Comments on: Plot thickens in Apple “bait apps” case

By: Pixwhite

Pixwhite — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:09:56 +0000

As a parent and iPhone owner, I can safely say that way too many parents give their kids the phone to placate them or get some “quite” time and I find it a pretty disturbing abdication of Parental responsibly.

That said, Apple would be wise to implement either multi-user or multi-profile features on the phone so that parents could switch the phone to kid mode with a single setting instead of going through a hundred different parental control options prior to giving the phone over.

I think Apple doesn’t want people sharing devices and instead wants them to have their own and so won’t put this very useful and easily implemented option in place any time soon.

By: ThisSucks

ThisSucks — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:00:25 +0000

Yes. My mom bought $93 worth of stuff on her ipod touch and she is 65. I was able to get a refund for $40. But rest is missing from my bank.

By: Matteo

Matteo — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:18:49 +0000

See ya later, Personal Responsibility. It was nicing knowing you

By: notJonStewart

notJonStewart — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:12:03 +0000

That is not Jon Stewart. He did not do the interview.

By: Kegan Blumenthal

Kegan Blumenthal — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:13:10 +0000

Jason – regarding the parental parameters, how should a parent do that without being over the child’s shoulder at all times? I recently checked out Famigo Sandbox which does just that and allows the child to add games to a wish list. Pretty cool

By: zato

zato — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:27:57 +0000

Microsoft paidContent finds yet another way to make Apple wrong.

By: Jason Hanson

Jason Hanson — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:32:25 +0000

Parental controls are on most every device, and has been on iTunes since its spawning. Blaming Apple for having a window of convenience for users or the Apps offered using micro transactions is stupidity of the parents. They allow them to watch TV unattended, movies unattended, music unattended, use expensive SOFTWARES and hardwares unattended…and without setting up parental parameters beforehand…then cry when hindsight slaps them into reality, though it was made available to them beforehand. And they will be the first to claim they are capable of determining what items or content their child can access. Well…you determined it either correctly or incorrectly…because they accessed it through your own lack of good judgement by setting up the parental controls on the device AND on the iTunes software…and right or wrongly it was through your ‘parenting’. Hell, even World of Warcraft has parental settings even!

By: don

don — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:29:05 +0000

What do you mean CHILDREN?

Adults can fall for the ploy since using an app that has limited functionality will have pop-up ads for improved service by clicking on an icon. One such is Paper which has only a pen. When a paint brush or pencil or other tool is selected, the user is prompted to get it for $1.99 each.

It’s not just the children who can be taken in by some of these bait apps.

By: Concerned

Concerned — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:48:27 +0000

It disgusts me how irresponsible parents are these days, and how our court system encourages this kind of stuff. This case is like a parent suing a liquer store because they left a bottle of jack on the table and their kid went and got drunk. It’s completely rediculous! People need to become more aware and more involved in their children’s lives instead of letting them have free reign on everything, and then suing someone else when they get into trouble. Take responsibility folks!!

By: oriorda

oriorda — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:33:38 +0000

One of the regular annoyances I experience is being forced through hoops which are irrelevant to me because I am responsible, but are put in place to protect the stupid from themselves. A small example is the pollution of the environment with idiotically self-evident signs that some do-gooder has decided people need to see. Things like ‘Pavement may be slippery after rain’. Right. I needed to know that, and you needed to put an ugly 2 foot sign up to be sure I got the message. Perhaps the most stupid I ever saw was in a Tahoe hardware store: next to the ammo cage where a sign read ‘The FDA has determined that the lead in ammunition is poisonous when eaten.’

And so it’s no surprise that Apple and others have to put restrictions in their products that just annoy me but presumably protect some idiot somewhere down the line. Like prompts for a password every time you click the Buy button. Nuts.