New Brainwashing Tool

[Legend]

http://www.hasbro.com/toothtunes/

Right. Okay, so I find this thing disturbing on a lot of levels. I understand some people might think "What a great way to get my kids to brush their teeth!" but...really, besides the fact that the parents should really be able to motivate their kids to do so on their own..a toothbrush that plays music directly to your brain? This is -seriously- disturbing. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but how easy would it be to plant subliminal messages on something like this, and then a message not to tell anyone? They could easily brainwash our kids! This is even more dangerous than cloning! ^_-

Still, it is really disturbing, I think. I don't want music playing in my brain. I don't want anything but my own thoughts inside of there, thankyou very much.

[Ming]

Tha sad truth of the matter is that parents have gotten so bad at parenting nowadays that they need to rely on every crutch available to them, or else their kids run the potential of dying or becoming criminals by age 7.

While Legend's point is valid that they COULD use something like this as a means of brainwashing children into doing anything from smoking, buying things, or killing their parents, the parents are really the ones to blame. Hasbro is simply fulfilling a demand made by inadequate parents.

This also has to do with the fact that we've completely run out of ideas for new technological innovations. So instead of thinking harder, we've started to see how many innovations we can put together to make new, useless hybrid innovations. It's the reason why we have cell phones with cameras built in, USB George Foreman grills, sunglasses with built in Bluetooth capabilities, sneakers that link up with you iPod, and caffeinated soap. If you want to have your kid listen to music while they brush their teeth, but them an iPod, or put a waterproof radio in the bathroom.

[Silver Adept]

I can see how this would work out - obviously the motivation issue is an important one, but for people who have very little good sense of time, like me, having a two-minute tune playing for brushing teeth would actually be helpful - you keep going until the song quits. Simple enough. With this tech, it still goes to the inner ear (or at least claims to), which says it's going to be heard rather than felt. Where it's coming from could be very disorienting. I'd say, though, this has as much chance of carrying the subliminal as any other audio stream.

Thing is, you'd better like the song you pick for at least as long as you intend on using the toothbrush. I can see this as being something that kills popular tunes through over-saturation. I'd rather wire mine up so that it turns on and I get two minutes of a live NPR feed in the morning than a pop tune, but that's me.

[GAAZ]

Seriously...The technology involved here is awesome...I'm going to go buy one of these toothy-brushes tonight! WOO!

Seriously...I don't care about children...This looks like something I personally would like.

[Blackmage]

[reaper]

It doesn't play music directly to your brain, its the exact same thing as how you hear yourself talk. It transfers the sound up the jaw bone to the inner ear. So yes I guess you could plant a subliminal message in it, the same way you can plant one in anything you can hear.

But ya I would like this for myself lol, rather than the high pitched vibration sound I get from my sonicare.

Edit: ahh SA beat me to the punch

[Al the DLOE]

[Jolly Roger]

Finally a way fer me to trick lobsters into looting fer me. Those land lubbers'll ne'er know what hit'em. Yar Har Har!

[Silver Adept]

[Ultrawolf]