Pets are generally concieved to be adorable, loveable creatures that offer warmth, companionship and unconditional love. They are generally concieved to be living creatures. But in recent years all that seems to have changed. Pets can now be intangible. You no longer need to buy one of those bags to carry your dog or cat in, you can just hang it from your keychain or let it sleep on your hard-drive in your computer.



Tamagotchi is the name (or race?) of a new breed of pets. It lives in a small plastic receptacle that can be the color of your choice. It is battery operated and can be with you at all time to keep you company since it can simply be added to your keychain and put in your purse or pocket. The animal that lives within, the Tamagotchi, does require some attention on the owner's part: it must be fed, of course, it must be given an education and it must be given love. These obligations are remarkably like those a parent must see to with a child and any of these obligations is overlooked by the owner, the pet suffers and could possibly die. So even though its natural habitat is a small squarish plastic thing and it can only be seen on a tiny screen, it is considered a living thing that must be taken care of and looked after.

The same idea prevails on computer pets. A person can register online on especially designed websites, select the pet that most catches their fancy and then proceed to care for it, all through the computer of course, some on websites, others on your desktop. As with physical pets, these virtual ones must be looked after, fed, played with, nurtured in order to grow and lead a happy existence. A wide variety of possible computer pets can be found on the internet, designed and generated from all over the world: Russia, Japan, United States of America, France. So an individual can also choose its pets nationality. An added bonus.

Then of course there are the more traditional physical pets. These do not only include the living-breathing pets such as dogs, cats, hamsters or the like, but also such possibilities as Furby, which is an electronic pet; the famous Pet Rock that was the craze in the 1970's in US, an ant farm or the EcoSphere ball with its shrimp and bacteria.

Whatever pet a person chooses, they serve the same purpose. To perhaps aliviate lonliness, to instill responsability in the young ones, just for fun and amusement. All that is necessary is to choose the one that best fits an individuals personality and enjoy.