Get off your ass... or no tv for you!

May 19, 2005 10:39 AM

Smart Shoes. "Run Billy, RUN! Only 5,800 more steps and you can watch American Idol!"
posted by miss lynnster (18 comments total)

That's just evil.

There was somebody on TV this morning that was pitching expandable children's shoes. Kid's shoes sure are expensive but really.
posted by Mme. Robot at 10:46 AM on May 19, 2005

If Billy were really smart, he'd be using those steps to get as far away from schlock crap like American Idol.

I like this idea though. Rewards systems for kids and tv work better than denying tv as a punishment. And, as a bonus, getting kids out walking around means they're more likely to run into something really interesting and not just something that will occupy their time (aka garbage shows like American Idol and The Ashlee Simpson Show, which kids actually do watch!).
posted by fenriq at 10:50 AM on May 19, 2005

Kids are going to love it, or they're going to hate it. I could see it going either way: the kids think it's cool, end up competing with each other for record amounts of TV earned, etc... or... they're going to whine and "forget" to wear the shoes, or complain that the shoes don't look cool enough, etc.
posted by Specklet at 11:00 AM on May 19, 2005

Have we as a civilization become so lazy that not only do we need to wear shoes that insist on exercise before TV, but for children whose parents are so lazy, they can't be arsed to figure out whether their children are walking enough or watching too much mind-melting programming? Or are they just too glued to the tube to care?

The very idea that there'd be a demand for these shoes speaks volumes about today's culture.
posted by Saydur at 11:06 AM on May 19, 2005

Isn't this a little like the gps tracking for school kids that was all over the place a few months ago? Kids deserve some privacy too, even if it's lazy privacy.
posted by Mme. Robot at 11:11 AM on May 19, 2005

Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equates to precisely one minute of TV time.

Would I be a bad parent if I let a child watch Seven the next time it's on TV? Running time:127 minutes.
posted by biffa at 11:11 AM on May 19, 2005

Saydur, yes and yes.
posted by fenriq at 11:19 AM on May 19, 2005

Kids these days will just hack their shoes. Technology is a poor replacement for parental involvement.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 11:34 AM on May 19, 2005

Next up, the do-gooders will mandate this just like the v-chip.
posted by caddis at 11:34 AM on May 19, 2005

Technology is a poor replacement for parental involvement. But it's the only one we have.
posted by QuietDesperation at 11:43 AM on May 19, 2005

I don't need my shoes to tell me whether I can watch TV, but traditional pedometers don't work for me, so shoes that counted my steps *would* be cool.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:51 AM on May 19, 2005

This reminds me of the Nintendo Power Pad. You had to 'run' really fast to win at Track And Field, or you could sit on the ground and pound the pads with your hands. That was a lot less work and a whole lot faster.
posted by anthill at 11:53 AM on May 19, 2005

"I don't need my shoes to tell me whether I can watch TV"

That's a great line, jacquilynne
posted by Mme. Robot at 11:55 AM on May 19, 2005

I'm envisioning a line of kids at the Walmart paint section loading their shoes one pair at a time into the paintcan mixers.
posted by stenseng at 11:59 AM on May 19, 2005

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

This will increase the returning of the pervious remote control system used in my childhood, because it will add an allowance for TV viewing.
You may even recall this family exercise where the family member controlling the TV set exercised the show being watched and you being the channel changer by turning the knob on the set for them. Worse of times was when you were w/o a TV guide to see the day’s TV shows and time schedules.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:18 PM on May 19, 2005

pervious remote
talking about kids here a big whoops...please make that, "previous remote."
posted by thomcatspike at 12:20 PM on May 19, 2005

Those shoes are going to get some VERY tough love. Kid's won't bother hacking them, they'll just destroy them. Can't be cheap to fix either.
posted by lucien at 10:09 PM on May 19, 2005

I heard of this on the radio in the morning and it reminded me of another tv/exercise machine I've seen - the bicycle-powered set. I saw someone using one on a (heh) tv program once.
posted by PY at 2:00 AM on May 20, 2005