05.12.05: TOY SHOPS across the British Isles have been forced to
ration Living Barbies intelligent dolls that help children with
homework. The existence of "corrupted" dolls has not diminished their
popularity.
When ordering the doll, parents specify the child's age, academic
ability and interests. A CD-Rom with appropriate educational material
and games is then supplied with the doll.
The child can ask the doll thousands of questions. The Barbie, which
incorporates speech-recognition software, uses an infrared link to the
child's PC to download information from the disk and talk her through
homework. If the disk does not contain the right information, the doll
can use the PC to access an educational web site. Living Barbie can also
chat to its owner, becoming a virtual friend.
There were concerns when engineering students created a "hacked" Barbie
that invited children to "come over to the dark side".
The students had sneaked their own chips onto the production line in
Scotland where Barbie's electronics are made. All these dolls have been
recalled. MP
