Essay #2

Liam O’Hara

IDS 3250

Dr. Stanovsky

15 October 2012

Tamagotchi: The Digital Pet

When I think of robots, the first thing that comes to mind tends to for me at least is the Will Smith Movie, iRobot or Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator”. The “good” robots in iRobot were there to take care of their owner and be a helping hand the same way an assistant would today. The robots demonstrated in Turkle’s book are not like the robots demonstrated in the movie, they are small and simple, but as time progressed they became more intellectual and adapted to the owners wants and needs. The earliest memory that I have of a digital device that is interactive dates back to the late 1990’s with the very popular Tamagotchi. For me the Tamagotchi was the digital device that many others and I used as a child that resembled the way I acted with people and animals. I would get to feed the digital pet at certain times of the day, clean up after it used the bathroom, help it recover from sickness which was due to the lack of attention. Also being able to see the Tamagotchi grow throughout all of the stages of life, ranging from the time it was a baby till it became a senior. Now looking back on my relationship with the Tamagotchi device for the first time in years, it seems weird and odd that I had this sort of relationship with a tiny device that was attached to my keychain, but yet at the time it felt completely normal and natural. It gradually became more and more of an important device and I always made sure I took care of the right way and fed it at certain times and avoided it from being sick. But if someone were to give me a Tamagotchi now, I don’t think the device would live past a week with my current busy schedule and lack of interest due to greater technological improvements in today’s world. And even know while reflecting on the little machine that is the Tamagotchi, I keep on referring to the device as “it” which gives the reader the impression that I believe the device is an actual living thing.

            The Tamagotchi is referred to plenty of times in Sherry Turkle’s “Alone Together”. Turkle describes the Tamagotchi affect on young children perfectly stating that “As Tamagotchi’s turn children into caretakers, they teach that digital life can be emotionally roiling, a place of obligations and regrets.”(pg.31) The way you interact with the digital pet that is attached to a key chain is very similar to the way you would interact with a physical, heart-pumping pet. You are always constantly caring for the digital pet, the same as you would to a normal pet, you also cater to the needs the same way which includes feeding it at certain times and cleaning up after it uses the bathroom. Having an early appreciation for a digital pet, such as the Tamagotchi, can have a positive affect on the way that person would interact with a human being or pet animal. It teaches the young children how to care and take after an object, even if it is stemmed from looking after a digital pet. It teaches the young responsibility due to the fact that the digital device can die if not given enough of attention. These are both great values that the Tamagotchi and other digital pets, devices, robots, and software are teaching the young children.

            When first reading Sherry Turkle’s Book “Alone Together”, it took me some time to understand the relationship the people had with these devices such as “AIBO” and “My Real Baby.”  What really caught my attention was when the elderly people interacted with the ‘My Real Baby” doll. I initially thought that it was weird and odd that people who haven’t given birth to a child in the past 40-50 years, found comfort in and enjoyed taking care of the baby doll.  The way that the elderly interact and took care of the “My Real Baby” is exactly the same, as they would interact with a normal baby child. But then after examining the situation, it’s similar to my experience with taking care of the Tamagotchi. You always try to satisfy the need of anything no matter what the object is. When the Tamagotchi is hungry, you feed it because it is a need and it is something you want to satisfy. And through learning and interacting like this at a young age provides a better foundation for how the person will react with future people.The Tamagotchi is just one of many digital pets, devices, robots, and software that resembled the way that people interact with people today. Throughout “Alone Together” Turkle conducts studies with different groups testing out the “AIBO”,

 ”My Real “Baby”, “Kismet”, “Cog” and many others. Each one of these digital services provide a sense of connection through every age group and it shows that we interact with these devices the same way we do with people.