A cell phone allows you to select a unique ring tone so you can recognize it when youre in a room with other people who have cell phones. Why not apply the same principle to infants?
A device with a microphone attached to your baby's clothes detects when he or she makes a loud noise, and responds by playing the opening notes of Purple Haze (or whatever sound you've chosen). Never again will you have to ask, "Is that my baby? Whose baby is that?" No more will every parent in the room reach for his or her offspring every time someone else's infant cries.-- AO, Oct 06 2004 ---*Announcement Before A Movie*--- "As a reminder, no flash photography is allowed, and please turn off your baby."
Could be built into a humorous short advert where someone's baby starts ringing, and the baby is ejected out of the seat and flies into the screen {splat}-- phundug, Oct 07 2004 When I had a baby I found that (as I had been told) I was actually capable of differentiating my baby's cry from everyone else's. I'm still giving this a bun though, because of the staggering embarrasment it could have saved me from when I got it wrong on a couple of occasions.-- wagster, Oct 07 2004 A vibrating baby would be less annoying.-- FarmerJohn, Oct 07 2004 But likely more messy.-- Worldgineer, Oct 07 2004 No two people cry alike in the Entire World. That includes grown-ups as well as children. I can recognize all my adult friends' cries instantly.
By contrast, many people's speaking voices are similar to each other's, and I often can't tell them apart.
So apparently, one purpose of crying is differentiation. This is strange, since crying is also a distress call and everyone can recognize it, even though each person's cry is different.-- phundug, Oct 08 2004 "Jeezus, honey, I've heard the first five notes to 'Smoke on the water' for over an hour now! Put the kidd-o to bed!"-- Letsbuildafort, Oct 09 2004 random, halfbakery