Chronicles of Dave

It’s remarkable the technology kids have access to these days. When I was my daughter Virginias age the coolest technology I had access to was an 8-Track tape player. Oh, yes, I had Boston on 8-Track. Now we have pocket

computers (some call them smart phones) that are more powerful than my first personal computer, the beloved Apple //e. My first cell phone was given to me by my work. They wanted all managers to have cell phones so you could be reached anytime, anywhere. The joys of being a manager. It was one of those super cool, thin Motorola jobs that were all the rage at the time. State of the art. Then September 11 happened and so many things changed. Luckily it was morning before I had gone to work so my wife and I and Virginia, who was just a baby , were all home. But we started wondering, what if I wasn’t home? What if the attack had happened close to were we lived? Immediately we recognized the need to communicate. Just to coordinate actions, to know where everyone is and where everyone was going. I bought my wife a cell phone the next week. Now cell phones are so cheap, they are finding there way into the hands of kids. I wasn’t a big fan of this at first, but when your kid turns around 9 and starts galavanting around the neighborhood more on their own you start to like the idea. Life is more complex now, faster. Who is going to pick up the kid from the birthday party? I thought Mrs. Jones was bringing you home. Nope. She thought we were. If you kid has a way to communicate, one quick phone call resolves the situation easily.

At first we tried those “kid” phones that are easy for them to use and can only dial certain numbers, ect. Nice idea but the reception was so poor it was worthless. It was just as easy and inexpensive to just get her an AT&T phone and add her to the family plan. But herein lies the trap. Being a child, your kid is likely to loose, misplace or otherwise become eternally separated from his or her phone at some point. If you go into AT&T they will tell you that your kids phone is not up for a discount renewal for possibly a very long time, depending on when the loss happens. In my case, Virginia’s phone is not up for a year. Buy a new phone? Pay the retail price. No thanks. Cancel her line? Pay a $175 early termination fee. Gee, thanks. I’m on the hook for $10/mo for another year for a

phone she doesn’t have. I looked right at the AT&T rep. What am I supposed to do? For a while he just looked at me like I don’t know sir, you’re pretty screwed. “I can’t believe this” I said. Finally he took pity on me and said I could buy a GoPhone and he would give me a replacement SIM card to put in it. A GoPhone would only be around $50. Of course, they don’t sell them at the AT&T store. Of course not, why would they. I went down to Best Buy and took a look. The GoPhone are prettysucky but they would work.

Problem #2: Your daughter has turned 10 and is obsessed with texting. Yes a phone, fine, but can I text? With a real keyboard? Dad, I’ve tried it on a regular phone pad, it’s no good. I can’t argue with that. it does suck. Your first thought is probably my first thought which was she doesn’t deserve a texting phone because she lost the first phone. True, but here is my logic. If I get her a decent texting phone, she will be so happy and obsessed with it she’ll never let it out of her site. It will be way to valuable to loose. But there are no GoPhones I can find retail that have a keyboard. The one I found online wants to force me to sign up for a plan. I just can’t win. Finally I turn to craigslist and you actually can get a Samsung Blackjack for around $100, which is the same price as the texting GoPhone. So I think that’s what I’ll do until her contract is up at which point I will drop her from AT&T. Fuck ‘em. They didn’t help me out, so they loose my business.

Here is the lesson learned. If you want to get you kid a cell phone, go with a pre-paid phone on a network with no contracts like Virgin Mobile. They have decent phones and you won’t be screwed if the phone gets lost, stolen or damaged. Plus, you can always move to a different provider anytime.