The original Withings Wi-Fi scale was kind of cool. It offered adults a chance to carefully monitor their weight using Wi-Fi and apps to incentivise weight loss and weight management. But the new Wi-Fi baby scale that the company has unveiled at CES this year? Is it really the kind of gadget people would spend money on?
As the father of a six-week old baby who was born seven weeks premature, I probably care more about my baby’s weight than the average parent. Especially given she was only discharged from the hospital on Saturday because she had cracked the 2kg mark.
But the idea of spending $US179 for a baby scale seems preposterous. For a start, you’re only looking at about a 12 month lifespan before your child gets too big to fit in the cradle. Then there’s the weight issue – Engadget says that a heavyweight item like a watermelon could break the scale.
There’s the issue of using it enough to make the data recording effective – You’d need to weigh your baby every day at the same time to gather any accurate data, which is nigh on impossible with a new born. And of course there’s the question of why you’d need all that intricate data of your child’s weight gain in the first place. Maybe if your child has a medical condition, but that’s a very small market to be targeting.
But then again, maybe I’m just a little sleep deprived and cynical. New born babies do that to a man…
[Engadget]
Martin
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 2:00 PMwhy does it need wifi in the first place?????
i have a 7 month old myself and have found no need to constantly weigh my child every 5 seconds. they grow extrodinarily fast and things can change almost day to day. but really scales with a wireless network connection…WTF????
Theophilus
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 2:44 PMYeah but if you put a dongle in your baby (there is no way to not make that sound creepy), then you can be watching TV in the living room with while weighing them in the kitchen !!! So when the wife is saying “Honey how much does the baby weigh” you can keep watching the Miss Universe telecast, multi-tasking, bam.
Darren
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 8:22 PMYou win, sir. :)
Max
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 3:59 PMProbably not, but thanks for alerting me to the original WiFi scale… I think I might get one myself, it sounds convenient.
smurfydog
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 8:36 PMThis will appeal to the kind of neurotic, over-monitoring parent that seems to be so common these days.
@Nick Broughall – I had no idea your baby had stayed in hospital all this time. It must have been a pretty rough time for you both.
And you kept posting the whole time – like a boss!
Glad you’re all home now and things can start to be a little more normal – whatever normal means when there’s a newborn in the house!