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posted by Fnord666 on Friday October 06 2017, @02:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the wahhhhhhhh dept.

Mattel will not sell an all-in-one voice-controlled smart hub / baby monitor, setting back the state of parenting by decades or even millennia:

Toymaker Mattel has shelved plans to build an "all-in-one voice-controlled smart baby monitor," after complaints about the device were raised by privacy advocates and child psychologists. According to a report from The Washington Post, the company said in a statement that the device, named Aristotle, did not "fully align with Mattel's new technology strategy" and would not be "[brought] to the marketplace."

Aristotle was unveiled back in January this year by Mattel's Nabi brand. It combined the smart speaker and digital assistant functionality of Amazon's Echo with a connected camera that acted as a baby monitor. But the Aristotle was intended to be a much more active presence in children's lives than an Echo speaker, with Mattel claiming it would read them bedtime stories, soothe them if they cried in the night, and even teach them their ABCs.

Mattel also appointed a new chief financial officer.

Also at Ars Technica and MSPoweruser.

Related: Amazon Declares War on YouTube by Launching Amazon Video Direct
Barbie Typewriter Toys Had a Secret Ability to Encrypt Messages — but They Didn't Think Girls Would
Amazon Dominates Voice-Controlled Speaker Market


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  • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Friday October 06 2017, @04:03PM (2 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Friday October 06 2017, @04:03PM (#578078)

    What an idiotic list of priorities.

    Once again, the assumption is that those using these things are the customer. In actuality your baby is the product.

    I fully expect them to go back to the drawing board and find some way to more quietly re-introduce the same invasive technology. Perhaps add a smiley face, add some blue LEDs, get some branding support from Barny the Dinosaur, get backing from a religious organization to add a hidden penis attachment, or such and such and just watch it sell like hotcakes.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday October 06 2017, @04:27PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday October 06 2017, @04:27PM (#578095) Journal

    This Mattel thing would have made raising my kidnapped babies much easier. Shame on you Mattel for bowing to the pressure!

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    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Friday October 06 2017, @05:49PM

      by frojack (1554) on Friday October 06 2017, @05:49PM (#578173) Journal

      Raising babies to WHAT, one might ask?

      If the only love and comfort came from blinking blue lights and soothing voices, what's to keep baby from growing up into family annihilators because their voices always intruding on soothing mechanical mama's bedtime stories?

      B.F. Skinner was already excoriated for this 50 years ago: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/skinner-air-crib [psychologicalscience.org]

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