Comment by light_hue_1
1 month ago
Parents are aware. This is a horrible solution.
What's going to happen immediately is that kids with equivalent phones will compare, realize that one has a lot of restrictions and the other doesn't, and it becomes a nightmare. They know that all you need to do is unlock it for them.
It's the same mental distinction between "For $200 we'll install rear seat warmers in your Tesla" and "For $200 we'll 'unlock' the already-present rear seat warmers" (that's the only hardware unlock I've ever paid for and I'm still bitter 7 years later).
> What's going to happen immediately is that kids with equivalent phones will compare, realize that one has a lot of restrictions and the other doesn't, and it becomes a nightmare. They know that all you need to do is unlock it for them.
Don't you think they will as easily realize their newly purchased TinCan is far more restricted than the 10 year old phone theirs friends received from their parents/siblings?
It's not restricted. It's less capable. Entirely different thing. And they'll view it as a completely different device for different purpose (voice calls vs. doom scrolling).
Specifically designed to be less capable is the same as being restricted. It's purpose is explicitly to restrict the user communication to some predefined setting by a third party (the parent and company behind it) and the user is well aware of that, as this e-waste cost as much as a cheap or second hand smartphone.
7 replies →
That's why I'm thinking of getting my kid (who doesn't have a phone yet) a Unihertz Jelly Star.
https://www.unihertz.com/fr-fr/products/jelly-star
- Because it's small, it doesn't look like a regular smartphone
- The small size would make it impractical for social media/scrolling/videos even if I were to unlock it
...but compared to a dumbphone, I can still allow Spotify and their school management software so they can access their schedule and homework
That looks very ugly. Any kid above the age of 12 would reject that.
[dead]
Nightmare? Maybe you need to work on telling your children no.
Instead of being bitter for 7 years perhaps you should not have purchased such an absurd thing.