Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Furbies and Human Interaction


Today in class Dr. Langguth brought his daughter's Furby to our class. At first it was somewhat charming and funny to watch, and it is easy to see why children would attach to these creature-like toys. This is similar to what Turkle discussed, how children see the toy as a real pet they can interact with and develop a relationship with. However, I found it annoying how you can't turn it off, just like you cannot turn off a real pet. The difference is that one you know when to feed, but the toy Furby is more unpredictable and can turn evil if you feed it too much. I think that these toys are not teaching children how to develop relationships, but rather to rely more on their electronic toys, which can create addictions to electronic means of entertainment instead of promoting human interaction.

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