Hacker News

points by WarcrimeActual 4 days ago | 0 comments

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you should just have better survival instincts than a toddler and not let the line wrap around your neck. And if you do have toddlers, maybe keep them away from the hanging machine.

[–] nextaccountic 4 days ago

If that's the official stance, then this robot will kill people. You can't expect people to never leave a toddler in the same room with the robot, unless they fully realize the implications of having a killer robot at home. Otherwise the consumers are being deceived

Products in the real world need to be better than that

[–] Closi 4 days ago

> If that's the official stance, then this robot will kill people. You can't expect people to never leave a toddler in the same room with the robot, unless they fully realize the implications of having a killer robot at home. Otherwise the consumers are being deceived

There are plenty of things sold that toddlers can kill themselves with, this is why parents have to spend ages 'toddler-proofing' their house. Same with dogs - supermarkets sell lillies but I can't have them in my house as I have a hungry dog that eats anything.

It's OK to have products which are not suitable for people with pets or kids.

[–] doctorpangloss 4 days ago

the discourse in hacker news is turning into a neurodivergent, overdramatized concern trolling competition.

[–] piloto_ciego 4 days ago

I'm getting frustrated with this sort of thing myself. Good lord people, chill.

[–] komali2 4 days ago

"Just let people be responsible for themselves" would work if we hadn't built a society that neutered everyone's ability to take care of themselves by gutting education systems and disconnecting people from political participation and social responsibility.

Tldr have you met people? There's a reason seat belt laws exist. If we're going to let companies sell things to this population we've fostered and not take our own responsibility, we have to put it on the companies.

A quick browse through any of the shock content subreddits will reveal a lot in terms of average people's understanding of risk.

[–] pinkgolem 4 days ago

No one is selling this, or am I mistaken?

As far as dyi projects go... This is harmless

[–] R1D3R 4 days ago

You are extremely mistaken. The linked page literally has a "add to cart" button front and center.

[–] jubilee33 4 days ago

So the solution to a less-than-capable, over indulgent, irresponsible society is... more coddling? More seatbelts! Can we try natural selection again pls?

[–] SR2Z 4 days ago

This might kill like three toddlers if one is installed in every home in America.

It sits several feet above the ground and is attached to the ceiling ffs. Unless you have the world's most clueless toddler who waits for this to fall just to sprint full speed at multiple ropes and you just so happened to install the winches with concrete bolts it seems pretty unlikely.

The toddler:robot win ratio is gonna be like 100:1.

[–] meigwilym 3 days ago

Locally, a two year old managed to kill himself by getting tangled in window-blind string. All toddlers are clueless, and no one wants theirs to be the outlier.

[–] TheBicPen 3 days ago

I agree with the rest of your comment but

>The toddler:robot win ratio is gonna be like 100:1

is beyond unacceptable for a consumer product.

[–] SR2Z 3 days ago

Maybe this is too generous. If the robot has a 4kg payload the toddler would really have to throw the fight, any toddler fatalities would probably be because they ripped the whole thing out of the ceiling and touched an exposed wire.

My point remains that even a toddler would reliably beat this in a fight.

[–] R1D3R 4 days ago

Toddlers exist in homes. It is their natural habitat. Keeping them away seems like a reasonable precaution. I'm glad we agree on that.