Remote Pet Feeder feeds your pet, encourages your animal voyeurism habit
By Laura June 
posted June 9th 2009 9:52AM
posted June 9th 2009 9:52AM
[Via Coolest Gadgets]
posted June 9th 2009 9:52AM
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Why not just get one of those Virtual Pet Apps for your iPhone 3GS... seems to me its the same thing if you are going this far not to have any contact with your beloved pet...
AHAHAH I sais iPhone 3GS..
The "S" is for SPEED!
Marvelous!
Seriously, does this mean that you get the same great cracking iPhone plastic glossy backings as the 3G?
Smashing!
what a fun boy...)
Has nobody at engadget ever read a SkyMall?
I love my dog!!!
This is so stupid.
Half of the reason why your dog loves you is because it sees and knows you as the "food giver". If you let a machine do it, you're going to have a dog that doesn't love you as much.
What if you live alone and are late coming home from work but don't want your dog to starve. Seems like a nice solution.
Ha! A Mac running Windows XP Firefox..
oh.. wait.. they do that now...
A true fanboy will be able to tell you the exact make and model of that lappy ...
I havent had my share of the iKoolade today so i wont be much help in that regard~
that looks like a G4...they must be using virtual PC.....that would be slow as hell....
It's a hand-me-down for the Kid... The parent got the new Alienware nuclear reactor.
it's a stock photo of a kid on a PB G4 w/ the dog picture photoshopped in.
I love my dog!!!
Yes yes Eric, thank you.
Now SIT.
Staaaaaaayyyyy...
A solution in search of a problem.
interesting idea, but why not save your $290, take 2 minutes out of your busy life and feed your dog. maybe you could even play with your dog instead of just watching it on a webcam.
don't get me wrong, it is a good deal but seriously, who really needs this for $290? you'd still have to take your dog outside unless you have an automatic dog door.
One phrase: "Out of town."
I have a set up similar with IP cams and an electronic feeder for my cats when I'm out of town. I take my dog with me though (not quite as independent as cats).
yOU SOUNDS LIKE A CAT LADY
when i go out of town (for about 5-7days)
3 bowls of food....3 bowls of water
when i get home usually i find
1 bowl of full water 1/2 a bowl of food
cats are cats!
to spend 290 dollars on this is RIDICULOUS, donate it to some kid who can't afford food before you worry about an animal's eating habits....
oh man...here they come!
You don't have my cat... our male cat would have made it through those 3 bowls in about 4 hours. We have to keep him on a strict regimen or he would look like Jabba the Hut.
@hfm: Yeah same here! My 2 cats would eat it all in a matter of hours, shit everywhere then get in fights because there is no food which would result in piss everywhere.
So, cat feeders are our friends. My set up cost me a little over a hundred bucks and that's w/ 2 IP cams and an auto-feeder from ebay (bought separately). $300 bucks for this is freakin' steep considering what you get.
Sooo, why do these people have pets? Here's an idea: how about just watching an occasional video of a dog eating rather than owning a pet for yourself that you don't have time for.
Exactly. A pet needs more than food, it needs exercise and cuddles! I never understood the point of these remote pet feeders, as they just further the idea that a dog is an accessory rather than a friend and family member.
My brother has a feeder on a timer so that he gets to sleep in while his cat gets fed at 5:30 AM. And again in the middle of the day while he and his wife are working.
I think the webcam is excessive, though.
better be well built...my Lab. would be in that within 5mins of me leaving the house otherwise.
mine too haha
A person buying this needs to have his pet removed from him. If you don't have the time to feed the dog, you shouldn't go anywhere near pets!
This would be good if you are going on Holidays and can't take your pet with you. This way you could feed it while you are gone and not have to get someone to look after it. However, there is a problem...how does the pet get outside while you are gone. They just need something where you can let it outside remotely lol.
I (read: my missus) has a rabbit, and we go away fairly regularly (couple of days, a couple of times a month), and this would be useful for that. I can see that it would be good for feeding a cat as well.
However, if you're leaving your *dog* completely on it's own for as long as that, even a couple of times ever, then you should not own a dog.
Remote pet feeder $290.00
Aniaml food $20.00
Forgetting that the internet got turned off becasue I spent the money buying the remote pet feeder, priceless.
So someone sticks a webcam on an existing product and doubles the price...
http://www.autopetfeeder.com/shopexd.asp?id=15
...and networking :)
haha this thing makes me think of Angela from The Office and her cat voyeurism
OH NO! Sparkles!!!!!
The idea of feeding your pet remotely is cool. But this commercial solution is bad. It requires a PC to set the schedule and have access to the PC to do this remotely.
will it feed and play with my kids? I have 4 jobs now; thanks to bush....
not the pres... I mean my wife... :O
Why is the model not using a Toughbook?
We're still waiting for an automatic pet (cat) feeder to be invented that cats cannot reach up into and dig out extra kibbles. Our cats are food obsessed, so while the automatic feeders allow us to be away for an evening, the cats continually attempt to dig out extra food throughout the day. At which they are fairly successful. And no, they are not underfed :)
COMPLETELY not worth it. It's basically just an automatic pet feeder which has already been on the market for years, and attaching extras to it.
http://spoiled-pups.com/automatic-pet-feeder-p-30.html
The problem isn't the extras, it's the pet feeder itself. I owned one of those for ~3-4 months before I had to literally throw it away because the food-moving design is inherently defective. It relies on a sort of corkscrew system to funnel pet food through a chute into the bowl, and there's an agitator inside the storage container which eventually breaks under the stress of a full container. The feeder would sometimes not dispense food, sometimes dispense too much, and oftentimes the food would get stuck in the dispenser rendering it useless. Not to mention the silly plastic guard on the front of the chute will be INVARIABLY chewed off by your hungry dog seeking to get into the food chute that doesn't work.
I informed the manufacturer and they basically told me to fuck off. DO NOT BUY.
Can't imagine this would be good for extended absences. Even with doggie doors and water to drink (hopefully not the toilet), pets still need some form of interaction. freeenterprisechic
I wonder if you can feed kids this way and it be considered ... ya know "wrong"
Imagine the horror as it malfunctions while you're on a 2 week long vacation and you watch your pet slowly become emaciated and finally... die.
the title made me lol
Bad idea.
Dogs need you around.
This is a solution for heartless people.
if this could automatically open up cans of cat food, I'd so buy it. Nothing like the 'joy' of waking up to a whining cat because you overslept. Eat the dry food you jerk. That, or grow thumbs.
The small feeder is $278.99 and it seems like a good idea...I don't think they mean for this product to be used for extended periods of time...rather....like angela in the office...more of a....let me see how my pet is doing.. product. Good for if your pet has had surgery and you have to work.
http://www.smarthome.com/6222/Petwatch-IP-Camera-and-Remote-Pet-Feeding-System/p.aspx
this is an all-in-one system....surprised engadget did not see this sooner!
http://www.smarthome.com/6222/Petwatch-IP-Camera-and-Remote-Pet-Feeding-System/p.aspx
this is a much better product...i'm surprised engadget did not find this one sooner! It's an all-in-one petwatch IP. I'd rather spend the $250 on this than on the other one.