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Product: Toy: Sound
Call Center Barbie   (+4, -2)  [vote for, against]
Connected Play

A WiFi or cellular network connected toy, that connects in real time to a human that can both manipulate the toy's behavior as well as speak through the toy's speaker.
-- theircompetitor, Jul 12 2006

Shouldn't this be under sex toys?
-- DrCurry, Jul 12 2006


Who would be speaking through the speaker? A trained professional or some slightly deranged man from Milwaukee with an amazingly high pitched, feminine voice?
-- Gallus, Jul 12 2006


A trained professional, of course -- and yes, DrCurry, that would be one option, of course.
-- theircompetitor, Jul 12 2006


Do you have kids? This is a terrible idea. Why not call it Abduction Barbie?
-- MoreCowbell, Jul 12 2006


would it argue with you if you intend to send it back for repair and it disagrees?
-- po, Jul 12 2006


"Barbie wants you to get Mommy's credit cards and go to the phone and call this number..."
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jul 12 2006


Read Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" - it has one of these, only with more nanotechnology.

I was imagining a traditional Barbie, wearing loose fitting clothing and watching daytime TV, due to her job having just recently been outsourced to Mumbai.
-- zen_tom, Jul 12 2006


zen, The Illustrated Primer is on my list of projects to get to in my lifetime, and doesn't really require nano, does it? Put it on a laptop or phone and use an MMP engine. If you have the actors, you're ready to go.

To all those talking about Aqualang above -- think daycare. And think supervised call center with recorded calls, maybe echos to mommy.
-- theircompetitor, Jul 12 2006


No it doesn't require nano - that was just me being facetious - the concept of an actor coming as part of the package was most certainly halfbaked in the Primer though. I think the trickiest part of implementing such a package is having a round-the-clock team of actors available on a minute-by-minute basis.

The technology is there (as you state re WiFi etc) but I think the logistics (potentially one actor for every toy sold - during peak periods, and none at all during lulls) make for a very difficult business model.
-- zen_tom, Jul 12 2006


If we all had to pay royalties to Stephenson we'd be missing 90% of Internet startups, much less halfbaked ideas :)

The Primer is certainly an exciting vision, and has to do as much with his ideas on childhood and family and education as anything else -- this idea is much more humble, looking for some achievable spontanteneity in a wind up doll
-- theircompetitor, Jul 12 2006



random, halfbakery