Comments on: Teens view cell phones as essential

A new nationwide survey shows the importance of cell phones in the lives of American teens. And yes, they want to have a "cool" one.

[anebg]

"...and have artificial intelligence that will provide answers to questions" its basically saying "I want a phone that would do my homework."

[pjhenry1216]

It seems like a pretty good idea at first to ask kids what they want in phones. Then when you hear they want an invincible phone with artificial intelligence that has free service... well, then you realize why you don't normally ask kids what they want.

I'd personally rather see a trend towards carrying ultra-portables in backpacks than for kids to become more attached to phones. Being able to do something well on a phone doesn't help in many fields, whereas being able to do well on a computer does wonders in plenty of fields.

[hachi_noir]

out of all the responses to countless articles on the topic of teens and cell phones yours has been the most intelligent. The parents are taking into consideration social status and material value rather than thinking that they might be adding to a growing problem. I could talk to for days on the subject of why children shouldn't have full function phones. However when confronted on the subject parents and students alike offer only that their phone is important in case of emergency or to contact parents after school activities. Why not get a firefly and be done with it? At least then the child won't find it necessary to text their friend down the hall during the middle of class. They can still call home, or work, or whatever other number is programmed in the phone and have the ability to make a call in an emergency.

[thelemurking]

I'd like to see a phone that stabs teens in the face when they drive and text at the same time.

[patch991]

Maybe if their elders set a better example, this wouldn't be a problem.

[jsargent]

It looks like we are going to see a lot of brain tumors in the future....

[patch991]

Now I agree that kids should be technology literate, as they are our future scientists, politcians, teachers ... but what every happened to going to SEE or VISIT a friend, instead of texting or chat??

How about their belief that a cell phone is essential ... "Leaving home without my phone almost feels like leaving the house naked," ... will they appreciate it as much when they enter the work force and are being hounded 24 hrs a day by their place of business on their PDA, cell phone or pager???

And who ever thought they'd see the day when "peer pressure" involved a cell phone?

[cjwall67]

When you see school districts banning ALL personal electronics during school hours, you know what certain enterprising teens are doing with their smartphones, video ipods, and other devices that allow them to "enhance" their educational achievements. The only reason they gave 16 year-olds driver's licenses was to give parents a break from the incessant whining about not having the "new and cool" stuff (FYI to the present crop of "not yet adults making a meaningful contribution to society": we used pretty much the same arguments when we were trying to justify to our parents why they had to buy us the "new and cool" stuff with their hard-earned money!!). We like stuff that's free too, but we have teenagers now, and thanks to cellphones, we're going to be hearing a lot more whining about "new and cool"... that's okay, because right now, I am listening to Deep Purple on the ipod classic I just confiscated because the homework didn't get done. "What was that?? Sorry, I'm having a hard time hearing you right now...it all just sounds like BLAH, BLAH,BLAH. Ah, life is sweet.

[limefan913]

As a teenager myself, I think they got a crap sample here. Sure, I do carry my cell phone on me the majority of the time, but do I view it as a piece of social status? Hell no. I bought the phone I did not because it looks good, but because it does exactly what I want (HTC Touch on Verizon Wireless running Windows Moible 6). If that kid really feels ashamed about his phone, he exemplifies what's wrong with society.

And yeah, none of us can afford the iPhone, and most of my peers don't want them because AT&T sucks.

[tech42er]

I don't think the kid on the panel has a WinMo HTC phone and feels bad because it's not as fashionable as an iPhone. He probably has a 2 year old Motorola that can do calls, SMS, and take sub-VGA pics. the HTC Touch is a NICE phone (if you can do without qwerty keyboard); don't assume that kid has such a good phone.

[VicRvB]

tech42er

limefan did not say that the kid had a nice phone like the touch, he just mentioned what his was and why he bought it, what he's saying is that if it does what you need it shouldn't matter what phone it is. But to teens, it does. When I was a teen I thought certain things that weren't important were life and death, things look different when you're that age.

Oh, and limefan, I think maybe you think the network with the fastest 3G sucks because it is expensive, how do you think Boost Mobile got popular with inner city kids, it was cheap enough to have but still have that hip hop vibe, because now he's 'in the tippy'.

[gefitz]

Agree with cjwall...the reason for proliferation of cellphones amongst the age group from 10-18 is simple...as simple as the reason for 16-year-olds getting drivers licenses: Parents Are Lazy.

Yes, parenting actually takes some time. And some effort. And some logistical planning. So does having a social life when you are 15. The cellphone has eliminated the need for that, and as a result kids "feel naked" when they don't have that social leash connected to themselves at all times.

