Save Your Money

January 10, 2008 · Filed Under gadgets, radio

If you need some help saving money this year, maybe the act of saving a life will be motivation. The Jinsei Gingko is not just a virtual pet, it’s a virtual family – a piggy bank that’s a serious upgrade on the tamagotchi craze of a decade ago.

With previous virtual pets, you needed to push buttons to pay attention to them so they survived and thrived – not with the jinsei gingko. You have to support this family, with real money.

The Jinsei Ginko, which is Japanese for Life Bank, has a monochromatic screen with a character on the side – your person you must help through life.

As you add money to the bank, the person goes into marriage, and then a life of luxury. That is, if you give enough money to it. And I have no idea how much money you have to give in order for the virtual family to live like the Hiltons, sans Paris.

I love this product because of what it teaches. All you need to do is save, and you will get rich. Clearly, the application of this product as a teaching tool could save the world. Still, I wonder if the virtual family gets poor if you take money out. Now that is teaching something.

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