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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.11 - FEBRUARY 2001
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eKIDS: Everyone Wants a Piece of the PIE The basic idea is that eKIDS is selling to parents. It is offering them the peace of mind that their kids can maneuver in an online environment without being exposed to any inappropriate material, either intentionally or accidentally, and without the fret or threat of them being exposed to predatory behavior. Online destinations for children are generally and primarily entertainment-based, whereas eKIDS seeks to emulate an entire Internet -- the whole shebang -- complete with communication (email and chat), education, entertainment, news, and a kid-friendly browser and search engine (which already boasts at least 140,000 Websites cached on its server). SilverTech is drawing the attention of parents and children to their eKIDS Internet through an intensive promotional and marketing campaign. In free parenting publications -- mostly in the Northeast right now, in such areas as Massachusetts, New York and Minnesota -- SilverTech is offering free CDs to register for the service. Radio Disney, syndicated around the U.S., is running ad spots for eKIDS. At special events in metropolitan areas (zoos even!) free discs are also being handed out. The eKIDS Internet is sponsoring the Pokemon Live stage show which debuted last September at Radio City Music Hall, and is now touring North America. There has been a back-to-school promotion with Hewlett-Packard, Office Depot and Staples this past fall as well. And an in-school, online safety promotion has also been set up. eKIDS created a "homework folder" with information for both kids and parents on how to be safe using the World Wide Web; again, there is a free CD included with each promotional folder. In all, there will be roughly 12 million discs in circulation by this March.
The Square Route of PIE Boegner admits that the eKIDS network is going through its growing pains now -- that the content is somewhat limited and rudimentary and the idea of creating an entire, private Internet is daunting. But, as the saying goes, one has to start somewhere, and the eKIDS Internet, if nothing else, does hint at the potential of the PIE technology. Undoubtedly, as the service becomes more popular, SilverTech will have increasing resources to develop, acquire and Web-enable their content, as, for example, they recently have done with Artisan's Tangerine Bear and UNICEF's Meena series. Soon children in France, Germany and the United Kingdom will also come online with their own e-centers, and kids from around the world, who do not necessarily share a common language, will be able to communicate with one another directly, through software translation applications.
In the coming months, eKIDS itself (ages 4-12) will spin off into separate Internet engines, "eTeens" (ages 8-13) and "24-7 Edge" (ages 14-18). As the World Wide Web continues to evolve and thrive, the climate of concern for the protection of information also grows. As El St. John explains, "Those 'public streets' are not where everyone wants to do business, especially when commercial interests and privacy issues are at stake." People want to feel more secure in their online activities. In short order, SilverTech will be providing full, online resources for researching materials, holding client information confidential and mediating other Internet-based enterprises. We can look forward to such PIEs as eLawyer, eMedical, eShipping, eDistributor (a private network for selling electrical parts), and eEducation (a private network for distance learning). There is nothing "pie in the sky" about it. SilverTech means business. Gregory Singer is a freelance writer and amateur scientist, in feverish midnight pursuit of a cure for the common pun.
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