Ride-on Unicorn could be the "killer app" for kids

Re:Ride-on Unicorn could be the "killer app" for kids by Terr_ on Friday March 29, 2024 @01:17PM (#39866542)

"And where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to? How dare you! How dare you come to me now, when I am this!"

-- Molly Grue, The Last Unicorn (1982)

But seriously, this seems creepy and unlikely to me. Oh, I'm sure someone could sell a few units for novelty, but I don't see it surpassing existing products in that niche, like those small ride-on electric "cars" for kids.

For one thing, that's a much higher and more precarious position for the little driver (or the whole unit) to fall down from.

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Re:Ride-on Unicorn could be the "killer app" for kids by JohnFen on Friday March 29, 2024 @05:44PM (#39869347)

Both of my daughters would have given their right arms for one of these if they'd existed when they were kids. I suspect my kids aren't unique in this.

On the other hand, there's no way I'd have allowed them to have one, out of safety concerns.

In the wider marketplace, I wonder which force would win out?

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Re:Ride-on Unicorn could be the "killer app" for kids by Terr_ on Friday March 29, 2024 @06:47PM (#39869850)

I expect the wider-marketplace to be dominated by parents who don't want to spend $1k-3k. :P

Also, it seems like the wrong fusion of functionalities. If there were a bunch of passable robo-friends for your kids on the market, wouldn't you want one that a child can hold during a car-ride and bring into the waiting room at the doctor's office? Something that isn't such a big battery-fire hazard to keep indoors while sleeping?

There's a reason teddy bears and tricycles are separate toys.

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