonder how many of them will actually get what they"re asking for. Kids these days - spoiled rotten, I tell ya.