Slashdot Mirror
Date Pagers
Structured Audio writes: "Found this in Dvorak's Forbes column. These
are hip in Japan,
China,
and Germany.
See those links for details, but it's essentially a pager-like
device that you program with details about who you'd like to
date. When it detects you're near someone who also is wearing
one of these, and your profiles match, it gets the two of you
into a conversation. Wow!" These frighten me.
I had a friend get me a pair of Lovegetys from Japan when they came out two years ago, and I immediately thought they were an interesting idea.
... a grade-school kid. (I assume he decided not to pursue, but who knows?) There were also some geek info on wiring up a cell-phone type vibrator to them.
Here's the lowdown: First of all, they are _very_ simple. I don't know what kind of "programmability" is claimed in Dvorak's article, but the ones I have, the original Lovegetys, can only be set to one of three modes: OHANASHI (chat), KARAOKE (as in "let's go sing"), and TOMODACHI (friends). The TOMODACHI mode was originally called GET (as in "come get me" or "let's get in on"), but apparently that was too blatant so they changed it. The way it works is there are two models, the men's model (white) and lady's (pink, of course). If two Lovegetys of opposite sex come within five meters of each other regardless of mode, they beep and the small "FIND" lamp flashes. But if both are set to the same mode, the beeping is faster and the larger "GET" lamp flashes. That's all there is to it. Also, the lady's model's beep is a little higher-pitched. And you can turn off the beeper and just have the lamps flash.
They are also very cheaply made. They cost 3000 yen (under $30US), consist of a very simple-looking circuit board with five LED indicators, and the body parts are injection-molded plastic. They have auto power-off, but it doesn't work at all -- both of mine will suck up the batteries (AAA x 2) if left in overnight.
So how popular were they? Well, I understand they initially sold a lot of units in Japan, but the boom has definitely died down. The manufacturer's website, http://www.interland.co.jp (printed on the back of the units), no longer has any mention of the products; apparently the company has moved on and gone into the real estate business. When they first came out, their website supported a bulletin board, and most of the postings were, as might be expected, from guys complaining that they'd been trying them out but still weren't meeting any chicks. I remember one hilarious posting from a guy who said that after weeks of no luck, he finally got a bite while walking around town. He looked around excitedly, and found his to-be-sweetheart, with her flashing Lovegetty, was
It doesn't surprise me that the websites mentioned are in (besides Japan) China and Germany. There is no way these will ever become popular in the United States. The only place with even a remote chance is New York City, since it's the only place which has public pedestrian crowds like those in Tokyo and Hong Kong. In Japanese cities, everyone gets around by train, and the stations are the commercial hubs where thousands of people, from office workers to teenage girls, mill about and hang out, and that's the environment (also the overcrowded trains themselves) required. I suppose an American shopping mall might work, but then teenagers who hang out at malls probably don't need these to meet partners.
One interesting application that I thought of, though, was for drug dealers. It's anonymous, discreet, and just like with mates, you can advertise what you have and what you're looking for. Of course the downside is the undercover cop who's got one.
Eventually, cell-phones or similar devices will probably gain Lovegety-like functionality. And you can bet they'll be coming from Japan. Heck, they've had Tamagotchi-on-your-cell-phone ("Tamapitchi") for a few years already (and your Tamapitchi can call your friend's Tamapitchi!) Oh boy.
Sound like you've not spent much time in clubs (whether Tokyo or elsewhere). Quiet conversation is impossible. Hell, some places any conversation is impossible. Appearance and "style" rule--they often are the only possible way to choose what new people to meet. A more intelligent reason for going off to a corner and having a (probably shouted) conversation with someone is a Good Thing.
"Intimacy without social interaction" is an oxymoron. Social interaction needs an initiator, especially in large groups in noisy environments. This device can provide that initiator. At that point, as always, you're on your own.
We already have a wonderful radio-controlled device for eliminating potential mates: it's called a cell phone.
If you're flirting with someone and their cell-phone goes off, you learn one of three things by their response.
If they shunt the call into voicemail to continue their conversation with you, you know they are busy, but well balenced individuals who know how to seperate their leisure time.
If they shunt the call, but have to check the caller-id first, they have a little more difficulty seperating leisure time, but at least they know where their social priorities are.
If they take the call right there in front of you, you instantly know that they believe either they or their associate are more important than you are as a potential romantic interest. Make your getaway as fast as possible. Optionally suppliment their digital communication with a digit of your own if their snub was blatant enough.
Of course, if they left their cell-phone at home or turn it off completely, you know you've got someone who's down-to-earth enough to realize that communication isn't just about talking to people who aren't in the room with you.
--
Rob Carlson
Uhm, being a German geek who likes to check out any new gizmo and who lives in Hamburg where there are a lot of technology-gadget shops, I'd like to mention that I have never seen these devices anywhere.
Ok, so this is a gadget I *wouldn't* buy.*
But nevertheless, the only time I ever saw these things mentioned anywhere was in a newspaper article about a singles party event where they issued these things to the visitors as a gimmick. But that's it.
(* Yes I know, you don't believe me, anyway.)
