AT&T Rolls Out FamilyMap iPhone Application

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by cocky jeremy

You work for AT&T? You sure are defensive about this.

No, I just don't like dumb comments like some of the ones I quoted. Seriously, AT&T isn't charity and they will charge whatever they feel is fair. You don't like it, there are other services out there. No need to bash AT&T unnecesarily.

[casik]

Originally Posted by mattwolfmatt

You're right, the mobilme ripoff: $120 a year for a family pack (includes idisk, wireless syncing on all devices, etc). This is way cheaper: just $15 a month.

Someone else made a good point: if you can afford to give your kids iphones, wow. That's something.

HAHAHAHA it's not cheaper... $15/month for a year is what... $180 vs MobileMe for $120? I think what the app does that MobileMe does not do is locate non-iPhone devices on your account... correct me if I'm wrong but this probably uses triangulation based on your cellphone location vs using gps...

just a thought.

[tzeshan]

I think ATT will be able to tell you where your child is.

[justinfreid]

My guess is that ATT uses GSM check-in and cell phone triangulation, for the most part, which differentiates this product some from Google Latitude, Brightkite, etc.

I think it's interesting, though, that Apple itself doesn't allow MobileMe subscribers to use "Find My iPhone" from other iPhones, which would devalue this insanely expensive ATT product.

Think of all the phone calls and texts that could be avoided by having reliable, always on, GPS locations of the people on your Family Talk plan!

[justinfreid]

Originally Posted by libertyforall

YAWN, how about TETHERING instead?!

Right on - but there's always BlackRa1n...

[iphones4evry1]

What the f ??????

I sure am glad they didn't have this crap when I was a kid. Technology has been cool for kids up to this point. Now your mom will always know where you are. Some loser at AT&T who must have been a momma's boy during his childhood decided he was going to punish the rest of society.

LAME !

*update: I could see this as being valuable for emergency situations, and only turned on under special circumstances, but to allow a mother to monitor her teenagers 24/7 ruins teenage years. Half of the thrill of being a junior high and high school kid is being able to explore the world and be free and independent during those few hours after school. This is going to rob kids of that part of human development. I'm afraid to see what the next generation is going to be like. A bunch of sheltered children.

"Hey Billy, we're going to cross the street and ride our skateboards on that cool ramp in the park."
"I'm not allowed to cross that street."
"Hey guys. Billy's not allowed to cross the street. hahaha."
(FYI: when I was a kid, I never did anything my parents would have been shocked at like drugs or any crap like that, but I sure did have fun hanging out with my friends and doing "stuff that kids do." It was great. I'd hate the idea of knowing that my mom always knew where my cell phone is and never knowing when she's watching me.)

[Rodimus Prime]

Originally Posted by jav6454

No, I just don't like dumb comments like some of the ones I quoted. Seriously, AT&T isn't charity and they will charge whatever they feel is fair. You don't like it, there are other services out there. No need to bash AT&T unnecesarily.

This service is 100% pure greed by AT&T. Here is what it cost them in terms of money $0. Yep that is right $0. They already were required by law to have that part of the back bone in place. Hell we all pay the damn E911 fees that cover the cost for that system plus some profit now all wrap up in that damn fee.

Fact of the matter is other service already do it for free (Google latitude for example). Mobile Me can do it and ATT does not front the cost for that one.I have a program on my blackberry that I can remotely tract my phone for free.

Originally Posted by robbyx

Why don't we just implant our kids with tracking devices? Why stop at the kids? Perhaps the state should implant all of us! It amazes me to see people embrace ideas like this with absolutely no concern for the long-term ramifications. I guess "privacy" and "individuality" are outdated concepts in the tech slave age. Today, FamilyMap. Tomorrow, well, I shudder to think.

Depends how you do explain it to your kids and trust is a two way street. If you explain it that you are justing using it for safety and not to keep track of were ever they are. Most I figure would accept that.

I would expect my future kids to tell me were they are going with their friends. I would never plan on looking at the map unless I was worried about them. Only time I would use it for tracking them is as they get into extracurricular activities and on the way back from the event to give me a good ETA on when they will be returning. For college age kids track them on the return drive home.
At the same token not use to to question what they have been doing or what they are up 2.

[dukebound85]

Originally Posted by Asar

should be a free service.

Originally Posted by bobr1952

I agree--talk about nickel and dime to death--that seems to be all we get from service providers.

If this was "joe blow iphone app developer", there would be no uproar

who cares who made the app?

They can charge as they please.....like any other app in the app store

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by Rodimus Prime

This service is 100% pure greed by AT&T. Here is what it cost them in terms of money $0. Yep that is right $0. They already were required by law to have that part of the back bone in place. Hell we all pay the damn E911 fees that cover the cost for that system plus some profit now all wrap up in that damn fee.

Fact of the matter is other service already do it for free (Google latitude for example). Mobile Me can do it and ATT does not front the cost for that one.I have a program on my blackberry that I can remotely tract my phone for free.

And like I said, there is choice, you don't like it; there are other options for you. Like the ones you just mentioned. It's their service and they can price is how ever they want. Do I think it's pricey? Yes. Yet I don't make dumb remarks on how expensive it is if I am not going to get it.

[Rodimus Prime]

Originally Posted by jav6454

And like I said, there is choice, you don't like it; there are other options for you. Like the ones you just mentioned. It's their service and they can price is how ever they want. Do I think it's pricey? Yes. Yet I don't make dumb remarks on how expensive it is if I am not going to get it.

The thing is if we the costumer never call them on thier greed they will keep abusing their power. It takes both not using it and publicly showing everyone the greed behind it to force them to change.
This is almost as bad as text messages which they abuse because olgamonoply they have.

