Wednesday, September 9, 1998 — North Shore News -— 13 north shore news i BUSINESS Wiz Zone wins with children’s software Michael Becker News Editor michacl@nsnews.com WILL your child be a com- puter programmer or a sys- tem analyst? Listen to the people watching employment trends and they'll point you to these ovo computer-related carcer options as the hot picks to shoot for. Parents meanwhile are left with some hard questions. When should my child get friendly with a personal somputer. Is my child being ieft behind if T don’t have the latest and greatest in software and hardware at home? David King and Karon Oliver operate Wiz Zone Computers tor Kids at Park Royal South in West Vancouver. They've made it their busi- ness to offer the largest selection of educational software in the province. Wiz Zone also provides a broad range of computer classes for children and adults. It’s a natural partnership. King bas been in the retail business for 14 years. Ten of those were spent in the retail end of computers as a buyer fora large electronics company. © Oliver is a teacher. For the past 16 years she’s been teaching adults in the corporate sector how to work with productivity software — word processing, databas- ¢s, accounting programs. King takes care of the retail side of Wiz Zone while Oliver oversees the educational programming. Wiz Zone is an independent com- pany. The name has been around for seven years since the company was started in Vancouver. _ According to King, during the early days Wiz Zone’s originator was focused on selling hardware and ser- vicing computers. The store offered turn-key solutions for first-time home- computer buyers. _ Just over two years ago King took over the company, which was going out of business. King purchased the assets, the trademark and reshaped the business from the ground up. When he bought the company it carried approximately 50 educational software utes. Wiz Zone now has over 500. Said King, “We have a lot of expe- rience from our learning centre in working with the programs and chil- dren, We see what they like, we sce what works and then we tend to rec- - ommend those titles.* Wiz Zone has a team of six instruc- tors. “In this industry you have to be constantly on your toes. You have to be checking out new software all the time. We want to be on the leading edge,” said Oliver. Where is the leading edge right now? Said Oliver, “f guess the besr way to describe it is that computers are becoming more and more powerful and more reasonable. What’s happen- ing is that the kids are able to do more on them. For instance to do the kind of animation and graphic programs that they can pick up very quickly now, a few years ago they would have had to have a $30,000 or $40,000 system to be able to do that. Now chey can do it at home on their computer with a rel- atively small program to do it. There’s more opportunity.” King and Oliver see some anxious parents with very young children who want to make sure their kids are exposed to computers as carly as age three. “Put it this way, whether a child starts with a computer at three or at five, i's not going to make any differ- ence, but we do have an advanced Wee Wiz Kids class — those kids are doing more than a lot of five- ty seven-year- olds can do, and they’re three and four. Tin not saying it’s not usctul, but in terms of applying those tools to their education, I don’t think it’s nec- essary at age three,” King said. Children are naturally attracted to computers and such interaction can be beneficial, But does the relationship also foster an isolation that cuts into the fragmented time available for fam- ilies to interact? Said King, “There is some truth to that, but 7 think if you took at televi- sion it’s less social. It’s just one-way communication. At least with a com- puter it’s prompting response and some action from the child. “I dink you do have to balance it. I know in our own home we limit the time on the computer.” The company’s primary market is pre-school to middle-school-aged children. It also offers a number of software programs geared ta sec- ondary school and college and univer- sity levels. King has witnessed much change over his years in the business. “Years and-years ago there were just a couple of products — one called Math Blaster, anocher called Reader Rabbit, funnily enough they’re still available and salt popular,” he said. With more computers coming into the homes with sophisticated graphic and sound capabilities, the market for learning on computers has grown exponentially. For just software, the market is growing 25-30% a year in Canada and the U.S. At rhe moment, approximately 40% of homes live with personal computers. The dominant software format is CD ROM, bur King is starting to see DVD (digiral video disc) titles coming out. The for- mat can hold much more information than its CD ROM predecessor. Said King, “It’s amazing. Just to give you an example of some of the content you can get now, there’s a title called the National Geographic. It takes 109 years of every single issue, every photo, every map, every article and they've got it packaged right now on 30 CD ROMs. With DVD that will be condensed now to probably four CDs.” Some of the latest computers avail- able include DVD ROM drives. Computers are becoming an enter- tainment and educational focal point in many homes. Families are putting them into living rooms. “I know that in my own home my son who is seven would rather watch TY or play with Sony Play Station, but when it comes to my daughter, she’s just three, she'll pass up on the TV to play on the com- puter any time,” King said. For now most people are buying software on disc, packaged in boxes. Eventually this will change too with the acceptance of the digital-to-digital transfer of software directly from the provider to the home. Said King, “I have no doubt that ulsimately, and Pm talking 10 or more years down the road, most of what you buy today in the way of software, you'll buy it digi- . NEWS photos Pau! McGrath KARON Oliver and David King recently moved their Wiz Zone Computers for Kids store to a new location at Park Royal South in West Vancouver. The store has the largest selection in the province of educational software for children. Oliver and King offer class- es for chifdren and adults too. tally over the Internet or some other method.” He says the majority of his cus- tomers are not quite ready for the process of downloading software over the Internet. Many consumers have concerns about the mechanics of downloading large programs and wor- ries about the security of buying things over the Internet. King doesn’t see much major change in his business over the short term, but he does believe the coming of speech recognition will dramatically change the way we use computers. “Even the top of the line systems from IBM and Dragon Systems are now under $300. It used to be thou- sands, We've scen few programs that actually us: speech recognition. It’s bringing in another level of interac- tion.” Meanwhile King and Oliver are exploring the world of software for children with special needs. “For chil- dren with any kind of learning disabil- ity we’re finding the computer is increasingly becoming a very good tool, not to solve the disability, but to help some of those children overcome the way they learn, We’re studying the market,” King said. e most out of Life ... “As a bus. ressional, I’m impresse: s 28 « TT b. eno BC hots abitytoinegrae “Our Goal is to Minimize your Tax Liability ...” BC Partners in Planning employs a teamwork philosophy in personal and corporate planning; it’s a bard match to find. I'm very comfortable providing a comprehensive approach to the financial planning needs of our clients. Together we can achieve more. with their expertise, abilities and ensuring my interests are always primary. Through effective planning, [ve Ed . For More 8C PARTNERS IN PLANNING LTD. 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