P.S.: Note the German web page. It is dated 1998.
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You may like my a cappella music
The feds could track the pager transmissions, and effectively study the social metrics of dating and mating with a whole new level of efficiency. Just imagine, getting a tip from the CIA, that the girl in apt 4b might just have what you are looking for. Nothing like Big Brother trying to find you a date on Friday night, hell they need to get you out of your apartment so they can search it. Might as well kill to birds with one stone :) Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't stay up this late, does weird things to the mind
-Master Switch, one more element in the machine
There was a story at CNN about the gaydar device. However, I think people had better watch out where they choose to wear it, what they program into it, and so on.
Frankly, I wouldn't want to see one of these fall into the hands of drunken/violent homophobes with baseball bats.
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"If children weren't copyrighted, no one would have babies." -- Alex Eulenberg
The date pager is not meant to dictate your personal appearance kind of taste. It can't do anything about that. Your eyes and such are the only tools that can help; in that way, the date pager, then, can only help you find someone that's more than a skin-deep attraction.
I don't think attraction based on appearance is slimy. I don't think it's correct, either. Attraction, I think, is undefineable; it's appearance, it's behavior, it's pheromones, it's fate. Whatever the reason, it happens. At least, I've not been limited to one type of woman ^^
But I agree on your other posts, about differences. Variety is nice
On the other hand, I don't think I can know myself enough to actually be able to program a date pager to choose more accurately than my own intuition...
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
I'm a'gonna bitchslap the first person that wonders out loud if they can port *nix to this device. A swift kick goes to the one who calls for a boycott if it's not open sourced.
.02
My
Quux26
My
Quux26
www.crashspace.net
No, the first and finest hack of these will involve someone tumbling the preferences output. At any given nano-second you are the most desireable man in the world according to your pager.
All things to all people? Technology doesn't lie!
-john smallberries
.sig Karma out the wazoo, better to spend points elsewhere if this is above 2 or below 0
I'm sorry, but you seem to have lost yours. Yes this particular thread doesn't typify Slashdot's "mission" but over the years hot grits have become part of what /. is about. Like any good thing there are long-running jokes and themes which provide continuity and a sense of community.
And obviously it was a joke. We are allowed to make jokes, and we even get moderated up for them - that's why one of the moderation options is the Funny tag. Without humour this site would be sterile and boring, and a much worse place to visit.
Really, what are the chances of this actually working? Is anyone really walking by tons of new people every day at work, or don't they already know pretty much everyone there? Maybe you're just randomly walking around downtown... Then you have to assume that when you actually meet someone, you'll both actually have time to stop to talk instead of getting to wherever you happen to be gonig.
Or, you could just go hang out at the type of place where people that hold your same interests do... or even better, DO some of your interests that necessitate other people (such as a club or something), so that you'll already be around people with the same interests as you...
Does this seem like a ridiculous idea to anyone but me?
Ryan Kirk
Topflight Productions
I wonder if they could be D.O.S.'d... I mean, you walk in to a room with a hand-held c.b. radio that is set to the "pager" frequency, and hold down the button. Many of them are up to 4 watts, so you'd cover the whole range with white noise.
On another note, imagine the privacy implications, you walk in with a palm - equipped with a radio card, and reprogram it to pick up the signals from this thing... you could spoof details, and get and _log_ information on anyone you liked...
spooky...
Desperation is a stinky cologne
Thank you valient sir for the defense of such a great admirer of mine. Because of your gracious gesture i will gladly poor hot grits down your pants anytime you wish. If you aren't into hot grits, don't fret, for my sole purpose in life is pleasing my fans, and I would be willing to please you in anyway you wished.
With much love, Natalie
The process, at least in this case, appears rather less bizarre than everyone seems to assume is the case for "arranged" marriages.
To the point, a year ago, there was an exchange of "resumes" that bore a striking resemblance to that which you might use to find an employer. (There's also a story about a "brother's boss's niece, but that's another story...)
In thinking about it, this really isn't particularly bizarre at all.
If all you're after is a sex partner for the evening, then probably an exchange of "medical resumes" would be in order, verifying that nobody's going to get an extra STD.
On the other hand, if a more "permanent" relationship is intended, an exchange of "personal resumes" and references can cut through a lot of the posturing and other dishonesty that happens as we pretend to be more attractive than we really are.
I mentioned the process to one of my married coworkers, and he at first thought arranged marriage to be a very peculiar thing, but then thought it might have been useful to have "character references."
Long and short is that these "tools" aren't necessarily any worse predictors of success than the "dating scene" that, with the divorce rates these days, are obviously not terribly good predictors of "relational success."
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Ok I admit this thing sounds potentially lame, I'd heard about them a year ago or so. However underneath the flashy, wireless technology this is just _another_ way to meet people. If your goal it meet people - it gives you something in common with someone or at least a conversation starter, how many date-oriented conversations started with "Hey, nice cell phone". It's not a technology that's going to make people hide in dark rooms typing on computers waiting for someone they match with to walk by. It's a technology you use to start conversations and interact with real people instead of just ignoring everyone.
