There are times where you see something that leaves you absolutely speechless. I had a moment like this when I went to Banff, Alberta to go snowboarding. I kid you not, this place has some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my life. Go ahead and look up Banff and view images. Unfortunately, these moments are not always on the positive side. Last week, I stumbled upon Soshee: The Social Media Robot Dog that left me speechless.
Soshee is a robot dog that fits in the palm of your hand. The robot dog syncs up via Bluetooth and will bark or move anytime you get a notification on social media. You can choose different gestures: bark, tail wag, etc., based on notifications from different platforms. The project is on Kickstarter and currently has $26,115 dollars with a $250,000 goal.
Seeing that number, $26,115, is what left me speechless. There are actual people in the world that coughed up their hard-earned money to fund a dog that will bark whenever you get a notification. Not only is this technology pretty useless, but it will cost you $169 to purchase one. Do you think a small miniature dog that barks when you get a like on Instagram is worth $169. Can you imagine what else you can buy with $169? Literally anything else would be more useful than this. This reminds me of the ridiculous price of the Phone Bed, which is a $100 bed for your phone.
The creator Jason Buzi, boasts that he worked with John Nolan Studios to bring you the most “adorable” robot dog ever. The dogs are based off of a Hungarian Puli, which look like a giant mop. I personally do not find them to be very cute, but I can see the appeal. The Soshee looks like a clump of matted dreads that haven’t been washed in years. The brown one kind of looks like Chewbacca. This robot dog gives me the same creepy vibes that a Furby did when I was a kid.
Overall, the biggest problem I have with this dog is how useless the technology is for how expensive it is. Have we as a society become so lazy and bored that we need a portable robot dog to let us know when we get notifications. Why not put your phone on ringer mode and take that $169 dollars and splurge on some lunch and Airpods.