Will toddlers really "tweet" before they can talk? That's what inventors at a Belgian university are hoping for with Twoddler, a "tricked-out Fisher Price Activity Center" customized with photos of family and friends. Whenever the child presses a picture, a pre-formulated "tweet" is sent to the tot's personal Twitter feed for Mom or Dad to read. (Watch a Fox report about how Twoddler works.) Though Twoddler is still in prototype phase, not every commentator is entranced:
You'll never get a break from your kids: Until now, working moms and dads have been able to enjoy adult conversation simply by going to the office, says Charlie Sorrel at Wired. Not anymore. The existence of Twoddler "negates the whole point" of the "day-care center." But there's an upside: "At least Mom always has the option to un-follow her offspring."
"Twoddler toy lets toddlers tweet"
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It might prove useful for new parents: Twoddler is unlikely to ever replace "baby monitoring tools," writes Adam Ostrow at Mashable. But new parents unused to leaving baby at home could certainly "see some use for it" when they crave reassurance that their toddler is alive and well without calling the sitter every five minutes.
"Twoddler: the baby toy that twitters"
Toddlers are ideally suited to the 'Twittersphere': Twitter is the ideal forum for the type of "bovine and contentless utterances" that we expect from toddlers, writes John Brownlee at Geek.com. It's populated by "gummy, drooling neonates" who can't even spell. "Consider this tweet that popped up just today in my friends list: 'I love to poop!' You're telling me a toddler didn't write that?"
"The twoddler is a twitter interface for toddlers"
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