So, forgive me if my kids feel naked. $100/month so that my kids won't develop planning skills or be responsible for himself doesn't seem like money well-spent.

[bobmarleypeople]

Welcome to Newsnight, I'm Kirsty Wark. Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. More on that story later.

Our top story tonight: CNET News has discovered that it CAN state the obvious and turn it into news. This is a shocking, although expected, discovery. We'll be right back after this message from Captain Obvious.

[nevermindme123]

> Dean, 14, said he'd like phone manufacturers develop solar-powered phones.
> "If they can do it for calculators, they should be able to do it for phones," he said.

A phone uses somewhere around 200-400 times as much power as a calculator. If you increased the size of the solar panel to 400x what it is on the calculator, I think you probably *could* power a phone. But it would be a big phone!

[TimeTraveler2000]

I recently went for a job interview and while the HR person was looking over my application and asked me if I had a cell phone. I said no and her eyes widened and she had a look of disbelief on her face. She asked why not. Besides the obvious that if I am unemployed, I would have no way to pay for the service, I said having lived in the mountains for several years where service does not work well, one gets used to not having them. Though I really wanted to tell the truth that I don't much like the idea of being tied into their ridiculous contracts or that I can be tracked at anytime or that I can be hounded with it. When I leave work for the day, I'm done.

[tech42er]

Cool. So why should they hire you instead of someone with a BB who they can force to work all hours of the day? When you apply for a job, you need to convince your potential employer you'd take a bullet for them, or else you won't get the job.

[The_Dishwasher]

Solar power? Artificial intelligence? Did they pick the dumbest teens they could find for this thing, or do these 7 teens actually represent the average high school kid?

This is really embarrassing.

[NoVista]

Smile. Talk is cheap; so is TXT.

Maybe what the world needs is an iListen ... that could be solar-powered.

And obviously, some people need artificial intelligence, having none of their own. "Beam me up, Scotty -- there's no intelligent life here."

[lifelonglego]

I am a teen and I think they need a bigger sample. I have a phone that I have with me most of the time, but I don't think of it as a status accesory. Those kids really do need the artificial intelligence if they think invincible solar powered cell phones will ever be a possibility, since they don't have have any intelligence of their own. I don't want an Iphone, I want one of the windows mobile 6.1 devices that I can use on verizon. AT&T sucks and I don't like the iPhone. I would rather buy the best device for me then the hottest thing that most people have. That's why I bought a zune 80 last year, and I have bean completely satisfied with it.

[thina215]

im a teenager myself, i do agree phones do look cool and stuff and you want it so bad, but i think people should just accept the fact that parents are spending hard earn money to get them food and clothes. Cell phones are in your pocket so people won't see them half the time, but clothes is what people look at. I think i rather have nice clothes than a nice phone. For me when my parents took me to the phone store to get my first cellphone the day i graduated from 8th grade, they said to pick any phone from $100 and less. I just wanted what was like 2 or 3 in 1 kind of phone so i would just save money, so i picked the upstage. it had a free 1gb memory card with it and it's a cellphone and mp3 player. I didn't care about looks and my dad was the one that urged me to get it. Since it was 2 in 1 (cellphone and mp3 player) it saved me and my parents money so i didn't need to get a mp3 player to waste more cash.

I think cellphones should be replaced, or we should be able to get a new one if it's broken or has something that we can't fix on it. Like my upstage, i have to get a new phone because since it's dual sided i can't replace the battery, my battery wallet just broke down on me while i was on the subway using it, and the software won't let me update the firmware and the sprint store said they couldn't do it either, so my phone has to be turned on and off when i try to call and someone calls me while my phone is trying to call. it freezes up. That is what you consider needing replacements, or a new phone.

[clem_cowsie]

I've found that articles about what teenagers like are hopelessly generalized. All they do is rectify stereotypes about them by choosing people who are willing to perpetuate those stereotypes, instead of choosing a mix of personalities. Sigh.

[clem_cowsie]

Oh, and one more thing:
"According to the survey, teens also say they want phones that are waterproof and shockproof, are made of flexible materials that can bend..."
Wait, what were you planning to do with your phone?
I think technology like that would be better used on things like eyeglasses - things that can be broken easily in an accident. All this article is saying is, "People abuse their stuff, so let's let them do that by making their stuff indestructible!"
So, when they pick up things that aren't very durable for any reason, they'll break it in five minutes because they thought it was nice and rugged, like their phones.

[VicRvB]

"If they can do it for calculators, they should be able to do it for phones," he said

Public school FTL