Ah, to be young again. Tweens, and their ilk, run everything in this pop culturized world. They control the music we listen to, the stupid movies we are forced to see at the multiplex and the covers of all of our used-to-be favorite magazines. Youth is king, so they say. So what’s next for this roving horde of pimply Justin Beiber fans? Wearable technology of course! Hallmark, the very same greeting card company from back when you were a tween, has created an armband that is simply a youngster’s ultimate dream come true.
Text Bands allow the younger set to text and be texted all from the comfort of their ever-growing wrists. Why is this tween-specific? Adults like texting too, after all. There are several limitations that would make this tech frustrating for those of us with fully developed cerebral cortexes. For one, there is a ten character limit to the texts you can send. Yes, ten characters. That is about 1/14th of how long a Tweet can be. When they say the young have short attention spans they really weren’t kidding. Also, the UI seems a bit clunky, forcing the push of a button to scroll through the alphabet for each of those ten characters.
Still, the tech is kind of cool. Information can be exchanged through a simple high five or fist bump, using a propitiatory blend of NFC capabilities. And, being as how they are being marketed to kids, we can’t help but see one major use for the Text Bands. Cheating on tests is about to get a whole lot easier. After all, “num8=C” fits snugly within that ten character limit.
These are available now at the very reasonable price of $15 a pop. That’s a hell of a lot better of a bargain than taking the tween in your life to see one of those Disney pop star tours or something.
