3 ms·

This Robotic Ball May Change Everything

10 points by hornbaker 13y ago

georgemcbay 13y ago
Presumably this is a PR originated piece, because it surely reads like one. In any case, having a headline this ridiculously hyperbolic is actually a negative, IMO. The Sphero is certainly cool, but if I click through to read about something that "May Change Everything" and then realize they are talking about a remote control ball, it actually hurts my perception of the product more than it helps. You delight people with the delta between reality and expectation. If you blow the expectation up too much, even a reality that would otherwise be delightful seems kind of lame and stupid.
Duhck 13y ago
As an owner of two spheros, I disagree entirely. This ball is fun for the first 5 minutes, once the honeymoon phase is over, it just sits on the charging station glowing blue, incessantly. It was nice when my dog liked playing with it and I could entertain him for a few minutes, but seriously, it has caused very little excitement outside of that.
egypturnash 13y ago
I'm not sure what exactly it's likely to change. Although I wonder at its resolution as a controller. I kinda want to have one sitting on my desk that I can spin to control some aspect of my drawing program's interface. Or whatever.
gus_massa 13y ago
Video of "Sharky the Beaver" game that use the ball and augmented reality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPn3jVGQw68 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPn3jVGQw68
jgalt212 13y ago
Here's a an idea that may change everything: A site that ranks news sources based on two axes(% of PR fed articles and hyperbolicity of headlines) Journos may not get paid a lot, but they really don't have do all that much with PR Agents writing articles for them. Maybe that's why they all write books--they have so much free time b/c others do their day job for them.
ignostic 13y ago
I was so confused about how the ball would "change everything" that I looked up product demos. >"This is literally at the cutting edge, blending the physical and the virtual world." Sounds pretty impressive. "What am I missing!?" I wondered, "how is this different from the RC cars I played with growing up?" Turns out this is all just hype for an orb controlled by an iPhone. Flagged for manipulation @6 points.

10 points by hornbaker 13y ago

Presumably this is a PR originated piece, because it surely reads like one. In any case, having a headline this ridiculously hyperbolic is actually a negative, IMO. The Sphero is certainly cool, but if I click through to read about something that "May Change Everything" and then realize they are talking about a remote control ball, it actually hurts my perception of the product more than it helps. You delight people with the delta between reality and expectation. If you blow the expectation up too much, even a reality that would otherwise be delightful seems kind of lame and stupid.

Duhck 13y ago

As an owner of two spheros, I disagree entirely. This ball is fun for the first 5 minutes, once the honeymoon phase is over, it just sits on the charging station glowing blue, incessantly. It was nice when my dog liked playing with it and I could entertain him for a few minutes, but seriously, it has caused very little excitement outside of that.

egypturnash 13y ago

I'm not sure what exactly it's likely to change. Although I wonder at its resolution as a controller. I kinda want to have one sitting on my desk that I can spin to control some aspect of my drawing program's interface. Or whatever.

gus_massa 13y ago

Video of "Sharky the Beaver" game that use the ball and augmented reality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPn3jVGQw68 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPn3jVGQw68

jgalt212 13y ago

Here's a an idea that may change everything: A site that ranks news sources based on two axes(% of PR fed articles and hyperbolicity of headlines) Journos may not get paid a lot, but they really don't have do all that much with PR Agents writing articles for them. Maybe that's why they all write books--they have so much free time b/c others do their day job for them.

ignostic 13y ago

I was so confused about how the ball would "change everything" that I looked up product demos. >"This is literally at the cutting edge, blending the physical and the virtual world." Sounds pretty impressive. "What am I missing!?" I wondered, "how is this different from the RC cars I played with growing up?" Turns out this is all just hype for an orb controlled by an iPhone. Flagged for manipulation @6 points.