????Baby Gizmo的舒爾茨相信公司的名字幫助了4Moms。她說：“如果他們叫做2Dads，可能就沒有這么好的效果。母親總是愿意聽母親的。”

????即便如此，高科技產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)把男人們帶入了這個以母親為絕對主體的市場。舒爾茨說：“你給一個父親展示Origami，他們會說‘看這個’。頭燈可以自動開關(guān)。我丈夫邀請鄰居們都來看。它激發(fā)了他們的男子氣。”

????盡管在購買嬰兒產(chǎn)品時，母親有著最終決定權(quán)，不過父親同樣也有話語權(quán)。舒爾茨說，小孩的母親如果知道丈夫會帶著孩子去散步，可能就會更傾向于購買高科技嬰兒車。她評價4Moms說：“結(jié)合了機器人技術(shù)的童車顯得時髦出眾。”

????舒爾茨說，盡管Origami一切都很好，卻有一個設計上的瑕疵。它的傾斜角度很小，這讓小孩難以在車里小睡一會，（盡管它配備了一個搖籃供嬰兒使用）。她說：“僅僅由于這一點，他們就失去了很大商機。”

????從水暖產(chǎn)品到嬰兒用品

????索恩和前風險資本家戴利原本并不打算進入這個過渡擁擠的嬰兒用品市場。他們創(chuàng)建公司時，只是想借處理器價格跳水之機，制造電子產(chǎn)品（處理器價格從2003年平均14美元降到如今的70美分）。

????這兩人認為水暖產(chǎn)業(yè)已經(jīng)過時，難以創(chuàng)新，所以他們發(fā)明了一個配有遙控溫度調(diào)節(jié)的淋浴設備。他們認為配件發(fā)燒友可能會喜歡它，不過在匹茲堡展銷會上，老年人和母親們蜂擁來到他們的攤位，讓他們大感意外。因此索恩和戴利拋棄了之前設計淋浴設備的構(gòu)想，制造出一個沐浴嘴蓋，如今仍然受到母親們的歡迎。

????朋友們說他們瘋狂地發(fā)明新產(chǎn)品。他們相信他們的眼光，但是當他們帶著新產(chǎn)品Clearwater 嬰兒澡盆的原型來到2006年奧蘭多的青少年產(chǎn)品展銷會（the 2006 Juvenile Products Trade Show）時，他們也知道，自己面臨著來自成熟競爭者更嚴峻的挑戰(zhàn)。他們設計的嬰兒澡盆能夠控制水溫，讓清潔的水持續(xù)流動。

????戴利說：“我們認為很難同一個沒有知名度，也從未做出一個產(chǎn)品的公司做生意。”索恩插嘴道：“而且老實說，我們不知道怎么樣做產(chǎn)品。”

????但是嬰兒澡盆立刻引起了轟動。戴利說：“Babies 'R Us告訴我們他們想要那個澡盆，放在在280家門店銷售。”

????同一年的另一場展銷會上，戴利說他看到一個推銷員演示一款高檔童車的折疊和打開過程。他覺得有些不對勁，卻說不出具體是什么。于是他站在那兒，花了差不多一個小時，看著她一遍遍重復那些步驟。

????然后他想通了：她需要同時用手和膝蓋來完成這些動作。在超市停車場的人行道上，一位母親怎么能做到這些呢？

????他走向索恩，把它拉到一個安靜的角落，低聲對他說：“自動折疊嬰兒車。”

????Schultz of Baby Gizmo believes the company's name has helped 4Moms. "If they had called it 2Dads, it would not have done as well," she says. "Moms listen to moms."

????Even so, the high-tech products have drawn men into a market that is overwhelmingly mom-centric. "You show a dad the Origami and they say, 'Watch this.' The headlights open and close on their own," Schultz says. "My husband invites the neighbors over to see it. It taps into their manhood."

????Even when moms make the final purchasing decision on baby products, dads also have influence. Schultz says mothers of young children may be more likely to buy a high-tech stroller if they know their husbands will take the baby for a walk. "They are smart to stand out with robotics," she says of 4Moms.

????For all the things it does well, the Origami has one design flaw, says Schultz. It only reclines a few inches, making it hard for a child to nap, (although a bassinet attachment is available for infants). "They have lost a big portion of business by that feature alone," she says.

????From plumbing products to baby gear

????Thorne and Daley, a former venture capitalist, didn't initially set out to enter the overcrowded baby products market. When they started their company, they just wanted to create electronics that would take advantage of the dramatic drop in processor prices (down from an average of $14 in 2003 to 70 cents today).

????The duo thought that the plumbing industry was overdue for innovation, so they invented a shower attachment with a remote-controlled temperature adjustment. They figured gadget guys would love it but were shocked when seniors and moms flocked to their booth at a Pittsburgh trade show. So Thorne and Daley abandoned their plans for the shower attachment and introduced a bath spout cover, which they still market to moms.

????Friends told them they were crazy to invent a new product. They believed in their vision, but they say they knew they'd face an uphill battle against more established competitors when they carried a prototype of a new product, their Clearwater Infant Tub -- which circulates clean and temperature-controlled water -- to the 2006 Juvenile Products Trade Show in Orlando.

????"We thought it would be hard to do business with a company no one had ever heard of and that had never made a product before," Daley says. Thorne interjects: "And to be honest, we had no idea how to make the product."

????But the bathtub was an instant hit. "Babies R Us told us they had to have it and put it in 280 stores," Daley says.

????That same year, at another trade show, Daley says he watched a salesperson demo the folding and unfolding of a high-end stroller. There was something unsettling about the sight. He couldn't put his finger on it, he says, so he stood and just watched her repeat the process for about an hour.

????Then it hit him: She had to get on her hands and knees. How could a mother do that on the pavement surface of a supermarket parking lot?

????He walked over to Thorne, directed him to a quiet corner and whispered to him: "Power folding stroller."