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Google releases smart watch for kids

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Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#741

Post by liveoneggs »

andrewla wrote: post #31

We'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…

"happy" is a bitch of a stretch with the gizmo since it's pretty much garbage but it does deliver on being a restricted communication and crappy tracking device at an affordable cost.

I'm on the fence about switching to a dumb phone or an apple watch next year (middle school).

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#742

Post by bilsbie »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #690
bilsbie wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did your relationship To your phone change?

I stopped using it as much. I had some reports of using it for several hours per day, which as an adult with kids was sort of internally shameful and humiliating. Yet it kept happening despite efforts to prevent it. The watch did a few things. It made it so I didn’t feel like I needed my phone around since my urge to have it was communication with my family or work. So, with that handled I could relax and leave the p…

Thanks very interesting.

My main concern would be filling all that newfound time.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#743

Post by colechristensen »

kelnos wrote: post #593
colechristensen wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My mom and best friend knowing where I am is not scary. What exactly am I supposed to be afraid of?

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#744

Post by yoyogogo69 »

reaperducer wrote: post #136
Someone1234 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A minor is going to get a phone plan w/o a guardian signing for it? In the US at least, it is trivial to get a phone plan without being 18 or having an adult sign for it. There is no credit check nor identity check. Just walk into any Walmart and pick up any one of a dozen prepaid kits. These plans require you to bring your own devices, but you can get a used/unbranded smartphone for under $100 and a plan with data…

you can get a used/unbranded smartphone for under $100 I got one at the bodega on the corner for $20. The owner wanted $35, but when I told him I'd pay cash, he took the twenty. It was in packaging from some carrier in Mexico, but wasn't SIM locked. No problems for the last year.

lol kind of funny something like 35 can be bargained down with cash. if im selling a used phone for 35 im for sure expecting to deal with cash but of course accept other payments as well since its at my store. i guess its even hard to pay for drugs in cash these days huh. i do know in korea cash is not even a thing anymore. either are plastic cards its just all through phones

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#745

Post by Night_Thastus »

I've never gotten smart watches.

There are some things that a smart watch simply can't do, due to limited screen size and resources. And if you're going to need to carry around a regular smart phone to handle those cases, why bother carrying both?

It feels weirdly redundant, more like a gimmick.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#746

Post by ghaff »

barbazoo wrote: post #717
77ko wrote: post #213

My kids main demand is the following features, and this watch doesn't deliver on any of them: 1. Whitelist contacts for calling and text call - installing an app is a pain for older ppl / friends. 2. Music: Why not Google? This already has headphone support and the Pixel watch hardware which support musics. 3. Maps: in case they need to go A to B. WearOS has google maps, so this should be an easy add. School bus is o…

> 4. Battery: 16hrs at launch is not going to age well... Sounds like a nightmare having to also manage your kids' watches and keep them charged just for them to barely make it through the day.

If they don't care enough to keep them charged, maybe they don't want/need them?

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#747

Post by aflag »

dgacmu wrote: post #178
aflag wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which apple device? I didn’t know they made watches for kids. Couldn’t find it either.

You can attach a kid watch to your iphone plan. They get their own number and are part of your family management. It works really well. At least one parent must have an iphone, though. There is no watch specifically for kids, we just gave ours my wife's old one (I'm on Android, so ...)

Sounds a bit different than what Google is offering. Google’s look more like imoo. Which is just a standalone device made for kids. So kids can pair their devices and use the restricted set of images (emoji-like but more restricted) and features. Everything in the watch is made geared towards kids (like classroom mode, for instance). That Apple Watch thing seems like an after thought and it seems a lot more expensive. I’m assuming that the iPhone doesn’t need to be near the watch for the kid to use, right?

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#748

Post by hi-v-rocknroll »

sambazi wrote: post #565
hi-v-rocknroll wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a fix to the "nerdiness" issue: Have the kids pick awesome bands or band/frame combinations from AliExpress. (They're about $5-20 rather than $60-200.) There are plenty out there to transform a watch to look nothing like an Apple or Samsung watch, and look nothing like anyone else's watch.

the aesthetic and authoritative effects of wrist watches cannot be understated

It's true. Design, aesthetics, and impressions cannot not be made, and so are always constructed even without attention. People, especially kids, associate much of their identity with their appearance. Sometimes, I pine that we ought to live as Quakers in some ways.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#749

Post by kundejenny »

stickfigure wrote: post #193
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 can only guess you (and most of the other naysayers in this thread) don't have young children. My wife and I have been looking for something exactly like this for our 6yo. I lost him on a ski slope once over a year ago and I think he's still traumatized. He recently was afraid of going on a class trip because he was afraid of getting lost. This isn't for teenagers. It's for kids that are still attached to mama/papa…

[dead]

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#750

Post by aeonik »

mustang-med wrote: post #121

My partner is on one of the teams responsible for red tape and cost-cutting at Alphabet. After having frequent conversations about past failed projects, I'm surprised this project got the green light. Personally, I don't see this product taking off. As a parent, I think it looks quite lame, and I don't think anyone at Google knows how to break into product areas for kids. I've seen quite a few headlines concerned abo…

Cisco is where middle aged engineers go to work 30 hours a week?

Why did they just buy Splunk?

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