1- They are growing up in a generation in which technology is constantly advancing at an increasing rate. To be competitive in school and in the work force, they are going to need to be fluent with technology, and having reasonable access to smart phones and tablets and computers allows them to learn and explore technology.
2- In order to have a device that is even remotely compatible with current software and operating systems, it need to be generally less than 5 years old. Tech companies do this intentionally in order to keep the income rolling in, plus technology is in a golden age and is advancing far faster than previous generations experienced, so the "latest and greatest" is also obsolete as soon as it hits the shelf.
@frostyflower All that being said, My daughter (4) has a hand-me-down iPhone 4S. It has no service, and is worth $0 trade-in because it fell in the toilet. My husband has a 5S and I have a 6S. We have each only purchased the oldest available model, and only when we are forced to upgrade due to our previous phones falling in the toilet and not holding a call anymore, not being compatible with OS upgrades and app updates we rely on like bill organization, battery depletion and replacement costing more than a new phone payment, dropping and cracking the screen in a beautiful spider web, etc. We try our best to make our tech last, treat it with respect and milk it for as long as we can before we upgrade, so we are never quite on the "latest and greatest" and neither will our daughter, but we lag just far enough behind to also not experience most of the "early adaptor" grievances.
