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Good on you! At one point I thought I might want to be a product person at Google and interviewed for it. Their example product was a smartwatch for kids. I tol

Good on you! At one point I thought I might want to be a product person at Google and interviewed for it. Their example product was a smartwatch for kids. I told them that I thought that I would object to that product on the basis that kids need fewer, not more screens. I was naive enough to think that this was a trick question but, needless to say, they passed. I'm still proud of my answer.

ridaj 5y ago
? You could've said that it doesn't have a screen. You could've said that it respects children's attention by not offering distractions on demand. It seems to me you can design a smart watch for children with these kinds of characteristics rather than opt out of the exercise altogether.
- option_greek 5y ago
  And they would probably have passed regardless. No distractions and screens probably means no ads and that's most likely a no no for the former do no evil company.
  - ridaj 5y ago
    I suspect that, with their bet on cloud in particular, they're hiring in many places where ads don't matter. Even in the mobile OS world, where ads is eventually where they make some of the money, they have a clear adoption challenge first...
  - handrous 5y ago
    You forgot the other thing they love: humanity-scale dragnet surveillance (to feed "the algorithms"). If it can spy on lots and lots and lots of people, they might still be interested.
- anshorei 5y ago
  But how will you show the kids ads then?
  - haliskerbas 5y ago
    Haptic feedback when you get close to the right Cheerios box or Lego set. Some Pavlovian type stuff
    - effingwewt 5y ago
      I quite literally shivered in abject horror at the thought that some advertisng schmuck will read that and jump on it. We need to ban advertising.
      - NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
        You'd love The Santaroga Barrier by Herbert. I typed of this excerpt and have used it countless times: >To those men in their oddly similar dark suits, their cold eyes weighing and dismissing everything, the people of this valley were a foe to be defeated. As he thought of it, Dasein realized all customers were "The Enemy" to these men. Davidson and his kind were pitted against each other, yes, competitive, but among themselves they betrayed that they were pitted more against the masses who existed beyond that inner ring of knowledgeable financial operation. >The alignment was apparent in everything they did, in their words as well as their actions. They spoke of "package grab level" and "container flash time" -- of "puff limit" and "acceptance threshold." It was an "in" language of militarylike maneuvering and combat. They knew which height on a shelf was most apt to make a customer grab an item. They knew the "flash time" -- the shelf width needed for certain containers. They knew how much empty air could be "puffed" into a package to make it appear a greater bargain. they knew how much price and package manipulation the customer would accept without jarring him into a "rejection pattern." >*And we're their spies, Dasein thought. the psychiatrists and psychologists - all the "social scientists" we're the espionage arm. The Santaroga Barrier, Frank Herbert, 1968
    - polynomial 5y ago
      ok, this is the guy we want to hire.
- javajosh 5y ago
  Those discussions did happen, and I agreed that there was a niche possibility for a product targeted at parents of young children. Maybe. But they didn't want to talk about a niche product (it's Google, after all) and after thinking about it I didn't feel comfortable with the idea at any level - it trains kids and parents to be dependent on tech, trains kids it's okay to be constantly tracked, and while there are undeniable benefits, there are undeniable costs, too. The older the kid gets the more problematic it all becomes.
  - m_mueller 5y ago
    As a parent I've actually been thinking about this for a while. These watches are now very common btw, roughly half of the 7-9yo in the neighborhood have em. IMO ~9 should be the minimum age and the tracking should only be activated on press of an emergency button. I haven't yet found a product like that, they tend to give zero control to the kids. Aren't people concerned with their kids learning responsibility?
    - MandieD 5y ago
      I’d love to be able to give my kid something that’s primarily an analog watch but with an “I’m lost/scared” button.
      - polynomial 5y ago
        I feel lost/scared just thinking about this world we have built, with all its perverse incentives.
      - Tijdreiziger 5y ago
        A traditional 'dumb' phone seems to loosely fit this definition.
      - JTbane 5y ago
        Just get a flip phone with a prepaid call/text plan.
    - gnicholas 5y ago
matsemann 5y ago
I once was contacted by a recruiter from the company owning most of the big newspapers in my country. They were putting together a team to be the first in the region to make news tailored for the reader. I turned them down, and actually told them it was on ethical grounds. With how bubbly and divided the news landscape has become the later years I feel that was a good call.
jacobsenscott 5y ago
There are smart watches for kids, and as a parent I thought they were great (my kid is old enough for a phone now). They had a very limited set of features but my kid could call me or text me silly pictures anytime, and I could call him or text him back. And I could see his current location. They had terrible battery life though. But I'm not one of those parents who things screens are inherently bad anyway. I think you would be hard pressed to find any credible evidence to the contrary. I grew up on screens and now I have a good job as a programmer where I can provide a good life for my kids.
jefftk 5y ago
I don't know, I'm considering one for my kids. The oldest is seven, and it would be great if they could go to the nearby park by themself. Kids watches that function as cell phones would work very well for this.
deckard1 5y ago
> I would object to that product on the basis that kids need fewer, not more screens. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping. Why javajosh? Why aren't you helping? Would it be too on-the-nose to point out that this hypothetical smartwatch would probably be running Android?

