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Google releases smart watch for kids

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Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#591

Post by kelnos »

pavelstoev wrote: post #366
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

I strongly disagree with your comment. First of all, ALL kids must survive, not most. Safety and safety of knowing are two different things. Lastly, this tech looks a lot less intrusive than the current another watch that everyone is getting for their kids — this one appears to have more activity-engaging features.

> First of all, ALL kids must survive, not most.

I don't think anyone would really want to live in a world where we've done what's necessary such that literally all kids survive the various accidents and perils they might face out in the world. Such a world would be sanitized into oblivion.

This is just a variation on the "security vs. freedom" stuff. You can have perfect security if you don't allow for any freedom. But hopefully we can agree that a world with no freedom isn't one we want to live in.

But sure, let's step back from the extreme that you introduced. Are the downsides of pervasive 24/7 tracking and surveillance worth the (possible and as-yet unproven) increase in good outcomes? I can see that many people here seem to think it is, but I don't agree.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#592

Post by kelnos »

gotski wrote: post #486
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

I'm currently waiting for my kid to arrive on a bus that may or may not be running late. With regards to tracking, it would be really handy to be able to check their location to get a sense of how long I'll be waiting (and how late I'll be for my next appointment). I mean, reliable public transport and a good bus tracker app would be better, but probably not realistic in my city.

You could just call or text to ask the kid, rather than require that they submit to 24/7 real-time surveillance. "Really handy" doesn't seem to justify that.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#593

Post by kelnos »

colechristensen wrote: post #378
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

Basically every person i know in their mid-20s has a small group of people they have always on location sharing with. Usually a partner, a couple of close friends, and a parent or two. They don’t see it as any sort of problem to share this information. I get the tech focused millennial paranoia about this but when it gets down to it you have nothing to fear if the people you share that with actually respect you and y…

And the reason this is the case is because pervasive tracking and privacy invasion has become normalized during the formative years of these people's lives. It's not just sad, but actively scary.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#594

Post by richrichardsson »

broeng wrote: post #504
gofreddygo wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh jeez. I'm so glad i had none of this goofy tracking gump growing up. If teenage me had something that tracked every location, and I knew it, and my friends had them on too, I'd probably miss out on a lot of stuff I cherish. I had time limits, and a hard immovable low budget that made a lot of the bad stuff impossible. The rest was up to us to figure out and learn and improvise as we go. I'm better for those learni…

I have a toddler, and that has changed my view on it a bit, from the same starting point you are expressing. With the social pressure going on, I expect she'll get a smartphone earlier that I'd honestly prefer (not that we are there any time soon), and quite a bit before she's a teenager. So I honestly expect we'll be location sharing for a while, but I don't expect it to continue into the teenage years. By then it'l…

> With the social pressure going on, I expect she'll get a smartphone earlier that I'd honestly prefer (not that we are there any time soon), and quite a bit before she's a teenager.

Our kids (8 & 10) keep telling us nearly every kid in their class has a smartphone, but we're still not letting them have one. Fuck social pressure; that's an important lesson to be learned in itself.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#595

Post by kelnos »

partiallypro wrote: post #353
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

Seems to me that such devices could actually help give kids -more- freedom. Let's not act like kids are outside playing like they were in the 80s/90s. Helicopter parents sort of ruined that (along with neighborhoods no longer being bikeable/walkable.) So, this kinda seems like a device that could give kids a longer leash. Parents can know they are safe/where they are while also giving the kid more freedom to just be…

If true, that's sad, because it just further exposes the irrationality of these sorts of parents. This sort of tracking is not going to save the kid from being kidnapped or getting hit by a car. A little pulsing blue dot on a map does not tell the parent that the kid is safe.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#596

Post by kelnos »

reaperducer wrote: post #126
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

Kids don't need more tech, they need less of it (and FWIW, most adults, too). There was a "looking back" piece of WGN-TV last week about a 10-year-old and a 14-year-old who rode their horses from Missouri to New York City to meet Roosevelt. Alone. All they had with them was canteens, and a map. Then they bought a car with the money they raised along the way, and drove home to Missouri. Alone. Today you can't get an a…

To be fair, it's probably a good thing that people are hydrating.

But spot on with the rest of the stuff. And the stereotypical image of an adult sitting, buried in their phone, absently sipping from a water bottle is just too funny.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#597

Post by blitzar »

kelnos wrote: post #537
blitzar wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> kids being constantly tracked is absolutely scary Isn't that how the vast majority of the net worth of NH readers was generated?

... by... tracking... kids? No, I don't think so. You have a pretty weird conception of what HN readers do for a living.

> what HN readers do for a living.

Work for one of the FANGS, a social media platform, in ad tech, in big data (anything with humans) or any company that monetises through a) advertising or b) selling user data.

I am sure there are some people who work in financial services as well but they are probably considered to have lower moral standards.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#598

Post by kelnos »

faeriechangling wrote: post #227
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

I was about 3 years ahead of my peers in spatial reasoning and behind them socially. When I was a kid leaving me alone meant I was likely to wander long distances end up in a pool and drown. If anything I see this as enabling parents to keep their kids on a longer leash so to speak.

So... how is a GPS-tracker watch going to save you from drowning? It's not like your parents are going to be able to cover that distance quickly enough to save you.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#599

Post by beeboobaa3 »

khazhoux wrote: post #316
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #106

Ugh, I threw up a little in my mouth just from the headline. This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. And yes, I totally admit, some kids (very few actually depending on the locale) didn't survive. But we've traded this false sense of "safety" for kids that are so risk averse it is seriously negatively…

> This constant tracking of kids is unnecessary and dangerous. Generations of kids survived without their parents needing to know their location at all times. This topic is always so alarmist. I have kids and a spouse. We all have Find My and Location Sharing on our phones. I don't FrEaK oUt that my kids are going to die if I'm not tracking their every movement. But it's nice to glance at Find My app and see if the k…

Abuse of power is very convenient to the abuser, yes.
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