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why are they putting in parental controls?

Ilovemyipod said:
haha ya...im 15 and im getting the iPhone 3G and my parents are all for the parental controls...but i know most of their passwords...(there not very "secure" on giving passwords to each other when im around)...so i have my ways...but the thing though is...i don't really care...Im not into looking at that kinda stuff anyways...drugs porno alchoal...whatever doesn't interest me...im athlete i can't do that stuff anyway...:cool:
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You know porn doesn't have an affect on your athletics, right?
 
OK, I don't know what the general demographic of MR users is, but if you have little kids the parental controls are welcome, indeed.
I have a five and three year old and in some situations handing them the iPhone to watch movies and listen to music is a good way to keep them seated (restaurants, primarily). Instead of me looking over their shoulder every minute to make sure that no international call is being made, the parental controls could come in very handy. Not to mention YouTube clips of the Snoopy cartoon, dubbed with explicit voice over :mad:
 
Erm… I'm pretty sure from what we've seen of the 2.0 firmware in threads here that anyone expecting these parental controls to be useful is going to be disappointed. They appear to be rather blunt instruments - turn off YouTube access (not "limit it to stuff unsuitable for children", just "off", prevent iTunes playing podcasts tagged explicit, turn off Safari (not filtering).

I'm not sure how they'll be useful, because they cripple the phone to such an extent it wouldn't be worth buying them. And as such, I do wonder what the point is - at least ahead of the great many required features we're not getting, which would sell more handsets I wager.

Phazer
 
hotzenplotz said:
OK, I don't know what the general demographic of MR users is, but if you have little kids the parental controls are welcome, indeed.
Click to expand...

From what I’ve read about this, Apple has introduced this feature for exactly this reason.

In a very recent article about porn and the iPhone that (I think in Time), it mentioned this – and also if it hadn’t, lawsuits would be inevitable.
 
The Phazer said:
Erm… I'm pretty sure from what we've seen of the 2.0 firmware in threads here that anyone expecting these parental controls to be useful is going to be disappointed....
Click to expand...

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1815933,00.html

From a business point of view, I would have thought that this has been introduced as a way of avoiding law suits primarily - particularly with the growth in mobile porn.

However, if you wanted to use these controls so your kids didn't access anything inapproriate on your iPhone when your back is turned, it's exactly the kind of blunt tool that would appeal.... assuming your kids aren't more tech-savvy than you!

I didn't think that these parental controls were designed with the idea of giving iPhones to under-18s - I might be completely wrong, but everything I've read so far suggests that it's more to prevent children using your iPhone sneakily.
 
haha, I'm 16, I bought the iPhone myself and I pay my own bell (with my moms checking account of course). Unfortunately, I sold my iPhone to get the 3g. But when I had my 2g iPhone, I would never do anything but look at porn ALL day long. My parents don't really give a rat's butt about parental controls. They think parental controls are for white people.
 
Well, if the above post doesn't say enough, the reason is simply adult content (although a second reason is probably guarding against excessive use). The iPhone is touted as having a true web browser, the real internet, etc. And as the recent Times article pointed out, this content is being made more and more accessible from mobile devices, particularly the iPhone.

So of course parents will want to try and help limit access to this on the iPhone, in the same way so many do on their home computers. There's relatively no difference in what is accessible, so same rationale applies.
 
mrat93 said:
Really, do most parents care if their kids (say 13+) look at porn?
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It's one thing to to look at porn occasionally. It's another thing entirely if you are looking at it frequently, especially during your formative years of sexuality. Because for many kids it sets an totally unrealistic expectation of what sex is.
 
Igantius said:
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1815933,00.html

From a business point of view, I would have thought that this has been introduced as a way of avoiding law suits primarily - particularly with the growth in mobile porn.

However, if you wanted to use these controls so your kids didn't access anything inapproriate on your iPhone when your back is turned, it's exactly the kind of blunt tool that would appeal.... assuming your kids aren't more tech-savvy than you!

I didn't think that these parental controls were designed with the idea of giving iPhones to under-18s - I might be completely wrong, but everything I've read so far suggests that it's more to prevent children using your iPhone sneakily.
Click to expand...

Exactly right - they're not called parental controls they're called "restrictions" and are possibly intended as much for the business market as they are for kids: Any company handing out iPhones for employees could possibly need the ability to prevent users installing apps or buying over the air from iTunes. And blocking explicit content, You Tube or safari may be necessary for company policy regarding phone usage.
 
dejo said:
It's one thing to to look at porn occasionally. It's another thing entirely if you are looking at it frequently, especially during your formative years of sexuality. Because for many kids it sets an totally unrealistic expectation of what sex is.
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Which is corrected pretty quickly when he gets a real girlfriend and realizes she isn't going to do things for him.

I can understand the parental controls. You give a teenager a device with full browser that fits in his pocket and it's instant porn...any time of the day. In class, on the bus, at lunch, every trip to the bathroom...seriously all day.
 

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