  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
2 edits | and AT&T locks you down And AT&T also locks you down (aren't they implementing some sort of anti-piracy / packet snarfing).
They filtered / censored live concert broadcasts.
For wireless... this is a 'must'. Its kind of sad that AT&T needs to charge money for this service. I'd like to be able to lock down extra family lines. Now that there is some control, I might even add the in-laws onto my plan and limit their usage.
Due to the SPAM messages from glomobi.com, I had all lines of SMS disabled. AT&T couldn't filter them out, and I am on a PPU for emergency only .
--
Canada = Hollywood North | |
|
 | sm2016a
join:2004-03-02
Belleville, IL | Re: and AT&T locks you down It is a good idea to be able to lock down these features but nothing is free. Just another way for AT&T to charge for something to get more money out of your pocket. | |
|
| |  ChucklesPremium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | Re: and AT&T locks you down I saw these damn kids on the side of the road selling lemonade. The wanted money for the lemonade! And they were selling homemade pot holders. They wanted to charge me for those too! Jesus, just another way for these kids to get my money.
--
kustomerservice.net | |
|
| | | ackman
join:2000-10-04
Acworth, GA | Re: and AT&T locks you down said by Chuckles:I saw these damn kids on the side of the road selling lemonade. The wanted money for the lemonade! And they were selling homemade pot holders. They wanted to charge me for those too! Jesus, just another way for these kids to get my money. So I guess you'd happily pay more for your broadband service if your provider unbundles e-mail so they can charge you an extra $5/month. Hey, maybe Microsoft can charge a surcharge to allow 3rd party e-mail clients to work properly under Windows. Sure, it's all the "free market", right? Absurd. It used to be that such value added services were tacked on for free as an enticement to lure customers from the competition. | |
|
| | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | I agree... I'm sure AT&T doesn't _really_ want to put these filters in place, as it hurts their bottom line (i.e. overages, extra text, etc.) and would typically have people using the 'unlimited' plans so that they don't have to worry about overages.
Filtering usage down will allow the ability to not go over a specific amount of voice/data/messaging, and allow a lower rate data/voice/sms plan. AT&T would see this as a shortfall in revenue.
Also, someone has to support/maintain the filters, apps, servers, etc.
--
Canada = Hollywood North | |
|
| | |  jgkoltPremium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH | Re: and AT&T locks you down actually it would probably be purchased with a new family plan or line of service where the adult pays since he is worried. not everyone goes over but they have the assurance that they wont. They know what they are doing. Maybe they are trying to lower the amount of bad debt (people who won't pay and wont get collected).
What would be nice is if they added this as "another reason to switch" or even, dare i say, product differentiation at no cost?
On a side note now that they are not the carrier with the least amount of dropped calls maybe the parents won't have to worry about the kiddies using up all the minutes. Once again Cingular to the rescue, if you can't make a call you can use all of your minutes. Maybe this new offering is revision 2 of the theory i just talked about version 1.
--
www.LakeSemaJ.com
Help me get free trades.3 free if you sign up, $7 after. PM Me | |
|
| |  Dude111An Awesome DudePremium
join:2003-08-04
USA
kudos:10
 ·Time Warner VOIP
| quote:
It is a good idea to be able to lock down these features but nothing is free. Just another way for AT&T to charge for something to get more money out of your pocket.
Ya got that right!!!!
A kindergarten student isnt gonna be browsing the net anyway (hehehehe) | |
|
| | | said by en102:They filtered / censored live concert broadcasts. What AT&T did was to edit content that they generated themselves. If you produce the content, you can edit it any way you like. If they had censored someone else's content, that'd be another thing entirely, but that isn't what happened here.
As for these cell phone restrictions, I have no problem with them, although I do agree with others that parents should tell their kids what uses are and are not acceptable, and if the kids violate these rules, they should have their phones taken away. And I don't buy the excuse that kids need these things so they can call home in an emergency. When I went to school, if I needed to contact my parents, I went to the school office. And if my parents needed to reach me, they called the school, and someone came and got me out of class. Personally, I think that this is all a rationalization. The parents who give phones to their kids need an excuse for doing so. They can't just be honest and say that it's to keep the kids from whining and screaming for a cell phone, so they come up with this false justification. But hey, if that's what gets you through, then far be it from me to object. | |
|
 exocet_cmYou delete it, I'll find itPremium
join:2003-03-23
New Orleans, LA
kudos:2 | And for ANOTHER $5.00 a month AT&T will forward all your usage to the NSA.
