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Comment by bradfa | Hacker News Reader

There's no mention of software support lifetime. If this is just another multi-hundred dollar electronic gadget that's going to be useless in 2 years, why would I buy it for my kid?

I can get a refurb Apple Watch SE 2nd gen direct from Apple for $209. I'm clearly not going to buy this Google watch because of the price.

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> going to be useless in 2 years, why would I buy it for my kid

Don't worry about it. I will be broken or lost far before those 2 years :)

And if that doesn't happen, the battery will be such crap that your kid will do nothing but complain about it 24/7.

You will wish it was lost.

If it's going to be broken, have a shot battery, or be useless in 2 years it doesn't matter which of those happens, I am not willing to spend >$200 initially and then a monthly fee on it.

If I needed to track my kids' locations, I'd give them each an Airtag. $20ish and free tracking. I mind much less if they destroy/lose a $20 thing with a replaceable battery.

We’ve used AirTags on trips with our kids and they work well. Our dogs have them on their collars too.

I don’t trust Google with our kids’ data (or our dogs, I guess) and they’ll probably discontinue this in a year.

2 years is an eternity in the field of kids tracking devices. I sure wish it's supported for longer, but also don't expect to use it that much longer if there's a better device 2 years from now.

In particular you'll be paying a monthly subscription, so you'll still be paying the same price whether you stick to this device for 10 years or not.

On the Apple Watch it's a completely different proposition, in particular you absolutely need to pair to an active iPhone.

If the child doesn't carry a phone you'd need a cellular Apple Watch for $250 which is slightly more but probably worth it for the software support.

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