Are Todays Toys Taking The Imagination Away?

My wife and I recently took my 1 year old son to Toys'R Us to see about getting him something educational. Almost immediately we were bombarded with a deluge of items ranging from Interactive Software to toys that seem to be able to play all by themselves. Child not needed! As we made our ways through the aisle choosing Toy A and then comparing it to Toy B and then finding a Toy XYZ, it became very apparent that, while all these hi-tech toys were fantastic and fun to have, they, as well as the other electronic toys that my son has played with and cast aside already in his one year of life, would be played with for a day if not a week and then ignored. Frustrated and tired, we headed toward the exit. On the way we happened on a box containing a bucket with different shapes carved on the lid and several multishaped blocks.
Why did we buy it? Because my son liked it from the start. So much so, that he carried one of the blocks with him through the mall later on that day. It was a cheap toy. Only $10. But I know he's going to be playing with them for a while and we won't have to worry about him choking on a small piece. Or he opened the battery compartment and now he has a battery in his mouth and, oh, no! "Is a battery missing?" Or he threw it out of his playpen and now its broken.