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Apple Moves To Stop Kids Racking Up iTunes Bills
Xacid writes "Apple Inc. has changed how purchases inside iPhone and iPad games are authorized after customers complained that their kids were racking up hundreds of dollars worth of charges. The issue was that after a user entered his or her iTunes password on a device, the device didn't prompt for the password again for 15 minutes. Any purchases, whether in the iTunes store or inside kid-friendly games such as 'The Smurf's Village,' went through without a new password prompt. This meant that parents who handed over their iPhones or iPads to their kids were sometimes shocked by large purchases of 'Smurfberries' and other virtual bling."
... it's a parenting problem.
...parents left cookies on the table and were shocked to find that their children ate them when they weren't looking.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
This is EXACTLY what lead to the big die-off of the dinosaurs.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Thank god they wised up and put in a new password prompt for in-game purchases. Now all they have to do is sit back and wait for the complaints to come in that "my kids said 'hey what's the password?' and then I got hundreds of dollars of racked up charges." Never mind the fact that they have a KID'S GAME that includes paying for virtual nothingness. I guess Steve's new motto is "get them addicted early."
I really don't see how this is much of a parenting issue. Many kids have an iPod touch just like they might have a GameBoy or DS. The problem is that in-game purchases are too integrated into the game and it is feasible that a kid playing a game might not fully realize that this is going to be charged real money. Ideally what Apple would do would be when you set up your device in iTunes, you can create a "gift card only" account on it that would only bill gift cards and wouldn't buy something without enough store credit. So kids could still download free apps and spend their gift cards on apps/DLC but without the fear of it charging their parent's credit card.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Apple iOS update blamed for 90% reduced revenue for small game developers.
40% of small game developers have gone out of business since this change.
BAD APPLE.
How about having "dollar" triggers so the timer is ignored if you've spent more than $LIMIT in the last $TIMEPERIOD, with separate triggers for non-kid and kid areas?
That way I'm forced to type in a password if I spend more than my $iBUDGET in a day and kids are forced to come get me if they want to spend more than their $iALLOWANCE in a 7-day period.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
This is how you avoid this problem:
Step 1: Get Kid's iPod Touch/iPhone.
Step 2: Setting->General->Restrictions->Enable Restrictions. Remember the passcode.
Step 3: Setting->General->Restrictions->In App Purchases, TURN OFF.
.
That wasn't so hard now was it?
...how many people here racked up multiple hundreds of dollars on their parents' credit card, playing premium games on Compuserve and its competitors or dialing long-distance BBS numbers.
What ever happened to parents holding their children, and themselves for that matter, accountable for their actions. In any child of mine purchased anything online without my permission I would make them work to pay the charges. Maybe it will teach the children the value of money. Maybe it will also teach parents to log out of iTunes before handing the phone over to someone else. In my mind this is no different than logging into one's bank account and the letting a child play on the computer without logging out.
How about Apple offer the OPTION to either have a timed period of no re-authorization, or require it every time? The idea that Apple was just flabbergasted than CHILDRENS games with trivially simply in app purchases were resulting in purchases not authorized by the parents is laughable. Apple knew exactly what was going on, refused to do anything about it until the gravy train intersected the negative publicity tractor trailer, and now is putting in a change that can only be called "plausible deniability". It's not going to change anything because they haven't fixed the issue...they've just done enough so they can claim they did the best they could, but whoopsie we still need to charge your credit card a few hundred bucks.
How would a kid know that answering 'yes' to "do you want some smurfberries?" is going to cost money?
The problem will most likely go away once the parent has figured out that the shiny toy they put in their kid's hands has hidden "spend money" buttons in it. Once bitten, etc.
The real blame here is on the people who set up an automatic billing system which allows the parents to get bitten even once, ie. Apple. All purchases should require a password.
No sig today...
...will get you every time.
I got here through a series of tubes
Anyone remember Smurfberry Crunch cereal? http://bluebuddies.com/Smurfs_Smurf_Cereal.htm
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
THE MIDDLE EAST, JAPAN, DC, LA, GA, NY, FL ETC.... WE'VE HAD IT. WE'RE DYING HERE
they hesitate to use theatrical terms due to the potential stuff that matters topic of the next story, however they are feeling extremely overextended (even for the advanced lifeforms they are), &/or almost dead. most of us would be a little cranky/colicky in their situation? help's on the way?
this far from original real life ending drama is not available on netflix, cnn etc...
Who was banned from "Saturday Night Live" because he lost a telephone poll?
a. John Belushi
b. Dan Akroyd
c. Chevy Chase
d. Andy Kaufman
Mork was from the planet
a. Ork.
b. Vulcan.
c. Krypton.
d. Pluto.
