If you have a child, you want him or her to be prepared for the future. So why not begin their dreary cubicle farm confinement before they even learn how to read? That’s what the Little Tykes Young Explorer does, combining a home cubicle and child-sized seating with a computer loaded with kid-friendly software, all at a rather inflated price. Which is a lot like real office furniture, come to think of it.

The Young Explorer costs $2,599. What that get you?

Furniture features:

• Flat desk area
• Left and Right built-in mouse pads
• Bench seat that fits two children and offers storage inside for supplies
• Two locking cabinet doors
• Computer wiring stores safely inside ventilated cabinet.
• Locking castors keep unit from rolling during use.

Computer equipment features:

• Think Centre PC
• Internal DVD-ROM
• 1GB RAM (minimum)
• 160GB Hard Drive (minimum)
• 10/100 Ethernet
• Microsoft® Windows
• Sound Card and 2 External Speakers
• Surge protector
• 19″ Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor
• Custom Little Tikes Learning keyboard and Tiny Mouse (colors are subject to change without notice)

Computer Warranty: 1-year parts and labor.
Pre-loaded educational software:

• Millie’s Math House®
• Sammy’s Science House®
• Bailey’s Book House®
• Trudy’s Time and Place®
• Thinkin’ Things®

The set appears to be geared for schools, libraries, day care centers, and the like, but it’s funnier to think of it as the white-collar cousin to the McDonald’s cashier playset.

Considering that ThinkCentre PCs start at around $350 for the base model, and you can get a more attractive child’s computer desk for a few hundred bucks (or even less) this becomes an even more baffling product.

Young Explorer [Little Tykes via Dvice] (Thanks, Lisa!)

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