My iKid iJacked My iPhone: A Geek Parenting Tragedy
by Kara Swisher
Posted on April 8, 2009 at 3:43 AM PT
BoomTown is not proud of the problem.
Not at all.
But, after hearing the same situation described over and over again from many other parents like me, I am also not alone.
As it turns out, our almost-seven-year-old son, Louie, has morphed into an iJacker.
That would be of my iPhone, which I switched solely to recently after a longtime attachment to my BlackBerry.
That RIM (RIMM) mobile phone never turned into a CrackBerry for him, as Louie did not care much for its lovely keys for emailing that so captivated me.
But now he wants to grab my iPhone from my holster all the time, having become entranced by apps–lots and lots and lots of apps–that now litter the digital pages of my Apple (AAPL) device.
DizzyBeeFree and Super Monkey Ball. Touch Hockey and Paper Football. Finger Sprint and MoodPhone. Bounce On and Crazy Penguin Catapult. Lie Detector and Crazy Snowboard. Tic Tac Toe and Hangman. And iChess, iCheckers, iBowl.
Of course, there are also the bubble poppers and light sabers and more cowbells.
And, good lord, how did a “Race to Witch Mountain” app get on there?
So, I don’t need any stats to tell me that the iPhone, and the iPod touch too, have turned into gaming devices of great impact.
But there are stats, like yesterday’s from comScore (SCOR), showing that 12 out of the top 25 all-time iPhone apps are games. (See the chart below; click to make it larger.)
It’s easy to understand why. The ease of use, the small form factor, the great graphics in this mobile phone that is actually a powerful computer.
In fact, Louie hardly has any interest in the desktop computer anymore, or even a laptop. Although we limited his access to it, it’s moot, since he hardly ever uses it now that the iPhone is around.
Why? It is clear, most of all, that Louie loves the movement and the touch features, which turn the experience into a visceral one.
And, uh-oh–according to a post last week on the blog Blorge.com, “The industry patent watch reveals that Apple has filed patent applications that seek to patent certain user interface ideas for the iPhone, including the use of movement, vibration, and pleasure.”
Oh, this is not going to go well when Louie is a teenager.
Thus, aside from switching to a Microsoft (MSFT) Zune, what are our parenting tactics to stave off that day from coming sooner?
Well, obviously, as much as he might beg–and he does beg and wheedle and plead–Louie gets to use the iPhone sparingly, on short car trips mostly.
And he has to play not only the sillier games, but use ones like iChess or word games that require some brain power.
Lastly, Louie must be analog more than digital and playing inside and outside more than any of it.
There should be more rules, I know, but for now he seems just as riveted to baseball and kickball too, so I am not quite in the panic stage.
More the do-not-leave-the-iPhone-on-the-counter-if-I-ever-hope-to-see-it-again phase.
Louie’s almost-four-year-old brother, Alex, is less interested in games on the iPhone, as it turns out.
Instead, for him, the iPhone is a magical music video device on which I bring him old musical numbers.
Last night, it was “I Like to Be in America” from “West Side Story” and the night before, “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from “Oklahoma!”
He was as delighted and mesmerized, as I was when I first saw those classics on the television when I was a kid.
And, even seeing them on an iPhone, of that, I am proud.
But, to give you the full picture of the situation, here is a video interview I did of Louie in action with my hijacked iPhone (it is not pretty):
Comments
Kara … two words for you: “iPod touch.”
I was having the same problem with my 11- and 8-year-olds. The incessant chant: “Dad, can I play on the iPhone?” (Think: “Dad, are we there yet?” following you around the house.)
The follow up: “But you’re not using it!”
I bought them both iPod touches for Christmas. They now have iPhones without the AT&T monthly anchor.
Problem solved. Actually it solved more than that.
Do I need to buy $30 games for their Nintendo DI’s, which they master and discard in a few weeks? Never more – they find plenty to download from the iTunes store for free. If they want a song or a movie or a $3 game, it’s my turn to ask a question: “Have you used up the iTunes gift card you got from so-and-so?” Videos? I’m off the hook when it comes to ongoing expenses.
Do yourself a favor, suck up the $229 and get a touch. Oh, and definitely buy a case. The touch’s sleek case can be hard for a kid to handle, as evidenced by the fact we lost one to a toilet. Apple doesn’t cover that, but they do give 50% off a replacement, which I find extremely generous and something no other company I know would do.
Posted by ross richardson at April 8th, 2009 at 4:10 amThat should be expected, iPhones are designed to attract seven year olds.
Posted by Karen Flowers at April 8th, 2009 at 4:56 amThis article resonates with my household! While my peers kept razzing me about these silly apps on my iphone, we were amazed at how well some of them showed the technology. I finally broke down and bought both kids (13 and 10) iPod Touches; Our 13 year old girl uses it as a traditional ipod and our 10 year old boy now has 9 pages of apps.
His favorite is Truphone* because, in his words, “It’s like having a cell phone when you’re not old enough to have one.” We combined Truphone’s service with ipkall to give him inbound and outbound calling as well as voicemail to email. I also had to get him a headset with a microphone (like the iPhone one) so that his voice could be heard. The apple store has a few choices. His requests for a cell phone have *almost* gone away.
Now, I just need to get WiFi in the car to keep them all happy.
(*Disclosure: I work for SCN, Ltd, the company that provides the Truphone service.)
Posted by Ed Guy at April 8th, 2009 at 8:40 amHas Scoble ever told you about Milan? Last week when I was at his house, Milan took my iPhone. He’s about two. Maryam then told me to watch out, because he knows how to rearrange and delete apps! This reminds me of my grandchild, now 10, who used to play with my Palm Pilot when he was a toddler. If you asked him who I was, he would answer “Palm Pilot.”
Posted by francine hardaway at April 8th, 2009 at 8:46 pmTwo words for you: password protection. I put a password on my iPhone set to set off after 5 minutes of inactivity because my teenage son would grab the phone for the games, texting,
Posted by Christine Wynne at June 4th, 2009 at 11:08 amFacebook, MySpace, etc and would be difficult to get off. Your children are being set up for serious game addiction in their teen years unless you set clear limits now. My son’s addiction to games (like World of Warcraft) led to thousands of dollars being spent on my “borrowed” credit card on virtual gold and characters, lost days at school as he snuck onto computer late at night, and poor physical health, all despite our best efforts at parental controls, passwords, trashing his DS and gameboys, all of which he found a way around. It was all a losing battle- the games started out fun and entertaining in elementary school, turned into nightmare in junior high and high school. Now he has no cellphone, computer or game access as we had to put him in a therapeutic wilderness boarding school. In suburban high schools, one half the boys that drop out do so because of addiction to video/computer/iphone games. (or so the counselors tell me). He will have to wait until he is 18 to get an iPod touch, iPhone, xBox, or even an internet access computer at this point. And he will pay for it himself.
As your kid is 7 I would NOT take the advice of most other people and buy him an iTouch. I am 17 and I could barely keep the scratches off of it, eventually just giving up all together. Imagine how a kid who is 14 would take care of it. I actually can say that I know what would happen (neighbors kid). She lost it, and when they finally did find it, the screen was FUBAR. I cannot say I know your son, but as a kid I can say that we are not responsible enough to have them. Mine still works, but the back is so messed up that it makes me nauseous just looking at it. I was so upset when it got all messed up from being in my empty pocket… Not to mention my parents reaction, until they realized I bought it myself ^_^ So please, unless you have the money to throw around, don’t get him an iTouch
Posted by jay frick at June 8th, 2009 at 5:02 pm