[neuroblade]

Originally Posted by iansilv

Att are ******* for charging for this. I am all for capitalism, but this is just crap. This simple feature adds another layer of safety for parents looking out for their children. The number of people who actually use it, the small revenue stream it generates,a nod the fact that we already pay for unlimited data and have gps units on our phones means that there is no reason, no justifiable reason for this extra charge to be had.

**** you ATT. I can't wait for other carriers to get the iPhone.

No joke. As soon as I saw that this app was available, I said to myself, "Yep, another way to nickel and dime us to death."

IF AT&T were a car company they would charge you for cupholders, windshield wipers, gas tank cap, and keys ("Hey, another great feature to add value and extend the usefulness of your automobile - keys!"). Charging premiums for text messaging is another example of how ALL the cell phone carriers collude to fix prices (not just AT&T). This is what the government should look into - oligopolies and price fixing.

[kernkraft]

Hey, there's an app for that! Actually, there are several apps that duplicate these functions. Also, if AT&T tells you that your kid's iPhone is in a mile and a half radius, in what way are you more informed? Is there a pub within their school? A topless bar? A good spot to buy crack, get pregnant and join some freak sect?

You see, it's just wiser to sit down, relax and not to waste your money on your kid at all. Forget the iPhone, get them an iPod Nano and from time to time just watch the videos that they take of their hot schoolmates.

[jupp0r]

Originally Posted by robbyx

Why don't we just implant our kids with tracking devices? Why stop at the kids? Perhaps the state should implant all of us! It amazes me to see people embrace ideas like this with absolutely no concern for the long-term ramifications. I guess "privacy" and "individuality" are outdated concepts in the tech slave age. Today, FamilyMap. Tomorrow, well, I shudder to think.

Thanks, I was really shocked by all the comments here. Imagine how you all would have felt growing up under 24/7 surveillance! Have you ever heard of the concept of TRUST and RESPONSIBILITY and that those two things might actually be good for a child's development and the relationship to it's parents?

Just my $.02

[floatingspirit]

Originally Posted by LloydBraun89

This takes helicopter parenting to a whole new level

No pun intended, right?

AT&T: why don't u just start charging for every digit dialed in a phone number?

[Blinkwing]

If I had kids, I'd rather just call/txt them to make sure they're A OK.

AT&T are doing a good job at making parents think their kids need to be bubble wrapped.

[lazyrighteye]

Hard to believe (well, not really) that they charged (let alone, so much) for this service.
Can't similar functionality be achieved (more or less) with Loopt (free)?

[mattwolfmatt]

Originally Posted by felipestrong

Ummm, you do realize that $120 a year translates into $10 a month, which is less than AT&T's $15 a month???

$15 a month = $180 a year.

Originally Posted by casik

HAHAHAHA it's not cheaper... $15/month for a year is what... $180 vs MobileMe for $120? I think what the app does that MobileMe does not do is locate non-iPhone devices on your account... correct me if I'm wrong but this probably uses triangulation based on your cellphone location vs using gps...

just a thought.

Do you know what sarcasm is?

[baryon]

Couldn't developers just make an App that does this with the GPS with 100% accuracy for FREE? How come there's no App like that? Why is it limited to family? Why isn't it free? It costs nothing to the carrier, all you should have to pay for is maybe the App. I'm sure there are loads of Apps out there that can submit your GPS location to a server and do this!

[Rodimus Prime]

Originally Posted by baryon

Couldn't developers just make an App that does this with the GPS with 100% accuracy for FREE? How come there's no App like that? Why is it limited to family? Why isn't it free? It costs nothing to the carrier, all you should have to pay for is maybe the App. I'm sure there are loads of Apps out there that can submit your GPS location to a server and do this!

nope they can not for the iPhone. The complete lack of 3rd party multitasking makes that impossible.

[iansilv]

Originally Posted by Rodimus Prime

nope they can not for the iPhone. The complete lack of 3rd party multitasking makes that impossible.

Perhaps with iOS 4.0?

[Michael CM1]

I guess the bean counters said they finally can't charge more for texts.

[Little Endian]

This Family Map and the mobile me find my iphone features are a joke. Whether you can get a location lock with accuracy of 1.5 miles or 300 feet is pretty useless if you want to find a person or much less an iphone. If these features allowed you to get a GPS lock down to 25 feet outdoors or sub 300 feet indoors then I would be impressed.

I recently lost an iphone and tried to use the mobile me "find my iphone" feature and the best it could do was let me know that my iphone was lost in a 1 mile radius with some 200 plus buildings and 10,000 or so people in that range. Needless to say it was not much help in locating my phone, except for confirming the fact that it was in part of the city that I knew I lost it in. I got my phone back on sheer luck of having someone with at least some idea of ethics who found it and returned it to me.

As far as Family Map goes..... think about it. The people who would use it would like to know if their Kid is in school on Campus and not at the mall or at home that may very well be just 1 mile or less away. A 1 mile or so accuracy is S*&t for trying to get a clue on where someone may be in most cases. It's great if you want to know if that person is still in the same city or part of town but in most urban situations it is useless.

[Hardsheller]

Originally Posted by jholzner

You can't use that feature via an iPhone.

Oh, and it requires a Mobile me account as well.

I do it with my iPhone and "Bolt" which let's you simulate firefox or safari for a mac.

[coasterswim]

I said it before and I'll say it again:

This service is not new! This has been around for ages. The only think AT&T has provided here is a FREE way to access this PAID service via iPhone rather than finding a computer.

This is not about a child's iPhone! A lot of people in this thread are saying things along the lines of, "Well, if the parents are already buying their kids iPhones...". That's not what this is. This works for any cell phone on AT&T's network, not just iPhones.

[e-coli]

Some companies just can't seem to get out of their own way. AT&T always manages to turn potential into calamity.