
Barbie Wants to Get to Know Your Child - tim_sw
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/magazine/barbie-wants-to-get-to-know-your-child.html
======
jonstokes
My girls -- especially my middle one -- spend lots of time talking to their
toys, having elaborate imaginary conversations in which they make up both
sides of the exchange. As far as I know, children in all cultures have done
this with dolls since time immemorial, which indicates to me that the behavior
somehow developmentally important. Do we really want to short-circuit that
with a gadget?

I think the effort to use technology -- screens, talking toys -- to relieve
children of boredom, and by "boredom" I mean "stretches of time in which
they're forced to come up with creative ways to entertain themselves and each
other", is one of the most regrettable features of modern life.

~~~
vinceguidry
I wouldn't idealize the past too much. I had stuffed animals that I played
with too as a kid, and readily gave them up for video games and consider
myself better off for it. I'd put Minecraft up against "playing outside" in
terms of social development any day. Wish I'd had it when I was 6.

Interacting with technology as a child means you're exposed to someone else's
vision and imagination. It does not destroy your own. In this regard, books
should be seen as just as bad, but they're not. I don't think people are quite
rational when they discuss this subject.

~~~
nsxwolf
I think you both have a valid point, and both things are valuable - time with
your imagination and time with other's imaginations. We try to moderate our
kids' use of iPad and video games, and got them into a routine where they
spend roughly equal time playing with their toys and arts and crafts and
playing outside.

They seem to self regulate, and we're pretty happy with how things are going.
We're not screens-paranoids, but we have noticed technology use tends to
become excessive when unregulated. When your kid wants to watch hours of toy
videos on YouTube instead of playing with real toys, a correction is in order.

------
toothbrush
I'm worried and/or saddened by how gendered it all is. I'm guessing it's not
the NY Times' fault but probably how the designers of this product think
that's shining through. It seems that for all our AI and fancy electronic toys
we're still in the '50s as a civilisation. It keeps talking about girls this
girls that, while i wonder, can't we just talk about children? Is it really
beneficial to foist these binary and dare i say reductionist gender roles on
impressionable kids? I guess many people have a vested interest in doing that,
but it'd be great if it could be toned down a bit, at least.

~~~
nsxwolf
My wife and I enjoy buying gendered toys for our children, and our children
prefer them. It could be an innate preference or one conditioned by us, but we
don't care and don't lose any sleep over it. Our children are happy.

We don't discourage them from playing with each other's toys, and they do, but
they exhibit a clear gender bias.

There's still a lot of parents like us.

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nerdy
Best part of this submission imo is this creepy image:
[http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/20/magazine/20barbie3...](http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/20/magazine/20barbie3/20barbie3-master1050-v2.jpg)

------
olefoo
I'm actually really impressed with the brand reimagining that's already going
on with Barbie speaking in an authentic millennial voice on instagram.

[https://instagram.com/socalitybarbie/](https://instagram.com/socalitybarbie/)

~~~
jarboot
I wouldn't say it's millennial, rather Generation Z or even beyond.

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anonymfus
Advertisement in toys for children must be banned. Seaman's "All hail Sega,
buy another Dreamcast" was a joke, but now treat is real.

~~~
anonymfus
...threat

------
njrc
You might also enjoy the recent novel Speak, by Louisa Hall. It's a thoughtful
treatment of the idea of speaking dolls/conversational agents and the
connections we form with them.

[http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Novel-Louisa-Hall-
ebook/dp/B00N0...](http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Novel-Louisa-Hall-
ebook/dp/B00N0WUPKU)

------
Digit-Al
"Hi. My name is Talking Tina... and I'm going to kill you."

~~~
mhurron
"Don't ask me, I'm just a girl. [giggles]"

~~~
sandworm101
Simpsons - s05e14

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej0iUcgNCpg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej0iUcgNCpg)

------
sandworm101
"You’re right. I should apologize,’’ Barbie said. ‘‘I’m not mad anymore. I
just want to be friends again."

So this barbie "friend" is incapable of walking away, of ending the
friendship, and will basically say or do anything to keep the child happy and
talking. That's not friendship. That's a perverse version of siri.

~~~
nsxwolf
I'm sure with the current state of technological advancement, we'll see toys
that can alienate small children very soon.

~~~
sandworm101
Lol, perfect marketing. Instead of the kid saying "I don't like this doll
anymore" she can now say "I need a new doll, this one doesn't like ME
anymore."

~~~
nsxwolf
One thing I've noticed, having 3 small children, is how today's toys compete
with each other for attention. If it has batteries, it exhibits the same needy
behavior: About a minute after you put it down, it will cry out something like
"Play with me!" or "Let's sing another song!".

It's really irritating when you put a baby down to sleep, sneak out of the
room, and a couple of the toys cry out their last desperate attempt to be
played with. I'd like to [meet] the genius that dreamed up this idea.

~~~
sandworm101
It was nature. Puppies do the same thing. All baby mammals seek renewed
attention when attention ends. It's an ancient survival instinct.

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MrZongle2
_" The game show also had an award for cleaning up gross stuff, including
bugs, and a Mattel lawyer fretted that it sounded as though Barbie was
encouraging kids to cruelly squash insects. Chidoni agreed. ‘‘PETA will come
after you,’’ she said."_

This paragraph filled me with despair.

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dang
Please do not editorialize the titles of submissions to HN. (Submitted title
was "Barbie Is Trying to Pass the Turing Test".)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