ridaj 5y ago

? You could've said that it doesn't have a screen. You could've said that it respects children's attention by not offering distractions on demand. It seems to me you can design a smart watch for children with these kinds of characteristics rather than opt out of the exercise altogether.

option_greek 5y ago
And they would probably have passed regardless. No distractions and screens probably means no ads and that's most likely a no no for the former do no evil company.
- ridaj 5y ago
  I suspect that, with their bet on cloud in particular, they're hiring in many places where ads don't matter. Even in the mobile OS world, where ads is eventually where they make some of the money, they have a clear adoption challenge first...
- handrous 5y ago
  You forgot the other thing they love: humanity-scale dragnet surveillance (to feed "the algorithms"). If it can spy on lots and lots and lots of people, they might still be interested.
anshorei 5y ago
But how will you show the kids ads then?
- haliskerbas 5y ago
  Haptic feedback when you get close to the right Cheerios box or Lego set. Some Pavlovian type stuff
  - effingwewt 5y ago
    I quite literally shivered in abject horror at the thought that some advertisng schmuck will read that and jump on it. We need to ban advertising.
    - NaturalPhallacy 5y ago
      You'd love The Santaroga Barrier by Herbert. I typed of this excerpt and have used it countless times: >To those men in their oddly similar dark suits, their cold eyes weighing and dismissing everything, the people of this valley were a foe to be defeated. As he thought of it, Dasein realized all customers were "The Enemy" to these men. Davidson and his kind were pitted against each other, yes, competitive, but among themselves they betrayed that they were pitted more against the masses who existed beyond that inner ring of knowledgeable financial operation. >The alignment was apparent in everything they did, in their words as well as their actions. They spoke of "package grab level" and "container flash time" -- of "puff limit" and "acceptance threshold." It was an "in" language of militarylike maneuvering and combat. They knew which height on a shelf was most apt to make a customer grab an item. They knew the "flash time" -- the shelf width needed for certain containers. They knew how much empty air could be "puffed" into a package to make it appear a greater bargain. they knew how much price and package manipulation the customer would accept without jarring him into a "rejection pattern." >*And we're their spies, Dasein thought. the psychiatrists and psychologists - all the "social scientists" we're the espionage arm. The Santaroga Barrier, Frank Herbert, 1968
  - polynomial 5y ago
    ok, this is the guy we want to hire.
javajosh 5y ago
Those discussions did happen, and I agreed that there was a niche possibility for a product targeted at parents of young children. Maybe. But they didn't want to talk about a niche product (it's Google, after all) and after thinking about it I didn't feel comfortable with the idea at any level - it trains kids and parents to be dependent on tech, trains kids it's okay to be constantly tracked, and while there are undeniable benefits, there are undeniable costs, too. The older the kid gets the more problematic it all becomes.
- m_mueller 5y ago
  As a parent I've actually been thinking about this for a while. These watches are now very common btw, roughly half of the 7-9yo in the neighborhood have em. IMO ~9 should be the minimum age and the tracking should only be activated on press of an emergency button. I haven't yet found a product like that, they tend to give zero control to the kids. Aren't people concerned with their kids learning responsibility?
  - MandieD 5y ago
    I’d love to be able to give my kid something that’s primarily an analog watch but with an “I’m lost/scared” button.
    - polynomial 5y ago
      I feel lost/scared just thinking about this world we have built, with all its perverse incentives.
    - Tijdreiziger 5y ago
      A traditional 'dumb' phone seems to loosely fit this definition.
    - JTbane 5y ago
      Just get a flip phone with a prepaid call/text plan.
  - gnicholas 5y ago

matsemann 5y ago

I once was contacted by a recruiter from the company owning most of the big newspapers in my country. They were putting together a team to be the first in the region to make news tailored for the reader. I turned them down, and actually told them it was on ethical grounds. With how bubbly and divided the news landscape has become the later years I feel that was a good call.

jacobsenscott 5y ago

There are smart watches for kids, and as a parent I thought they were great (my kid is old enough for a phone now). They had a very limited set of features but my kid could call me or text me silly pictures anytime, and I could call him or text him back. And I could see his current location. They had terrible battery life though. But I'm not one of those parents who things screens are inherently bad anyway. I think you would be hard pressed to find any credible evidence to the contrary. I grew up on screens and now I have a good job as a programmer where I can provide a good life for my kids.

jefftk 5y ago

I don't know, I'm considering one for my kids. The oldest is seven, and it would be great if they could go to the nearby park by themself. Kids watches that function as cell phones would work very well for this.

deckard1 5y ago

> I would object to that product on the basis that kids need fewer, not more screens. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping. Why javajosh? Why aren't you helping? Would it be too on-the-nose to point out that this hypothetical smartwatch would probably be running Android?