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
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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cyberbuzz - life bank [1:03m]: 
I'm Buzz Bishop, the host of cyberbuzz, a one minute daily radio feature about the internet and wired culture.
