The ancient hand-me-down television set in my family had a habit of going on the blink at the most inopportune moments.
Once, while watching a particularly compelling cartoon called It's A Small World with my mother, the TV suddenly cut out, leaving me in frustrated tears.
The VCR clunker we had chewed up our video tapes more often than it played them. And the no-brand family computer burnt out unceremoniously after a few months - admittedly after too many games of Digger.
It was no wonder then, that books - with their permanent print, textured pages and comforting heft - kept me company throughout those growing-up years. Books were portable in a way that electronic devices were not back then. Novels did not need to be constantly recharged.
And they certainly did not go blank on you at the most exciting part of the story.
These days, however, the electrical appliances I own are of better quality. As a result, I am astounded by how adept my two-year-old son is at picking up technology.
While I learnt my ABCs from good old books, my son was introduced to his through an educational website (www.starfall.com) with animated letters of the alphabet that we both watched together on my laptop.
As a kid, I got my dose of Sesame Street on TV. My son now plays interactive games with well-loved characters like Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on www.sesameworkshop.org.
And while I only started operating the family's Fuji film camera around the age of six, my son now takes pretty decent pictures with our Canon digital camera. Plus, he's a pro at operating the DVD player to screen his choice of The Simpsons episodes.
A documentary I once caught on Arts Central demonstrated that children who are good at playing computer and video games are often better at absorbing information presented in the classroom with the help of high-tech teaching aids, compared to those who are less confident with such technology.
It struck me then that it is not just enough to simply equip our children with knowledge, but also to familiarise them with the means of acquiring knowledge in the world they have to deal with in future.
For me, the sooner they start experimenting with the electronic interface that more and more of our society operates through, the better.
Of course, concerned mothers around me have pointed out that leaving your child to do as they like with tech toys is as likely to do them harm as good.
Among the potential risks: Myopia from prolonged staring at computer screens, social ineptitude from playing computer games solo all the time, or eventual transformation into a cultural ignoramus from lack of exposure.
A study two years ago even concluded that videos which supposedly help to turn babies into geniuses actually impede their development, because of the passivity involved in viewing them.
My friend, a 30-something mother of a one-year-old boy, ells me she limits the time she exposes him to the laptop. Then again, as soon as her son was able to sit up, she was already letting him use the web-cam to communicate with Dad when her husband went on business trips.
I guess the key words here then are "supervision" and "moderation".
Just as I've had to be pried away from the computer on days when Internet shopping gets the better of me, I've also had to put a firm stop to my son's YouTube fix of Elmo songs in order to get him to indulge in other activities or go to bed.
If all else fails, I've stocked his library with the books I've grown up with - the Key Words
With Ladybird series, featuring Peter and Jane; and boxed sets of 1970s Chinese books for young children, with their gloriously bold illustrations.
Best of all, YouTube or not, my son knows that there's always a warm space in my lap just for him and his bedtime story.
And Mummy's reading voice almost never goes kaput.
