I guess that whole “Internet of Things” thingy is really taking off, huh?
Yesterday, Target announced that it’s introducing a “Connected Nursery” section to 450 of its stores nationwide. And according to an article in Fast Company, the section will effectively become every (millennial) parent’s one-stop shop for techy solutions to their child-rearing problems.
Some of the items will be things you knew you kinda maybe should have — like a baby weight-and-length tracking scale or a digital thermometer. And some of the items will be things you didn’t realize you ever wanted OR needed — like a “smart” rubber ducky for $99 (that I’m not even convinced you can put in the water in the first place).
Unsurprisingly, this announcement has already received a lot of mixed reviews.
On the one hand, there are some child care experts who argue that parents have been doing the “parenting” thing for thousands of years without the help of connected technology…and have generally done pretty well for themselves.
And on the other hand, you have those who are arguing that today’s parents, especially younger ones, believe that “smart” technologies could actually help them keep their families healthier and happier — but that there just has to be a balance.
To this point, it turns out that Target did its homework and had representatives spend time in potential consumers’ homes, observing the parents and talking with them about different products that could make things easier for them. Target discovered that what mattered most to parents were having more reliable ways to track their child’s health and development, and better ways to comfort them.
Where do you fall in this argument? Do you think we’re going a little overboard with IoT devices and our kids? Or do you think that smart gadgets are a necessary part of keeping our families safe, healthy, and happy?