A nehru jacket is
a. made from tanned nehru hides.
b. out of date.
c. a Middle Eastern prophylactic.
d. around a car's radiator.
If a physician were stranded on a desert island with Bo Derek, he would probably
a. build a boat.
b. take two aspirins.
c. overcharge her.
d. thank God.
More here.
If i pulled some shit like this when I was a kid, I'd get my ass beat with the belt.
Parents shocked when kids buy in game purchases using the password they leave written on the fridge, parents demand retinal scanner for purchases.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
You can never have too many smurfberrys.
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
that makes perfect sense in every possible way.
some games have fake in game money and there should be a SYSTEM GUI for buying stuff with REAL money or points that cost real money.
The parents were held accountable because they had to pay off their credit cards. There's your accountability right there. From there, it's up to the parents to figure out what to do beyond that.
Parents aren't perfect and they have to learn. Yes this is a mistake, and it's good that this is out in the media so that parents can learn from others who made this mistake. It's easy to armchair quarterback parents after making a mistake. I find people who do that a lot either have no kids, or have the delusion that they are perfect parents.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
If Apple was serious, they would not allow in app purchases at all. Period. This is evidently a case of the money being too lucrative to do the right thing.
We gave out kids debit cards that have just a certain amount on them. They are very much like debit-based gift cards, except these have their name on them and act like a bank debit card. We can put as little or as much as they want on those cards. There are no overdrafts on these cards, however. If they reach 0 or a transaction would go negative, the transaction is declined and nothing pulls from our main account. They use those on iTunes.
Of course, some kids are too young for that perhaps... so do something similar with a parent-controlled account? Keep only $10 or $20 on it max for such purchases, so if the child gets too nuts, it just declines the purchase.
Of course, asking for a password each time in iTunes, I guess works also :-P
Wow, lots of holier than though parenting authorities in here today. Probably mostly people without kids. My 6 yr. old spends alot of time online and he knows if there is a pop-up screen for any reason not to click on it. He also wouldn't hesitate to "buy" something if it looked like - IT WAS PART OF THE GAME. It's the parents responsibility to teach a kid how to use a computer, it's the programmers responsibility to make sure nothing is paid for with "real" money unless it is made abundantly clear that "real" money is involved.
This is Parenting 101, whether it is conch shells, cocoa beans, pieces of eight or virtual dollars. Teach them to be mature humans, not depend on technology to babysit them.
"parents who handed over their iPhones or iPads to their kids" without making sure their kids know what they are doing richly deserve whatever will happen to them.
http://www.intomobile.com/2011/02/02/android-in-app-purchase/
the iPod touch runs most everything the iPhone can; including all the games. $229 and no cellular bill!
It is left as an exercise for the reader to decide whether a book is "as bad" as an iPhone.
Was your book connected to Internet and other communication networks?
Could you order a wagon of smurfberries from your book? Or "extra features and animals"? While standing there waiting for your parents?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
for raising a generation of parental idiots
"oooh i'm intersted in shiny gadget x. better get on for my kid so they don't use mine."
it's just as stupid as parents giving their kids a mobile phone that isn't on a pre-paid or capped plan that cuts off the service if the phone runs out of money. instead they chuck em on monthly plans with overusage charges. then when the first bill comes in for $700+ they complain their ass off to the telco that the plan was quoted as being $70 / month.
seriously. a generation of parental idiots.
as a side-note, this is somehwere where the zune eco-system was better
subscription service with access to unlimited music
you only get to keep 10 songs per month
otherwise consume as much as you like
my 15 month old, I let her play with several apps on my iphone
You may not have noticed this, but your PORTABLE TELEPHONE COMPUTER is NOT A TOY intended for TODDLERS.
And just because iPhone is a toy for grownup Appleoids, that doesn't make it suitable toy for small children.
You do know that some toys are made strictly for adults? Just like some beverages, medication, tools, vehicles, guns etc.
If anyone, I am afraid that YOU are the one that needs education regarding what IS, and what is NOT suited for use by infants.
As for teaching your kid the concept of money... I'm afraid that it is congenital. Your fault to be precise. You are after all using an Apple product.
You'll be lucky if your kid doesn't end up selling the house around you to by the age of 6 in order to buy himself/herself shiny things.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
So is a fleshlight. Would you give those to a child to play with?
How about something with a less specific use - like a laser pointer. Or a starter pistol.
You may consider the iPhone to be JUST a toy, but it is a portable communication computer likes of which didn't exist when you were born.
Also, it contains an explosive battery packed into a housing that heats up when in use AND a microwave device that is still argued about regarding if it causes cancer or not.
And that's just the physical injuries that it can cause to an unsupervised toddler.
But what do I care. Your kid, your money, your problem.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens