de.tech.ting

sesame street is launching a redesign that cost $14 million.

fourteen.  million.  dollars.

for a website.  yep.  no theme park, no movie, no dvd.  just the website.

what, is  kermit blogging in hugo boss?  miss piggy doing virtual reality in diamonds and dolce & gabbana?

ok, to be fair it’s $14 million over two years but, um, does $7 million sound all that much better?

let me put this in perspective:

mariah carey’s engagement ring = $2.5 million

cast of desperate housewives annual total salary = $10.1 million

total population of zimbabwe = 13,349,000
give everyone a dollar, and you’d still have enough left over for a redesign.

my real concern is this:  by the time kids are somewhat self-sufficient on a computer, they are typically past the sesame street age and into dora.  sesame years are lapware years — the parents are right there, child on lap, navigating the mouse.  which is all fine and good…but it doesn’t replace the much needed parental time-out when you can comfortably plop your child in front of the tv knowing sesame street is on the guilt-free list.

so, money well spent?   here’s the ‘before’ … we’ll see when the new site launches august 11th.

ps — you can buy this for $14 million, too.