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Google releases smart watch for kids
51–60 of 809 posts
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#52There's no mention of software support lifetime. If this is just another multi-hundred dollar electronic gadget that's going to be useless in 2 years, why would I buy it for my kid? I can get a refurb Apple Watch SE 2nd gen direct from Apple for $209. I'm clearly not going to buy this Google watch because of the price.
2 years is an eternity in the field of kids tracking devices. I sure wish it's supported for longer, but also don't expect to use it that much longer if there's a better device 2 years from now.
In particular you'll be paying a monthly subscription, so you'll still be paying the same price whether you stick to this device for 10 years or not.
On the Apple Watch it's a completely different proposition, in particular you absolutely need to pair to an active iPhone.
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the issue at hand is yes you can enforce this at the family level. However unless high maturity / self awareness the kid will struggle if his peers all have phones. This needs to be a campaign pushed at the school or even county level.
Yep. Their class at school has a WhatsApp or similar group chat.
We can fire up WhatApp on desktop or tablet -- the constant access is the biggest issue I have with smartphones.
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#54$230 device, plus $10/mo, and that is per kid. At what age does Google think kids are responsible enough to be given such a device?
Google’s views on this could be quite interesting to hear.
Remember the (long ago) episode when Schmidt suggested that kids change their names to avoid connection with online antics in the past?
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#55Anyone else who would be uncomfortable opting your child into location, behavior and health surveillance by the world's largest advertising company?
Does anyone else feel uneasy about the idea of children having to curb their behavior because they know they're being constantly monitored by their parents? This product concerns me not only due to corporate advertising surveillance but also parental spying.
And then when they finally break free they don't have any feedback mechanism that they had since childhood. This can go both ways. They might turn out to be model citizen or your worst nightmare.
People raised children for 1000s of years without any technology. I bet we can do that too.
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#56We've been happily using the Verizon Gizmo watch for a while now. It's a deliberately crippled smart watch. No games, no apps (it has a step counter and a stopwatch, but that's about it) -- some calling functionality, some messaging functionality, tons of oversight (limited contacts, all contacts must be approved by a guardian), and location tracking. It's kind of bad at all of these, but our primary thought is to ha…
IDK, showed it to my 12 and 15 year old. It's a bit too "little kid" for them, but both of them would have liked it when they were younger.
You call it bullshit, but maybe you just aren't the target market?
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#57If I have kids, I will never trust them with an evil and dangerous company like google, same goes for facebook too, the business model been and still exploiting, abusing, and selling users’ data. An open source alternative, both software and hardware would be ideal for kids, in the meantime, being a good and dedicated parent is the best strategy, and keep your eyes on your kids, tech isn’t needed.
It's privacy-protecting; their location will be private, only you can track them all the time, the apps installed, Google and their SREs, the US government if they want to (but they most likely need to ask), etc.
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#58Anyone else who would be uncomfortable opting your child into location, behavior and health surveillance by the world's largest advertising company?
Does anyone else feel uneasy about the idea of children having to curb their behavior because they know they're being constantly monitored by their parents? This product concerns me not only due to corporate advertising surveillance but also parental spying.
I suspect that parents might be more permissive if they have access to location and means of communication.
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#59What's the benefit of this over a cheap LTE Apple Watch? I'm not an AW fanboy (Pebble/Garmin for me), but I had always anticipated getting my kid an LTE AW when the time came.
It doesn't look like the pricing is much different, and for families with iPhones it would presumably be simpler to stay in the Apple ecosystem. Is there something I'm missing, or is this just for Android families?
Regardless, I'm happy to see innovation in the space.
Re: Google releases smart watch for kids
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does anyone else feel uneasy about the idea of children having to curb their behavior because they know they're being constantly monitored by their parents? This product concerns me not only due to corporate advertising surveillance but also parental spying.
And then when they finally break free they don't have any feedback mechanism that they had since childhood. This can go both ways. They might turn out to be model citizen or your worst nightmare. People raised children for 1000s of years without any technology. I bet we can do that too.
Possibly -- but we're looking at a smartwatch to give our 7 y.o. _more_ freedom. If he has a way to call home and we can check on his location, I'm much more likely to set him loose in the neighborhood.
Something for us to think about, though.