"Alive Enough"

     In Alone Together, Sherry Turkle emphasizes the changing relationships humans have with machines. Turkle is concerned that people will begin to rely more on technology. In the novel, Turkle describes talking computer programs that date back to the 1970's. She then talks about later inventions such as Tamagotchis and Furbies. These devices are engineered to interact with children.
   
     Tamagotchis and Furbies are both made to interact with children. Furbies cause children to become too attached and make them believe that the Furby is an actual human being. Since the Furby has the ability to speak and move, children belive it is "alive enough" to be considered real. Furbies want to relate to humans and they demand that children take good care of them.

      Furbies in Alone Together, give children an illusion that they can teach the Furbies to speak English. This is inaccurate because they are programmed to speak English after a period of time. A young boy describes the difference between an action figure and a Furby when he says: "You do try to get power over it, but it has power over you too." This shows that Furbies can be very demanding and require to get what they want when they want. These robots aren't human beings, yet children are allowing them to over power them by spending all their time taking care of these machines. The Furbies should not be considered "alive enough" because of their ability to move and speak like humans.