I stern ass whooping will keep junior from going of his text message limit and save you the price of a Starbucks coffee.
Weeeee! | |
|
| | | Re: And for ANOTHER $5.00 a month I agree....just take the damn phone away if junior won't abide by the rules. Sheeessh. You gotta pay to keep your kids in line now! | |
|
| |  ropeguruPremium
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA | Re: And for ANOTHER $5.00 a month said by blacksurfer:I agree....just take the damn phone away if junior won't abide by the rules. Sheeessh. You gotta pay to keep your kids in line now! Oh, no, you can't do that. If you do, the ACLU, child protective services, and god knows who else will be suing the crap out of you and put you in jail.
Also, don't let you kids play tag anymore. Seems that a school district in Colorado has banned it because kids were complaining that they were to slow.
--
FWD#: 223611 | |
|
 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Hopefully someone will offer it standard.... ... and then AT&T will have to match. Maybe. | |
|
|  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: Hopefully someone will offer it standard.... maybe is right. all the carriers are salivating over the NEW REVENUE STREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAH! | |
|
| | KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Re: Hopefully someone will offer it standard.... Yeah, we have to hope that "competition" will save us from things like this. It's not working so far. | |
|
1 edit | No cell phone Don't give a kid a cell phone, solves the problem
--
The Maxx
max dn 22mbps / max up 4.7mbps | |
|
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| cutting off their revenue Why would AT&T offer something that would cut down on their profits from irresponsible teenagers? I think because people who got these big bills would cancel the service when they realized what a liability it is. Now cancellation department can offer this for $5 a month... AT&T is trading uncertain income for guaranteed income. Also their competitors don't offer that service yet, so its an advantage.
Something like this shouldn't be needed, but at least its optional. Think of $5 per month as a tax on bad parenting. | |
|
|  Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
join:2002-03-03
USA
kudos:4 | Re: cutting off their revenue said by axus:Something like this shouldn't be needed, but at least its optional. Think of $5 per month as a tax on bad parenting. That is the key. Parents should be able to keep their kids in line by just telling them to not abuse the phone and if they don't, take the phone away. But so many parents today have little control over their kids. But at least with this option they can keep their kids from running up huge phone bills. At least until web sites start showing the kids how to hack the phones to turn off parental control.
--
--
Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
|
|  CoronaIt's cool, I'm takin it backPremium
join:2000-03-14
Dallas, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| said by axus:...Think of $5 per month as a tax on bad parenting. +1  | |
|
| | AT&T Get a pre-pay for them,when they use all their air time they can buy their own with their allowance/pay check!
Problem solved.......... | |
|
| morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: AT&T this is the best idea of all. bonus is that it teaches kids the value of money. | |
|
| | | | Re: AT&T I agree with Snail...I had a pre-pay phone when I was younger. It worked great, i learned the value of money and the privledge of having a mobile phone. Of course i got a contract after 6months or so. THIS IS ALL COMMON SENSE, USE IT PEOPLE. | |
|
| | | | I agree with Snail...I had a pre-pay phone when I was younger. It worked great, i learned the value of money and the privilege of having a mobile phone. Of course i got a contract after 6months or so. THIS IS ALL COMMON SENSE, USE IT PEOPLE. | |
|
|  Greg_ZPremium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL | Both of my kids have Pre-Paids that are with Trac. | |
|
| | | | Re: AT&T Amen to that. My daughter told me she wanted a RAZR after getting her a Trac. I told her to let me know when she had a job so she could pay for it. | |
|
| | Not just about cost This service is about more than just keeping costs down. The "time of day" controls help prevent things like having kids sitting up all night texting their friends instead of sleeping, or texting in class or during study hours. Parent Patrol is a similar product that does the same thing (»www.parent-patrol.com) except it isn't widely available yet. | |
|
|
1 edit | Re: Not just about cost SENT this same thing into news dept here (around 6 this morning,), this morning, glad you made this public.
»Web site lets parents monitor teens' cell phone use
AT&T to let parents limit kids' cell calls
Smart Limits plan to offer features ranging from call blocking and hour limits to text message and download allowances, which may be set by parents through a Web site.
