I don't have kids, so it's entirely possible I don't "get it." By "it" I mean this freaky robot teddy bear that sends and receives text messages because 2005 still had one more horror movie on its to-do list that it forgot to tell us about. That's what MessagePetz are. They're teddy bears that have a cold, black screen with bright blue LEDs shoved into their torsos.
Of course, maybe I'm being too hard on this thing. After all, aside from the gaping chest cavity and surgically-enhanced cyborg parts, this thing is kind of cute! How does it work? Well, you see, mommy sends a text message to the bear, which is then displayed on its chest. Neat! Long-distance communication for kids too young to have smartphones. Well, how do they reply? With hugging, of course! The child hugs the bear and a message is sent to the parents that says "You have received a hug!" Which sets a new record for the least personal, meaningful, and heart-warming interaction since man first communicated over long-distances by throwing rocks at each others' heads.
If you are always on the go and would love it if your child had a half-cuddly, half-robot thing that you can send messages at, then you should probably contribute to this Kickstarter. It's currently just under $5,000 of its $45,000 goal, which makes no sense. Who wouldn't want the soulless embodiment of cold, technological distance and impersonal communication? It's so cuuuuuuuute!