[URL]http://www.teddyfone.com/about_teddyfone.shtml[/URL] good idea or marketing travesty?
First thoughts: 1. seems interesting 2. low costs seem a little too good to be true 3. IME the "teddy" handset wouldnt appeal to chidren much older than 8 years old because they would the the laughing stock of their friends - my 9 year old (who incidentally is NOT allowed a mobile phone much to her chagrin) is already very savvy regards brand/features just simply due to peer influence Overall seems an attempt at something positive which might miss its objectives simply because of the sadly far too early awareness of children to "cool" brands and features in mobile phones.
i think its good too. they should definately do a less babyish version for the slightly older child. I'd agree that some kids arent terribly keen on teddy bears. If it was a darth vader phone that might be better. They probably couldnt afford the license!!
I've just mailed the link to my 11 year old son as he wants a new phone for Xmas, saying I've ordered him one
I don't care how 'low' the emissions are. No emissions went into my kids' heads until they were late teenagers.
Great idea and I must say that something like this has floated around in my head before - not that I had the time or inclination to do anything with such an idea. But yes - why do children need more than a few essential numbers to call? Matt.
Don't worry the oestrogen in the water, the phenyls in all packaged food, the dioxins in barbequeue meat, the lindane in winter milk and farmed fish and numerous other horrible things will more than make up for the health risk our kids have missed out on.
not to mention the microwave leaking enough radiation to disrupt a wireless network, wireless networks, cordless phones, crt's, the wires in your walls, overhead power lines, emissions from cars, background radiation increases from nuclear testing, the list goes on. there's still no conclusive proof that mobiles will cook your brains - in fact braniac tried to cook an egg with 100 mobiles and failed not conclusive but the egg wasn;t even a bit curdled. i'll probably get my daughter a phone next year when she goes to middle school. cheers julian
first thoughts - any kid young enough to be persuaded to carry this phone shouldn't be out alone in the first place.
hex, i would tend to agree with you, however kids go round to friends houses, have out of home activities, go to parties, etc. where there's a possibility of them getting lost or left behind. of course you'd hope that this would never happen but kids are the embodiment of chaos theory at work. had a look about and there's a similar phone in the usa which also has gps location and one in japan that plays games and allows your child to inform you of their mood by pressing a button.... odd. cheers julian
...yep, I agree, I'm just not convinced that this 'technological sticking plaster' gets close enough to being the right solution. Kids rarely understand they are in danger before it's too late. My gut feeling is that the phone is designed to appeal to what parents think they need rather than what a children actually needs. GPS is everywhere, and so many people now have WAP phones (or whatever the technology is) isn't it time we had smart clothing with GPS tracking? If a phone is the interim answer then I think it should look like an adult version because that's what appeals to them in the first place. The TelCo.s should offer a mirror service so you see whats on your kids phone and also when they're using it. Would you send a smutty text knowing that it would also pop up on your Mums phone?
That's my thinking. Of our kids those who'd use it wouldnt need it, those who'd need it wouldnt use it.
Very Japanese. I was interested to learn new trends in Texting in Japan - you send all your friends a blank text every morning to remind them you are their friend and to keep in touch - though you have nothing to say to them and anyway having to write something would take too long. I guess you feel more loved the more you receive each morning
hex / greg, the current cell phone network can be used to track handsets quite accurately even now. if you are a business traveller and have a company handset be aware of this :O so as long as the handset is switched on the location of your child is determinable. a useful aid to police or someone trying to find a lost child. as i said in another thread the convergence of mobile devices is frightening at the moment. very soon you'll have a 40+ mb hdd in your pda / smart / phone that can act as a mobile media center playing movies and music (and downloading it quickly too over 3g) with a built in 5mp camcorder / camera and street level satelite navigation (that you can download extra maps for if you go abroad). say goodbye to your pda, blackberry, camcorder, i-pod, digital camera, personal media center, etc. and hello to all kinds of pain when it breaks down..... cheers julian
