NYT: A Cellphone for Children Gives Parents a Long Reach

[DeepModem Mom]

A Cellphone for Children Gives Parents a Long Reach
HENRY FOUNTAIN

Published: April 14, 2005




In the hands of a preteenager, a cellphone can be a double-edged sword. It can give parents a sense of security because the child is never out of reach. But it can also cause anxiety because they do not know what else the child is doing with it - burning up the family's minutes, perhaps.

The Firefly, a new phone from Firefly Mobile, is meant to help reduce such parental angst. Aimed at children age 8 to 12, it is a voice-only phone that gives parents control over how their child uses it.

The Firefly, which weighs about two ounces and is about the size of a small calculator, has only five keys. Parents enter a PIN to program as many as 22 phone numbers. Calling can be limited to those numbers, which the child chooses from a list (plus speed-dial keys for Mom, Dad and 911). The phone includes 12 ring tones, and the liquid-crystal display can be customized with different animations and background colors....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/14/technology/circuits/14fire.html?8hpib

[redqueen]

1. That's a great idea, but... .25/min prepaid?

Doesn't that seem a little steep?

[mopinko]

2. hot button!

oh, man have i been down that road! and boy does it piss me off. this is not the answer. the answer is for cell phone companies to offer some control to their customers.
i have a teenager who is bi-polar. we really needed that contact with her, but man, did she run up the minutes. i do not see any reason why cell phone companies cannot put a limit on minutes if that is what their customers want. or at least notify you when your limit is reached. they sure the hell have the technology to start charging you a gazillion dollars a minute when you exceed your package.
you cannot block numbers, in or out, you cannot limit minutes. but you sure better cough up for that huge bill. and they do get ugly about it.