Many parents want their children to have access to cell phones for safety reasons, but they don't want them making or receiving non-emergency calls during the school day, chatting away all the shared family-plan minutes or bloating the bill with text messaging charges, Hill said.
story
»money.cnn.com/2007/09/04/news/co···?cnn=yes
isn't this a privacy issue/ NO it isn't as mon & dad arepaying the bill
and NOTE it's not about $5.00,since there is NO contract & can be done ALMOST with any phone.
--
That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am,and don't bother with those that ONLY know how to hurt.
| |
|
| | Kindergartener? The article mentions a kindergartener with a cell phone. Come on, give me a break. Kindergarteners don't need cell phones. I made it just fine throughout my youth without a cell phone, thank you very much. And so should todays' kids. | |
|
| | | Re: Kindergartener? I did get my 5th grader a Net10 phone. | |
|
| | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: Kindergartener? And you're in So-Cal... point made.
--
Canada = Hollywood North | |
|
 bencPremium
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
 ·Charter
| SMS block doesn't cost anything... If parents raise their children right then this would be completely unnecessary.
When I was a kid the worst punishment I ever had was that I was sent to my room, and I was eight years old at the time. I was a good son. Did I turn out exactly the way my parents hoped? No. But they did a good job where it counts.
I'm young enough that cell phones did exist when I was a child, although back then they weren't as advanced and they cost much more to use. I did have one when I was a teenager, but given the high cost I made a point of not using it much. Is it so hard for parents to teach that to their children? My parents simply told me about the cell phone plan (total minutes, what calls use up minutes, etc.), and I understood.
As for SMS, isn't it possible to block them at no charge? With Verizon it's possible. I'm using the block right now. It's great because it encourages people to call me. Plus I've never received a complaint from others because of it. | |
|
 DrTCPYours trulyPremium,ExMod 1999-04
join:1999-11-09
Round Rock, TX | I think these features should be free! Some of these features could be useful for fighting incoming spam or accidentally ordering something. These does not really cost anything to AT&T but they are trying to charge stuff for something that could be possible anyway. | |
|
| ropeguruPremium
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA | Re: I think these features should be free! I agree. Like with VoIP companies, you get voicemail, callerid with name, and loads of other features. Yet with telcos, and I use them because AT&T is one big telco, charge for every little damn thing.
--
FWD#: 223611 | |
|
 JonPremium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL | What is... "online cellphone use" ? | |
|
jgkoltPremium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH | treo so will they start changing me for my treo that has the internet blocked so i don't have to pay the ridiculous internet charges? Well i don't have att and jumped ship as soon as they started messing with my bill and service after cingular sadly gobbled up my att wireless account. I Jumped ship because of their actions to verizon. Now if verizon does that i am screwed.
On a side note anyone get to check out tmobiles hotspot@home where u can get unlimited minutes on your home wireless for phoning people? I'm thinking about switching again.
--
www.LakeSemaJ.com
Help me get free trades.3 free if you sign up, $7 after. PM Me | |
|
| | | Re: treo How about if dad uses that pc to watch porn lol. | |
|
| |  NJxxxJonDSLR'er from the 56k days.Premium
join:2005-10-22
00000
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: treo said by brooklynman4:How about if dad uses that pc to watch porn lol. "Grown-Ups" should stop texting while driving. So in turn, put a limit on for the young ins.
--
\\"I don't have a girlfriend, I just know a girl that would get mad if I said that." \\Mitch Hedberg | |
|
| | Unlimited SMS? Wouldn't it just make more sense to use that five bucks to pay for unlimited SMS. Assuming of course you don't have a problem with using too many minutes. | |
|
PittsPghPremium
join:2003-08-21
Pittsburgh, PA
kudos:1 | Local Pittsburgh Reporter on the AT&T cell phone lockdown Here is a link to a local Pittsburgh,Pa news station on this story. They explain it quite clearly.
»kdka.com/video/?id=31562@kdka.dayport.com
The one kid claimed he had a +$300 bill and the other claimed +$600 bill. They also claimed thier parents took thier phone away for awhile.
They tell you they can still call 911 and special numbers that you program in,(parents,granparents, ect) as well as the times it is in limited use.
For $5 to save $300 on a bill. It's well worth it. They don't need to be calling or texting during class.
Paul | |
|
|
|
