In chapter two of Sherry Turkle's Alone Together, she researches children's attachments to Furbies. I thought this chapter was interesting because of how all of the children she gave Furbies to became so attached to them. I was wondering if any children did not bond with their Furby. It seems odd to me that every child would have such a similar reaction. I had a Furby when I was younger, but I did not have the same reaction as any of these children. I enjoyed playing with my Furby for a few weeks, but I did not even come close to the level of attachment as these children felt. In all honesty, I was scared of my Furby. I did not like that it constantly needed attention and its voice creeped me out so I hid it in my closet. In chapter three, a girl is talking about her AIBO, a robotic dog, when she says, "I was afraid it would turn evil or something" (62). This is how I felt about my Furby; I was worried it was evil, as weird as that may seem. It sounds even stranger now that I am older and know that it was only a toy.
I find it odd that there is not much opposition to these robots in Turkle's book. It makes me wonder if she did not experience many who opposed the new robots or if she just kept them out of her book because they did not help her theory. What do you think? Did you ever have a Furby, and if you did, how did you react to it?
I never had a Furby as a child but I think I would react the same way as you did towards it. Having a talking machine in my room would scare me as well.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the way the children are obsessed with taking care of their Furby is unhealthy. Taking care of their Furby seems to be the only thing that is on their mind. As you have said before, Furbies cause the children to become too attached and make them believe that this robotic toy is "alive enough" to be considered a human being. Children consider the Furby to be "alive enough" because its ability to move and speak like a human. In my opinion, children taking care of these Furby robots teaches them to let technology take them over.
I did not have a Furby when I was young. However, my best friend did. I was HORRIFIED of it. When I would spend the night, I would demand that it be put out of sight.
ReplyDeleteIt is frightening to read about how these children reacted. It is the exact opposite of how I reacted to a Furby. Why are these children so comfortable with sociable robots? I am terrified of dolls or things that should not be able to talk, but do.
However, I agree with Adrianna that the children became so attached because they see the Furbies as "alive enough." They are not human but the children are comfortable with them because they exhibit human characteristics.
I had a Furby when I was little, and that thing was incredibly annoying. When I first got it, I felt very attached to it and I wanted to make sure it got all the attention it 'needed'. The first night I got it, my Furby kept making very strange noises, and kept me up all night. It would continue to make those strange noises when I was not giving it my full attention, like during dinner or when I played with my other toys. Once I had the Furby for about a week, I begged my parents to take it back.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the book I remembered my experience with a Furby, and also wondered if Turkle was simply not publishing negative stories about Furby. It seems very unlikely that all of the children she examined had a strong connection with their Furby.
I agree with you. I had a furby when I was younger as well and we didn't mesh very well together, so I tortured it. I hated it and I hated me so it was a pretty great relationship for about three weeks and later on I lost it. While reading this I too noticed that all the children loved theirs so I went online to research. It turns out that a lot if people really disliked they're furbies and believed that they were possessed
DeleteAlone Together really only shows one side of the Furby controversy. I also googled it and discovered that many children hated their Furbies and would torture it as well. I think Turkle purposely left this counter-argument out because she feared it would go against her thesis and had nothing to rebuttal back. I personally never owned a Furby because my parents thought it would be annoying. I wonder since their generation contained no pet robot toys if they felt it was unnatural and harmful to my emotions. Maybe they were afraid I would become attached to it and lose sight of what was truly "alive."
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