"A doll for granddad"

mf feels oddly disturbed..

What does this say of the human race? That man-made comfort is more reliable than your own kids? Or that we have meddled too much with nature and we should be better off dead at age 60 than 100??

The doll "meant to resemble a five-year-old boy" really sounds creepy btw.

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A doll for granddad
TODAYonline.com
Thursday • February 24, 2005

TOKYO — As Japan produces fewer children and more retirees, toymakers are designing dolls not for the young, but for the lonely elderly — companions that can sleep next to them and offer caring words.

Talking toys have become such a hit that some elderly people have embraced them as substitutes for the children who have grown and deserted entire neighbourhoods in the rapidly greying country.

The Yumel doll looks like a baby boy and has a vocabulary of 1,200 phrases. It is billed as a "healing partner" for the elderly and goes on the market today for 8,500 yen ($132). About 8,000 Yumel dolls have been sold in less than three months. "Toymakers are targeting senior citizens as the number of children is falling," said Mr Osamu Kiriseko, who headed the Yumel project.

Another toymaker, Bandai, launched the Primopuel doll in November 1999. Meant to resemble a five-year-old boy, the toy has proved to be a hit with the elderly. More than one million dolls have been sold over the past five years. — AFP