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Google releases smart watch for kids

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Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#81

Post by skydhash »

darkhorse222 wrote: post #43
miketery wrote: post #27

Earlier 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.

Yeah there's discussion about this in scientific articles I've read, where at a certain point the social circle exists on these apps, and by a single individual removing themselves they are forced to effectively choose isolation. I experienced it myself when I deleted instagram. I realized that certain friendships that had been thriving on that channel didn't flow as well outside it, via texting for example. So I red…

> I realized that certain friendships that had been thriving on that channel didn't flow as well outside it, via texting for example.

I think it's a strain to call that friendship. Communication channels don't matter in case of friendship. I may text, call, email, etc... and it's all good. But it being exclusive to a specific platform is more a social circle or a club as you said.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#82

Post by dang »

zooq_ai wrote: post #14
janice1999 wrote: post #11

Anyone else who would be uncomfortable opting your child into location, behavior and health surveillance by the world's largest advertising company?

No. Because I'm not a loser with irrational paranoia and hatred towards corporations undermining my own ability to live a happy, productive life

Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.

If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#83

Post by andrewla »

ygjb wrote: post #56
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…

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?

Quite possibly I am not the target demographic -- I never really got the tomagotchi thing either, so maybe I'm just a soulless monster.

My kids have access to other electronic devices, but don't yet have a smartphone. The Gizmo is a nice intermediate step. They know what real games are like and they want those. As a parent I don't want the phone to be a source of distractions. Having these sort of half-assed games feels like the worst of both worlds; disappointing games that the kids don't like, and stupid distracting games that the parents don't want.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#84

Post by pavel_lishin »

okso wrote: post #37
janice1999 wrote: post #11

Anyone 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.

Flip that around.

My child has more freedom now, because I can let her walk further from home, unsupervised, to see if a friend can play - because she can immediately text me and let me know she's staying at the friend's house for the next few hours. She no longer has to wait for me to be ready to walk with her.

She can text me if she wants to be picked up from aftercare early. Or if she wants to stay later. Or if she wants to make plans for afterwards with a friend.

I don't mean to dismiss your concerns, they're valid. But this question also varies hugely with age. It would feel very odd tracking every step of my child's life if they were 16; it's different if they're 8.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#85

Post by gnicholas »

> You have control over when they can play on their Fitbit Ace LTE. Set downtimes during the day, while still letting them get in touch with you if they need to.

This sounds like a great feature. I want my kid to be able to reach me in an emergency, but I want there to be zero distractions during the school day. Hopefully Apple implements this on Apple Watches that use Family Setup.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#86

Post by atonse »

gnicholas wrote: post #85

> You have control over when they can play on their Fitbit Ace LTE. Set downtimes during the day, while still letting them get in touch with you if they need to. This sounds like a great feature. I want my kid to be able to reach me in an emergency, but I want there to be zero distractions during the school day. Hopefully Apple implements this on Apple Watches that use Family Setup.

There's been "School Mode" on apple watches for years now. It's a distraction-free mode.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#87

Post by gnicholas »

ygjb wrote: post #56
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…

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?

I agree that some kids would like this, but in my family we wouldn't give our kids smartwatches at that age (6-8?). I don't think this will hit with tweens/teens, both because of the UI and because Apple Watches will be perceived as more prestigious/elite (not endorsing the feeling — just saying that will likely be the impression).

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#89

Post by atonse »

rvnx wrote: post #64
philomath_mn wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right -- why would I risk $229 on this when I know the Apple Watch will be around for many more years?

$229 plus mandatory subscription of $120 per year.

Does this include the cellular plan? Then it's probably fine. But if we'd still have to get an additional cellular plan on top of this, then it's silly.

Re: Google releases smart watch for kids

#90

Post by [deleted] »

philomath_mn wrote: post #39
ZiiS wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not getting a phone you know about!

A minor is going to get a phone plan w/o a guardian signing for it? And use it in my house without me knowing? There is a lot my kid is going to do under my nose, getting a smartphone doesn't seem too likely (esp. if he has alternatives like a desktop).

[deleted]
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