On the social networking site Facebook, I have less than 100 friends. On the social networking site Twitter, a plant named Photos has 2,627 subscribers (as of this posting) following its status update. For those who are not members of Twitter, all it is a site where you update your friends of what you are doing with short 140 character phrases. The plant is able to update its status using a device called "Botanicalls". Botanicalls costs around $100, and has to be assembled at home. The device is placed in the soil in which the plant is in and regularly reads the moisture content of the soil. Via the Internet, the plant updates its Twitter homepage saying things such as "Water me please", "thank you for watering me", or "URGENT! water me!". Of course these are preset calls for water, but the owner has the ability to change the messages to whatever they see fit. The creators of Botanicalls were quoted as saying, "The spirit of Botanicalls is not creating a robotic plant. The spirit of Botanicalls is really re-engaging people with nature and getting them to pay attention." How is this encouraging engagement by taking your mind away from your plant until it has to tell you to water it. This is not the first time Botanicalls tried to have plants communicate with their owners. In 2007 Botanicalls make a version that would call the owners phone to tell them to water the plant. It even went as far as to give plants from different areas of the world had accents that reflected that region.
This story just completely rubs me the wrong way. For most people who take care of plants or garden, it is seen as a way to relax and take care of something. Some even use it as a way to get in touch with nature, even if it is on a small scale. To me this just seems as another way to be even more lazy. Instead of going to check on your plant, which may be as close as the next room, you can instead stay on the couch and with your cell phone check if it has posted a twitter update. Plus, I like the plants that are in my apartment, but if they were always telling me to do something that might change pretty quick. It would seem more like a burden. Aside from that, how difficult is it to notice if a plant needs to be watered?
The other part of this whole thing that I don't understand is why over 2,600 people would want to be updated when someone else's plant needs to be watered. And I know that I probably should not be getting worked up over a plant that can Twitter, but I just think it is so ridiculous to be spending time and money on a device that will tell you when to water a plant (this goes both to those who made it and those who buy it).
In news that does make me happy is that both Dean Koontz and Dan Brown have confirmed they each have a new book due out this year. Dean Koontz will release the third book in his Frankenstein series, and Dan Brown will finally release a new book. Dean Koontz was supposed to release the third Frankestein in 2006, but was delayed after hurrican Katrina. Dan Brown's book will be another in the Robert Langdon series. I am just happy he's not riding the wave of the The Da Vinci Code anymore and is going give us something new.
Question of the Blog: Would you want your plants to talk to you?
Talking Plant:
http://tinyurl.com/d9nlmu
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