@bobby_jo-jo Hey, you in the red jumper. Don’t you just love snack time?
@jo-jo_bobby Luv the gingerbread. What are these crazy new toys they gave us?
@bobby_jo-jo They big ones call it a Twoddler. What a stupid name!
@jo-jo_bobby So right. LOL!
@bobby_jo-jo Catch you later. I need to Tweet my mommy.
If developers in Belgium are successful with their new prototype, this conversation, or more likely, a much-simplified version of it, could start taking place in preschools everywhere.
The “Twoddler”, built on a Fisher Price Activity Center chassis, features buttons with pictures of Mom and Dad or even playmates, along with buttons that produce lights and sounds. Pre-defined messages are sent via the todddler’s Twitter account, (yes, that’s right, little Bobby will have his own social media address), to a loved one when he interacts with that button for a period of time.
Messages like “@bobby_mommy Bobby misses mommy and looks forward to playing with her this evening” are likely candidates. Now, parents can experience guilt and separation anxiety electronically, 24/7, from any location.
The toy also has the potential for kids, in say a preschool setting, to interact by pressing a button that will result in a colored, blinking light going off on a playmate’s Twoddle. Anybody want to party?
If you’re mumbling to yourself that this must be the dumbest invention since the Snuggy, you might be interested to know the Twoddler is the winner of a prestigious award. The prototype beat out around 40 other submissions to win the 2009 Innovative and Creative Applications competition, for its potential to combine hardware and software to bring communication and interaction to the non-verbal.
Does anyone else see Tweeting pets on the horizon?
As one who as two kids recently classified as toddlers and one currently in that category, I think this is ridiculous. Either the child’s attention span will be so short that he or she will never play with it and never send tweets or it will become a “blankie” of sorts spamming mommy and daddy with tweets.
Can you toss it in the toy box with the rest of the toys? What happens when juice is spilled on it? Why didn’t the video show actual kids playing with it?
Also, how guilty will parents feel when they see a tweet from their son or daughter that says “I miss you and want to play”?
I’ll pass on Twoddler and go play dolls with my daughter for a while.
At this age, my guess is that the box the Twoddler came in would be of more interest than the product itself.
A good toy should parallel development needs in the child’s stage of growth. At such a young age, toys for sensory experience or cause/reaction seem to be much more approrpiate.
I’m no parent, but I think this is another lesson of too much too soon. Kids will be in front of a computer for school/work before they know it. Let them enjoy the time away from one as long as they can!
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