Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Microsoft teddy bear robot to watch kids

This morning Charlie Sykes discussed new technologies that allow parents to monitor their kids' driving habits. When it comes to technology like that, I don't really have a problem with monitoring my kids. First, as long as they are under 18, they are the parent's responsibility. Because of this, I don't believe they have an iron clad right to privacy. Second, when they are behind the wheel of a car, a parent has to be concerned not only for their safety, but the safety of others on the road. Not every kid needs to know that their driving habits are being monitored, but some do, and because of this, I have no problem with this sort of monitoring technology.

There is a type of monitoring technology that I'm not sure I would ever use with my kids (when the lovely Mrs. Jib and I finally get around to having them). That would be Microsoft's prototype teddybear robot, which monitors kids with a camera and an internet connection. Let's think about this one. Just about anything on the internet is hack-able if someone wants to crack into it bad enough. Now you are going to webcast video footage of your kids over it? This is just asking for abuse. I wouldn't even put my kids' pictures on the web, let alone webcast video of their daily lives. The last thing I want is some pervert or kidnapper cracking into my kids' MS teddybear, finding out some of their personal information, and watching video of them in their bedrooms.

On top of all that, a teady bear whose head follows your movements is just plain creepy.

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