I tried 6 Tech Toys, here are the best… and the worst

[TannerMcCoolman]

Children’s tech tends to follow the trends of the dreams of the youth. Across the country kids are dreaming of becoming vloggers, youtubers, and twitch streamers when they grow up. Are the toys made to cater to these desires any good, or are they all just ewaste waiting to find their final resting place at the landfill?

Note from staff:
Unfortunately, Linus is out of focus for a significant portion of this video- to a degree that this video is below our usual standard of production quality. After weighing our options (and attempting several remedies), we decided to post it as-is. We apologize and are taking steps to mitigate this happening in the future.

[Bitter]

He's not out of focus, he just needs to shaveSEGUE TO OUR SPONSOR SO AND SO SHAVING PRODUCTS - (CUT TO LINUS OUT OF FOCUS) FEELING FUZZY LATELY? TRY SO AND SO SHAVING PRODUCTS FOR THAT (CUT TO IN FOCUS CLEAN SHAVEN BABY FACE LINUS) CRISP SMOOTH FEELING YOU KNOW YOU'LL LOVE.

[filpo]

hehe 'tech' toys hehe

1 minute ago, Bitter said:

He's not out of focus, he just needs to shaveSEGUE TO OUR SPONSOR SO AND SO SHAVING PRODUCTS - (CUT TO LINUS OUT OF FOCUS) FEELING FUZZY LATELY? TRY SO AND SO SHAVING PRODUCTS FOR THAT (CUT TO IN FOCUS CLEAN SHAVEN BABY FACE LINUS) CRISP SMOOTH FEELING YOU KNOW YOU'LL LOVE.

The DA BOMB shot yesterday broke him

[ybaB_ssA_egnirC]

Hey, I just created this account, but I've been watching Linus for years. In their newest video, Linus showcased one of Vtech's newest products, the KidiBuzz 3, which is honestly kinda cool and I would've loved having one as a kid. But, I feel like it should come to the attention of the viewer how horrible Vtech is, or, at least how horrible their data breach was back in 2015. There's an excellent video made by Vince Vintage, which I have linked, but TLDR:

-They acquired sensitive content on millions of children, which includes emails, passwords, security questions, addresses, parent emails... etc.

-Had a data breach by an anonymous user who gained access to their data base, undetected.

-Contacted a website across all of their devices that used Adobe Flash for their login page, which, even back in 2015 was vulnerable to SQL injections and other vulnerabilities.

-Stored usernames in passwords in a decades old encryption algorithm.

-Stored security questions in plain text.

-Lied about how much data was compromised.

-Added a term in their TOS which reads "YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ANY INFORMATION YOU SEND OR RECEIVE DURING YOUR USE OF THE SITE MAY NOT BE SECURE AN MAY BE INTERCEPTED OR LATER ACQUIRED BY UNAUTHORIZED PARTIES."

They have significantly strengthened their unlock methods since then, but I feel like even if I told my aging grandparents about this issue, who care less about their data than their dental health, wouldn't want to touch Vtech with a forty-foot-pole.

 

[Skipple]

I can't express how disappointed I am in this video. I fail to understand how you create a video, that's basically a dedicated showcase for VTech products, while failing to mention that the company illegally spied on and stored data of (including photos) millions of children without parental consent. Oh, and then improperly secured said data, lied about how the data was stored, then lead to a data breach.   

 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2018/01/electronic-toy-maker-vtech-settles-ftc-allegations-it-violated-childrens-privacy-law-ftc-act

https://www.engadget.com/2018-01-09-vtech-settles-ftc-lawsuit-over-childrens-data-privacy.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vtech-holdings-usa-privacy/vtech-to-settle-charges-it-violated-childrens-privacy-u-s-ftc-idUSKBN1EX1Z5

 

Hell, here's a topic from this very forum on the news: 

 

I'm sorry @TannerMcCoolman, but this video is a grave disservice to the topic of children's tech toys. Privacy and safety should be top of mind when it comes to internet connected products targeted at children, and I don't recall it being mentioned once in this video.

 

LTT has added verbal disclaimers or simply refused to showcase products from companies who have been accused of much less. I'm not sure why VTech was given a pass here.

[sounds]

I realize LMG already made their decision to just post the video as-is but I wish they'd just take it off YouTube and redo it. Those who want to see the blurry "first cut" go see it on FloatPlane?

 

Please, @LinusTech do this one differently.

[idmb]

time to follow tommy wiseau and film every angle with two cameras simultaneously 

[LMGcommunity]

28 minutes ago, sounds said:

I realize LMG already made their decision to just post the video as-is but I wish they'd just take it off YouTube and redo it. Those who want to see the blurry "first cut" go see it on FloatPlane?

 

Please, @LinusTech do this one differently.

We decided not to redo the shoot due to the core of the video being real-time reactions from Linus.

[Arika]

the fact that these "toys" exist is extremely disappointing to me...i worry for our future generations.

[Bitter]

33 minutes ago, Arika S said:

the fact that these "toys" exist is extremely disappointing to me...i worry for our future generations.

I mean there's been toy guns and stuff and everything turned out fine.

[swimtome]

Can someone explain what is ‘pink noise’ the lab notes are taking about? I am not following…

[NemesisPrime_691]

11 hours ago, Skipple said:

I can't express how disappointed I am in this video. I fail to understand how you create a video, that's basically a dedicated showcase for VTech products, while failing to mention that the company illegally spied on and stored data of (including photos) millions of children without parental consent. Oh, and then improperly secured said data, lied about how the data was stored, then lead to a data breach.   

 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2018/01/electronic-toy-maker-vtech-settles-ftc-allegations-it-violated-childrens-privacy-law-ftc-act

https://www.engadget.com/2018-01-09-vtech-settles-ftc-lawsuit-over-childrens-data-privacy.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vtech-holdings-usa-privacy/vtech-to-settle-charges-it-violated-childrens-privacy-u-s-ftc-idUSKBN1EX1Z5

 

Hell, here's a topic from this very forum on the news: 

 

I'm sorry @TannerMcCoolman, but this video is a grave disservice to the topic of children's tech toys. Privacy and safety should be top of mind when it comes to internet connected products targeted at children, and I don't recall it being mentioned once in this video.

 

LTT has added verbal disclaimers or simply refused to showcase products from companies who have been accused of much less. I'm not sure why VTech was given a pass here.

I agree . This video is not a good look on LTT  What's worse is they still have the affiliate links for viewers to buy vtech products they

showcased.

 

Unsuspecting viewers might not be aware of the security concerns and may buy them.

[Radium_Angel]

18 hours ago, idmb said:

time to follow tommy wiseau and film every angle with two cameras simultaneously 

Where's the "+1 horrifying" mod when you need it?

[GoStormPlays]

Fun fact: I had a Leapster GS as a child and at one point I found out that if you held A and B on startup that you could enter a debug menu of sorts. I’m not sure if you could do the same on the Leapster Explorer, but I always thought it was weird.