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When I was a child, I wandered. My mom would take me and my siblings to the mall, and inevitably my little developing brain would get bored with purchases that didn’t involve me personally. It would disappear. My mother remembers these times with a vague hint of concern; my sister remembers them with irritation. I only clearly remember the time I disappeared for so long that they were in the car waiting, with the car running, when I finally decided to come back from my stay. Apple’s new family settings service for the Apple Watch, which allows you to pair multiple mobile watches with a single iPhone and distribute them to those without a phone, is meant to solve problems for kids like me, 6 years old.
A strap might be a better and cheaper idea.
Invasive tracking of children with technology is not something Apple invented. There are many GPS trackers and bulbous “watches” for children that are intended to let a parent know everything about their child when that child is out of sight. Apple’s implementation of the technology takes a more thoughtful approach and seems to come with the respect for privacy that Apple made part of its brand. In addition to GPS tracking, the watch user has access to text messages and calls, and the phone user can control the watch’s contact list and even manipulate Internet access to prevent the watch user from being distracted if they are For example, in a school where the GPS trackers are probably not critical.
As a child, I would have loved a watch like this and wouldn’t have realized my parents were using it to hunt me down when I decided to play hide and seek in the women’s section at Neiman’s. But I don’t know if my parents actually bought me one, because as cool as it is, it’s still a $ 280 communication device that is quite delicate compared to traditional children’s devices. (Note: the $ 200 Apple Watch Series 3 does not work with the family setup, so you would have to buy a more expensive cell watch for your child.)
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The watch could be an interim device, between nothing at all and the iPhone that will inevitably merge with your hand. From my experience with many nephews, godchildren, and children of close family friends, a watch would be best for children in the 6-12 region (something confirmed by the parents I asked about). Those kids will probably appreciate the baby’s first ever-connected device, but I still have to wonder which parent would really want to shell out over $ 280 minimum for a watch to tie up a kid who can’t be trusted with a phone. That’s $ 280 for a watch that almost certainly hasn’t been tested for siblings hitting each other with plastic swords or large amounts of snot or diving into mud on Picnic.
Perhaps the SE watchwhich is the cheapest Apple Watch Family Setup will work with, it can handle the absolutely disgusting amount of fluids that a toddler prone to wandering produces. Although the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo pointed out that his own children have already destroyed two Apple watches from previous generations. “I wouldn’t trust a six-year-old with a titanium cube,” he said. Plus, $ 280 is a tall order for most parents. This seems to be the type of “gift” that the father gives to his children after divorce in an attempt to buy love, not a practical tool in the arsenal of a typical father.
The strap my sister begged my parents to buy for me is cheaper and more effective for running kids for whom this watch would be more useful.
The other suggested demographic for the household setting is seniors who no longer need or want a phone. I asked my 70-year-old mother if she wanted me to set up an Apple Watch on my phone and send it to her so she could monitor her heart rate at the gym. and she refused (hates having to charge devices). I then asked her if she would ever want it so that I could track her down in case she fell, or contact her in case she walked away from her phone, and the “go to hell” was not said verbally, but it was definitely relayed. gently through the speaker of my iPhone 11 Pro.
We both agreed that if it ever got to the point where it needed that kind of monitoring, we’d be talking about memory care facilities first. But he also said he had friends who would appreciate the connection. Some people, he noted, actually enjoy the invasive nature of a system like this and would view it as an expression of concern and love rather than a destruction of privacy. My mom doesn’t give her name when asked for her Starbucks order, so she probably should have known this wouldn’t be for her.
In all these use cases, there has to be an implicit consent between the person operating the phone and the person using the watch. They have to give their consent not only to keep the watch safe, but also to follow the laws set by the user of the phone. While that may be an easy question for a 10-year-old and an awkward question for a 70-year-old, it’s a lot to ask a 6-year-old. Maybe I’ll just get the 10-year-old a cheap Android One phone. Maybe you just have a different, more realistic conversation with that 70-year-old man. And maybe buy the 6-year-old a leash.
