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Mother

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Re: Mother

#141

Post by mscarborough »

hrktb wrote: post #123

They would have called this little sister, they would avoid so much of tastelessness surrounding their current branding...that put apart, what it's doing is already 50% doable by current smartphones + an arm band eventually (alarm , podometry, sleep control), and the other things it's trying to solve doesn't seem to be solved in a reliable enough fashion. You'll have to update your coffee capsule count every time you…

No kidding.

Sorry Nest, but programmable based-on-your-schedule thermostats have been around for a long time. Can't do it with your smartphone, but it's really not hard to use the settings.

Coffee? Buy beans when you're running low, what about any of these things are complicated?

Re: Mother

#142

Post by mbrock »

brazzy wrote: post #129
avighnay wrote: post #118

This thread is a good example why name matters. If the same product was given any other name, perhaps it would not have been noticed that much. A set of motion sensors with a central comm hub. The makers perhaps thought that the name 'Mother' would evoke care and love in the minds of their users. To their agony, it is revealing in the thread that though most people love their mom, they really do not want to be a 'wat…

Actually, branding and marketing something like this without invoking fears of total surveillance seems almost impossible, especially right now.

Well, you could maybe do something open for tinkering, and that doesn't broadcast your whole life to a central server -- but is there any money in that?

Re: Mother

#143

Post by mscarborough »

kstenerud wrote: post #69
bluejellybean wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment is fantastic! The trend in pointless analytics is annoying and isn't solving any real problems. All the ‘problems’ Mother solves are not really problems and it doesn’t seem to serve any truly useful purpose. Wakeup times - Already solved by the alarm on your clock. Managing drink consumption - Drink more or less than you currently do. Staying fit/active - Go workout/exercise once a day. Step tracking - O…

"Check-ins - Have your kid text/call you when they arrive home. Can’t use a phone? Don’t leave them alone." Or better yet: Leave them alone and stop hovering. The world is safer today than it has ever been, and yet parental paranoia is at an all time high.

If this product isn't a joke, then yeah.

I don't see how it's not. Is "hi mom/dad" being disrupted by innovative technology?

Re: Mother

#145

Post by brokenparser »

michaelwww wrote: post #3

First I've heard of it, but I had the same reaction as Cringley. Maybe it's an age thing. "Imagine v1 of Big Brother's -- or NSA director Keith Alexander's -- most inflamed fever dream: a sensorbot shaped like a Russian nesting doll wearing a Hindi-cow smile. Then terrifyingly name it "Mother" and build it specifically to monitor as many facets of your personal life as it can. Are you schvitzing yet?" http://www.info…

I don't usually jump to conclusions that quickly, it rather kept reminding me of the devolved people on the Axiom as depicted in Wall-E.

See https://youtu.be/_xToQ4cIHkk if you haven't seen it.

Re: Mother

#149

Post by PavlovsCat »

CodeMage wrote: post #20

That was a really poor choice of a name. It took me less than 10 seconds to start hearing Pink Floyd's "Mother" [1] in my head. Once that started happening, I just couldn't stay objective while looking at the pitch. [1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0HrrR9QDQU

I skipped right past even trying to be objective and thought of this Body Count song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3CYTwpLhVY

Re: Mother

#150

Post by jawr »

Did anyone notice this:

"Cookies immediately send everything they capture to the nearest Mother."

For me, that's a bit of a scary statement considering how intimate the product is meant to be in someone's life.

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