It's like going to a dance club or bar, but being in contact with the 'dating scene' all day instead of only a few hours in an ear-thumping club or local bar pounding drinks. It's a chance to meet someone in a more 'normal' environment.
Ok think about it people. If you want to gay bash or stalk women or whatever, you don't need one of these gadgets to tell who you want to hurt. There are (unfortunately) lots of hate crimes now, without such gadgets. There will most likely be hate crimes with such gadgets. I don't think it's the technology that is the issue in that debate.
__ No registration required to read this message. They did it in the Matrix.
On slashdot, it's quite obvious that the standard dictionary doesn't apply. Try the New Hackers' Dictionary (The jargon file, eh?):
troll v.,n.
2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup,
discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable by the fact that the have no real
interest in learning about the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no
redeeming characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll."
Ya just gotta use the right tool for the job.
HAND.
-Ed
this
Think about it, you are walking down the street.. your "date pager" goes off... you look around for the other person, only to find that he/she is not exactly what you are looking for in a person "physically" speaking. I tend to go for more of a dark haired 5 feet 8 inches type of woman.
What will happen when you have to say, "We both like Quake, Slashdot, Linux, and GCC. But I'm still not going to date you".
I know what you people are going to say, "It's not the looks that matters, but the personality". You are right, but we as humans are shallow slime. I would be ther first person to admit that I speak to members of the opposite sex b/c they are good looking. I met my current girlfriend that way. It just kind of worked out that we had a lot in common.
Its also nice to have differences too. I would get really bored waking up every morning to coffee and a conversation of the finer points of TCP/IP.
My girlfriend likes to go outside. I like to play on my computer. I have introduced her to the fine art of deathmatching, and she introduced me to a bright shining star that hangs above my house for 10 hours a day (the sun).
All I'm saying is that you will find better relationships with people that don't have the exact same opinions that you do.
The only good thing that I can see out if this is finding more Quake III Arena buddies.
I can see it now....
Male Lovegety profile:
Good sense of humour [x]
Caring [x]
Obsessive [ ]
Large Income [x]
Ex-wife [ ]
Children [ ]
Romantic [x]
Large penis [x]
Cheers,
SuperG
I wouldn't get one of these devices myself, but hey! Supposing two violent homophobes with baseball bats get the same idea...
--
Xenu loves you!
I wonder...
...if Natalie Portman likes pouring hot grits down her pants, too!
by Anonymous Coward on Tue March 14, 12:13 AM CST (#5)
It appears some of the moderators didn't understand this post. It was both on-topic and not a troll. Allow me a moment to explain.
The idea behind the post, obviously, was that this particular troll would be ecstatic if he could find a mate who shared his excitement when he pours hot grits down his pants. This goal, combined with his obvious Natalie Portman fetish, is a rather common topic on slashdot.
Now to the on-topic part. This "troll", if you prefer to call them that (I don't, it doesn't match the proper definition of "troll"), looked at this particular article, and, suddenly, saw a possibility for all his dreams to come true at once!
Wistfully, he/she posted "I wonder...if Natalie Portman likes pouring hot grits down her pants, too!" Now consider what would happen if this poster, equipped with one of the devices the story references, were to run into Miss Portman, and discovered that she did, indeed, like hot grits down her pants? I think, and I can imagine you all agree, that he would be both on-topic, and scored +5/interesting.
But, it appears, the moderation system has failed yet again, and an obviously on-topic post has been moderated down as a "Troll". I metamoderate frequently, and believe me, "Troll" is not a valid definition in most cases. Indeed, I'm under the opinion that "Troll" should be, often, a bonus. True trolls catch those of us who post before thinking in a tight spot.
My guess is that some of these moderators have been caught by true trolls, and now associate "Troll" with any post they don't like. If the above post were to be moderated down, it should obviously be moderated down for "Overrated" since Offtopic and "Troll" don't apply here.
Moderators, use a dictionary.
-Ed
this
...to totally overlook the possibilities:
You walk into a pub and spot a total cutie. You bring out your hacked DatePager, point it at hers/his, and WHOAH... all of a sudden her/his DatePager goes off, identifying your sexy self as being a perfect match.
Dishonest, yes, but all's fair in love and war.
-- I can't think of anything witty to put here. Sorry.
Scary indeed.
And even aside from these nefarious uses, would you ever trust a person to program those things *honestly*? What woman's going to program hers with "nagging b*tch who only wants men for their money"
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The real thing here is to be able to list not just optimal "dating configurations" but configs for other things as well:
2-Hour layover? No worries! You'll be automatically notified if any Linux-minded persons enter your area!
Comdex sucks rocks this year? Link up with everyone else who agrees with you, and go get tanked somewhere fun!
Car battery died? Let everyone in the parking lot know that you could use a jump, without having to raise your voice!
Okay, I probably made the whole thing look even stupider, but there's a lot of networking potential here. Society (and population density in some areas) gets in the way of getting to know our neighbors--with the right application this system could introduce us to the true "neighbors" we might never otherwise become aware of.
But that's just my own spur-of-the-moment, ill-considered .02gp
Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.