5 ms·

First I've heard of it, but I had the same reaction as Cringley. Maybe it's an age thing. "Imagine v1 of Big Brother's -- or NSA director Keith Alexander's --

First I've heard of it, but I had the same reaction as Cringley. Maybe it's an age thing. "Imagine v1 of Big Brother's -- or NSA director Keith Alexander's -- most inflamed fever dream: a sensorbot shaped like a Russian nesting doll wearing a Hindi-cow smile. Then terrifyingly name it "Mother" and build it specifically to monitor as many facets of your personal life as it can. Are you schvitzing yet?" http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/sense-mother-may-i-the-most-disturbing-tech-of-ces-233998?page=0,1 http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/sense-mother-may-i-the-m...

joelrunyon 13y ago
Well "small [caring] mother" certainly sounds less intrusive than "big [intimidating] brother".
- michaelwww 13y ago
  For some people it's "small [caring] brother" vs. "big [intimidating] mother"
rosser 13y ago
I can't dispute the age thing, given that I'm in the oldest 5 or 10% of the community according to the various age polls we've had over the years, but my reaction (not having read Cringley's review) was, "Can this thing get any creepier? Oh, look; it can."
- michaelwww 13y ago
  I'm in the older age group and afaik so is Cringley since he's been around forever (if it's still him writing under that name.) I thought, well, maybe the kids will like it.
  - SiVal 13y ago
    The writer is not Mark Stephens, the PBS Cringely whose name is the first Google hit, but a current InfoWorld staff writer. I suspect they would share this opinion, though.
9999 13y ago
Yeah, the product name, copy, and the router design are pure nightmare fuel.
darklajid 13y ago
"schvitzing"? There are certain stylistic choices a writer can make that labels him as an instant idiot in my world. I chose not to read that link in full due to the word chosen here.
- darklajid 13y ago
  This is the lowest rated comment I ever got (in terms of downvoting). For future visitors of this place, my expanded rationale: "schvitzing" automagically reads like "schwitzen" (to sweat) to this German reader. Looking that word up on the net ([1], leads to [2]) results in either German or Yiddish origins and confirms that it is just that, just .. referenced in a weird way. Not knowing the author and his background I assume that this was chosen for effect - and I despise choices like that. I'm among the least patriotic people you'll meet, but if you're going to make jokes about $SomeEvilScenario and make it sound more .. legit, funny, interesting, believable by adding some sort-of-German-word-or-phrase you are not a writer, you're a fool, an idiot in my world. That author chose, according to what I can see, a 'German' (or Yiddish, doesn't change my opinion really) phrase to describe something scary. That's low. I wasn't a fan of that source before this article, but I won't visit it ever after. 1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schvitzing https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schvitzing 2: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shvitz#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shvitz#English
rattray 13y ago
I'm 22 and had the same reaction, fwiw.
- michaelwww 13y ago
  I'm relieved it doesn't seem to be an age thing. I have a nephew in his 20's who doesn't care at all about privacy and happily gives away all his data, so sometimes I wonder.
  - sdoering 13y ago
    I know people here in Germany, far older than my 35 who give away every single bit of their privacy (and in that the privacy of their communication-partners). For example: We have the so called "Spackeria" a post privacy movement, that arguments for not only willingly omitting every form of privacy, but to be brutally open/honest about everything in your life - and they really seem to mean everything. And I know of people in their early twenties caring strongly. So no, it does not seem to be an age thing, but more of a ideology thing.
brokenparser 13y ago
I don't usually jump to conclusions that quickly, it rather kept reminding me of the devolved people on the Axiom as depicted in Wall-E. See https://youtu.be/_xToQ4cIHkk https://youtu.be/_xToQ4cIHkk if you haven't seen it.
gr3yh47 13y ago
Yeah. crazy invasive and creepy was definitely my first reaction. I'm not a fan of the whole 'internet of things' to begin with, no thanks. My stuff doesn't need to track everything i do with it.

joelrunyon 13y ago

Well "small [caring] mother" certainly sounds less intrusive than "big [intimidating] brother".

michaelwww 13y ago
For some people it's "small [caring] brother" vs. "big [intimidating] mother"

rosser 13y ago

I can't dispute the age thing, given that I'm in the oldest 5 or 10% of the community according to the various age polls we've had over the years, but my reaction (not having read Cringley's review) was, "Can this thing get any creepier? Oh, look; it can."

michaelwww 13y ago
I'm in the older age group and afaik so is Cringley since he's been around forever (if it's still him writing under that name.) I thought, well, maybe the kids will like it.
- SiVal 13y ago
  The writer is not Mark Stephens, the PBS Cringely whose name is the first Google hit, but a current InfoWorld staff writer. I suspect they would share this opinion, though.

9999 13y ago

Yeah, the product name, copy, and the router design are pure nightmare fuel.

darklajid 13y ago

"schvitzing"? There are certain stylistic choices a writer can make that labels him as an instant idiot in my world. I chose not to read that link in full due to the word chosen here.

darklajid 13y ago
This is the lowest rated comment I ever got (in terms of downvoting). For future visitors of this place, my expanded rationale: "schvitzing" automagically reads like "schwitzen" (to sweat) to this German reader. Looking that word up on the net ([1], leads to [2]) results in either German or Yiddish origins and confirms that it is just that, just .. referenced in a weird way. Not knowing the author and his background I assume that this was chosen for effect - and I despise choices like that. I'm among the least patriotic people you'll meet, but if you're going to make jokes about $SomeEvilScenario and make it sound more .. legit, funny, interesting, believable by adding some sort-of-German-word-or-phrase you are not a writer, you're a fool, an idiot in my world. That author chose, according to what I can see, a 'German' (or Yiddish, doesn't change my opinion really) phrase to describe something scary. That's low. I wasn't a fan of that source before this article, but I won't visit it ever after. 1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schvitzing https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schvitzing 2: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shvitz#English https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shvitz#English

rattray 13y ago

I'm 22 and had the same reaction, fwiw.

michaelwww 13y ago
I'm relieved it doesn't seem to be an age thing. I have a nephew in his 20's who doesn't care at all about privacy and happily gives away all his data, so sometimes I wonder.
- sdoering 13y ago
  I know people here in Germany, far older than my 35 who give away every single bit of their privacy (and in that the privacy of their communication-partners). For example: We have the so called "Spackeria" a post privacy movement, that arguments for not only willingly omitting every form of privacy, but to be brutally open/honest about everything in your life - and they really seem to mean everything. And I know of people in their early twenties caring strongly. So no, it does not seem to be an age thing, but more of a ideology thing.

brokenparser 13y ago

I don't usually jump to conclusions that quickly, it rather kept reminding me of the devolved people on the Axiom as depicted in Wall-E. See https://youtu.be/_xToQ4cIHkk https://youtu.be/_xToQ4cIHkk if you haven't seen it.

gr3yh47 13y ago

Yeah. crazy invasive and creepy was definitely my first reaction. I'm not a fan of the whole 'internet of things' to begin with, no thanks. My stuff doesn't need to track everything i do with it.