Computer Pervasiveness in Learning

Ok, I use computers every day. I use them for research. I used them for research way back when. I used them in class in grad school. Yet these kinds of things drive me nuts.
Deciding whether to buy your student a laptop

The example of a good way to use a laptop if you're a middle-school kid, is if you're planning for a science fair and putting data into Excel. Y'know what? I bet graph paper works just as well, since middle schoolers are unlikely to be using Excel for complicated formulas, at least until after the data is collected. And beyond that? I remember middle school. It was difficult for a lot of kids I knew to keep their bikes from being stolen, lost, broken. And bikes are a lot hardier than a laptop. Don't they have enough to cart back and forth to school without adding on a 5-10 pound laptop? And if they're just using it at home, that's why there's desktops.

Why people think we should force computers on kids is beyond me. Use them, yes. Learn how they work, yes. Do everything on them? HELL NO. Kids need to develop motor skills. Computers don't do that. Kids need to learn how to interact with others. Computers don't do that (except via distance). Kids need to learn the basics - how to read, how to write (and none of the l33t h4x0r crap they pull now... I even see my coworkers do it occasionally and it drives me absolutely nuts), logic (geometry), math, curiosity for the real world, not curiosity for the website.

I'm thinking more and more about designing that software I've been thinking about for 3+ years. I can make a great case for it. I can write the code (basically). And it would help parents get their kids OFF the computer and into the real world - and the parents too... god knows I could use it.