June 15th, 2005
Ultimate Gadget from Hell: The Powerseed Electronic Weight Management Coach
Alice’s Rant of the Week: Everyone knows that if you wolf your food down, you’ll eat twice as much. Or if you eat smaller meals throughout the day, you’ll avoid the risk of devouring everything in sight when hunger finally overtakes you. Surely, the founders of Powerseed thought, surely there must be a way technology can help. Tell me if sounds like a help to you, or the worst Orwellian/Pavlovian Hell you’ve ever heard of:
“While eating, activate your coach and place it at an inconspicuous location on your table. Every thirty seconds the Powerseed silently flashes a small green light (or it can beep softly if you prefer).
“At each signal take a bite. Savor it slowly and mindfully. Focusing your attention in this way imparts a new sense of control over the eating process, enhances the filling effect of the food and improves digestion. This also gives you the mental space to detect and act on your body’s fullness signals. Many find it a great way to slow their rapid eating.
“Every five minutes the Powerseed flashes a different signal as a reminder to evaluate your level of hunger or food satisfaction. When you detect the first twinge of satisfaction, you simply quit eating. Most likely this will be well before the point where you normally quit. Fifteen minutes later you’ll find that you feel totally content. This single strategy can help you avoid consuming hundreds of “mindless” calories every day. Portion control has never been easier!” Price: $50. Powerseed via NY Times
Verdict: Sometime technology is not your friend. Go outside and take a walk. Price: free and I promise not to beep at you later.
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Ultimate Gadget from Hell: The Powerseed Electronic Weight Management Coach
Everyone knows that if you wolf your food down, you’ll eat twice as much. Or if you eat smaller meals throughout the day, you’ll avoid the risk of devouring everything in sight when hunger finally overtakes you. Surely, the founders of Powerseed though…
June 15th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
Jason says:
I don’t know whether to laugh at or feel sorry for anyone who would need and/or buy such a device.
Alice, you nailed it with the Pavlovian reference, however this is much worse - it’s self-inflicted Pavlovian thought control, with the very first act being a blatant admission that one has lost all ability to control one’s basic life functions and therefor requires a plastic/electronic reminder and psychological drill seargant.
Even worse is the fact that people who have such crap control over themselves will buy such a device, then get annoyed at it and stop using it, or maybe they’ll even eat the damned thing out of spite.
June 15th, 2005 at 7:50 pm
Alice says:
Since it’s shown perched in sand, my reaction would be to try and skip it across the water like a stone.
June 15th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
Gadgetism.org says:
Ultimate Gadget from Hell: The Powerseed Electronic Weight Management Coach
[Source: Real Tech News - Independent Tech] quoted: Alice, you nailed it with the Pavlovian reference, however this is much worse - it’s self-inflicted Pavlovian thought control, with the very first act being a blatant admission that one has lost…
June 15th, 2005 at 11:29 pm
Gizmodo says:
The Powerseed Electronic Weight Management Coach
Hey, Fatty! Slow down! What’s wrong with you! Put down that Mountain Dew. Ok. Take a deep breath. Pick up a bag of Doritos. Take a bite. Chew for thirty seconds. Keep your eye on the Powerseed. Now spit out…
June 16th, 2005 at 7:17 am
scott says:
For $50 you get an LED that blinks at certain intervals? WOW! Does this company make any mp3 players for $1000? I’ve got all this expendable income over here.
June 16th, 2005 at 1:24 pm
Bob says:
Wow man!! I thought the Japanese were ahead with those robots that can dance and fight and help old ladies cross the road, but these powerseed people!!
technology never ceases to amaze. It actually changes colour of the LED to indicate when to eat. what next? people on the moon!!!
June 27th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
Bill Curry says:
Hi Alice,
Being a periodic reader of RealTech, I was dismayed to read your review of the Powerseed System. I don’t recall having sent you a product sample so I don’t know what authority you relied on to evaluate and proclaim this product as “the worst Orwellian/Pavlovian Hell that you’ve ever heard of”. A bit over the top, perhaps? I’d appreciate it if you would revisit this topic with an open mind in the name of editorial fairness and accurate reporting.
Press coverage understandably focuses on the tiny Powerseed eating coach because it’s unique, innovative and visually interesting. Still, it’s just a tool for implementing the cognitive strategies described in the 112-page companion guidebook. In addition to teaching mindful eating skills for the dinner table, we provide strategies to confront cravings, emotional eating and those negative thoughts that often derail our weight control efforts. We also place great stress on getting enough exercise — it’s an essential element of a balanced weight maintenance program. In other words, the value build is in the overall approach—the system.
The Powerseed eating coach is not some sort of cybernetic eating dictator like you infer. By your definition any device that interrupts our thought processes so we can pursue a different desired behavior will lead us into an sinister “Orwellian/Pavlovian Hell”. Of course this includes ringing cell phones, email arrival announcements, appointment reminders, traffic signals, brake lights, etc., etc.
The Powerseed coach is just a focusing tool to intentionally disrupt ingrained eating patterns, counterproductive thoughts and daydreaming so that eating becomes an intentional, cognitively engaged, present moment experience. When people do this they can heed their body’s messages of hunger and satiety, actually taste and enjoy their food and avoid consuming hundreds of mindless calories each day. Yes, eating in this manner does slow the pace of eating for most people but this is a secondary benefit, not the purpose. Think of the Powerseed eating coach as an attention-focusing device instead of a bite timer and you’ll be on the right track.
The real test of a product’s effectiveness can only be rendered by those who seriously pursue it. Instead of relying on a single data point to assess the Powerseed program, I prefer to cite our surveys of actual paying customers who have eating/weight control issues. In March 2005 we surveyed 346 customers with a detailed questionnaire and received 146 responses (a remarkable 40% return for such surveys BTW). Of those who responded, 85% said the Powerseed System was better than other weight control programs they had tried.
We have received loads of supportive feedback from our customers and weight loss professionals, some of which can be seen at http://powerseed.com/success.html. Since the Times article ou referenced was published, the Powerseed was reviewed by the editors of Self Magazine in their September issue. Here’s what they said:
“A private chef may be out of your budget, but you can have a personal dining coach at meals. The Powerseed is a device that emits a flash of light or a soft sound every 30 seconds, signaling it’s time to take a bite. Our tester needed a few minutes to adjust to the slower eating pace but pushed her plate away with leftovers to spare. Self gives it an A.”
The Powerseed System is a comprehensive approach for making difficult lifestyle changes that can lead to better weight control. I invite your readers to explore the full dimensions of this program by visiting the powerseed.com website. We are here to help people and not to exploit them by hyping a product. That’s why we provide a 30-day risk free trial so people can see if these techniques work for them. Thanks for this opportunity to contribute to your discussion.
Bill Curry
October 25th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
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