Show HN: AI toy I worked on is in stores

My biggest concern with a toy like this is that my future kid might ask for a water park in our backyard and then Santa would respond with an enthusiastic “That’s a great idea Kyle! I’ll consult with the elves to see how I can make it happen!”

To be safe I would contact city zoning about the construction of your future backyard water park. Always good to start early :)

I had an app idea that was effectively this Walmart product but Santa was always in a blizzard and/or hard of hearing, and continuously misconstrued requests. "What?! You want to order bark?" Idea being that kids love nonsense, but also the scenario pointed towards kids not expecting anything to be a real request.

Seriously, I don't understand how this is meant to work, even on the 'happy path'. I've never done any Santa stuff in my family except stockings with small presents + fruit, so the stakes for make-believe are low.

Do the children ask for stuff and then the parent is on the hook to buy it? What if it's too expensive or unavailable? Just a massive disappointment on the day? Does the child expect that it's some kind of binding contract?

Children's imaginations are wonderous, flexible things. As an adult I have sometimes found it a weird experience to play along with my child because my brain keeps trying to delineate between reality and imagination. So who knows how the it's perceived when you're writing a letter.

But if this really does sound realistic, isn't it in danger of leaving the imagination space and setting an expectation?

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lol I love that.

My kids would find it so funny hearing Santa doubling down on bringing the wrong toy.

This is the better product.