Parents, please read and carefully consider if this information affects how you feel about a proposed transition to e-books in our school system (currently "on hold" as it was a decision made by the former Superintendent in 2012).
Children are smaller, weaker and more vulnerable than the adults who are being robbed of their cell phones every day! And many children have predictable schedules where they must walk home from school or the bus stop daily. Why set them up to be the next targets for a crime that is currently out of control?
U.S. officials to meet over cellphone thefts
1 in 3 thefts last year involved a cell phone costing consumers $30 billion.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Top law enforcement officials from San Francisco and New York plan to meet with some of the largest U.S. smartphone makers next week to help thwart the rise in cellphone thefts and robberies.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday that their meeting scheduled to take place in New York City on June 13 will be dubbed a "Smartphone Summit."
Gascon and Schneiderman said they plan to meet with representatives from Apple Inc., Google Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. and urge them to create new technology to permanently and quickly disable stolen smartphones, making them worthless to thieves.
In San Francisco, where more than half all robberies involve a cellphone, Gascon has called on the companies to create new technology such as a "kill switch" to render phones useless. His office cites a 27-year old tourist who sufferedsevere knife wounds to his face and throat two weeks ago after being robbed by two men over his iPhone.
In New York, Schneiderman said there was a 40% spike in cellphone thefts last year. Authorities there have coined the thefts of the popular iPhone and other Apple-related products as "Apple-picking."
"With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic," Gascón said in a statement. "Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological solution."
Nearly 175 million cellphones — mostly smartphones — have been sold in the U.S. in the past year and account for $69 billion in sales, according to IDC, a Massachusetts-based research firm.
And now almost one 1 of 3 robberies nationwide involves the theft of a mobile phone, reports the Federal Communications Commission, which is coordinating formation this fall of a highly anticipated national database system to track cellphones reported stolen.
Schneiderman said a recent study found that lost and stolen cellphones cost consumers over $30 billion, last year.
"The theft of handheld devices is the fastest-growing street crime, and increasingly, incidents are turning violent," Schneiderman said in a statement. "It's time for manufacturers to be as innovative in solving this problem as they have been in designing devices that have reshaped how we live."
Late last month, Gascon — in a letter to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a coalition of police chiefs from across the country — urged them to press for kill switches.
"Despite the growing threat to public safety, cell-phone manufacturers and carriers continue to look the other way," Gascón wrote. "It's time that corporations take social responsibility and do their part to end the victimization of hundreds of thousands of Americans."
In response, the police chiefs association followed suit and sent a letter on Monday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. While commending the FCC and the CTIA wireless provider trade association on the national stolen phone database, they suggested that kill switch technology is "the only effective way" to go.
"By rendering phones completely useless, an FCC mandate for kill-switch technology will drastically reduce this major crime problem," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, president of the chiefs' association wrote.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
From NBC News: Citizens "Occupy" the Apple Line in New York. The video above is an interesting report about some of the people you might not expect to see camping out in the IPhone 5 line - like protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement!
The IPhone 5 line includes Occupy protesters who say they get better treatment by the NYPD if camped out in the name of consumerism than they do in the name of social protest. They have no plans to actually buy an IPhone. And, there are others in line for a different reason - they are being PAID by companies who are using them as human billboards.
No, the IPhone release is just not quite the event it once was. Perhaps this might be a sign that America is finally getting over its infatuation with the phone!
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GTCO-ATL Commentary:
In these difficult economic times, people are still obessed, or seemingly addicted, to their cell phones. One person who stood in line to buy the latest version of the IPhone in New York City bragged about he might turn around and sell it for twice what he paid for it, or $1,600. Is it alright to see middle class Americans, grown adults, who are part of the worst economic recession in history, waiting in a line for the priveledge of buying an $800 telephone and spending hundreds a month to use it? What exactly can you do with a phone today that we have not been able to do our entire lives? It's a device that allows us to communicate with other people when we cannot see them in person, right? But, phones today have evolved into a sort of social crutch - encoraging us to take the easy way out and actually AVOID talking to others in person. Is that something we should be celebrating?
Bad Apple
Communication is a two-way street and much can be learned from the non-verbal cues in conversations as can be learned by hearing the words alone. When you have a conversation over a phone, you miss out on those normal visual cues, like when the other person is getting bored and starts to look away, or when they do not quite understand what you are saying and have that puzzled look on their face or when they are distracted.
When we text, we lose another generation of quality in being able to understand one another - the natural inflections in one another's voices. These verbal cues let us know when someone is being sarcastic versus when they want us to take them seriously. A hurried voice would tell us that something must be wrong or there is no time for idle chit-chat where the sounds of someone sobbing would tell us the degree to which they are upset. With text, we have only the words and must put the interpetation on them ourselves and so often we get it wrong.
So, what do the avid IPhone fans get with this latest version of their "anti-communication" gadget modeled after the already inexpensive and equally easy to use version we have had in our homes for years? Well, the I-Phone 5 is lighter than previous versions and reportedly thinner. Hmmm... lighter in weight ususally implies it is cheaper, but not in this case. Apparantly, Apple can use fewer materials, or cheaper ones, and get away with calling it a benefit worthy of a higher price. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?
It is reportedly faster. But, faster at what? It's a phone. If you are using it as a phone then you are probably expecting that when you talk into it, the other person can hear what you are saying, right? That's pretty much instantaneous, so how anyone claim their product is faster than "real time." Is the I-Phone FASTER than that? Does my voice reach the person I'm calling BEFORE the words can come out of my mouth? If so, then they should probably be charging a LOT more money because these science geniuses have unlocked the secrets to time travel, and not just in their latest round of Dungens and Dragons!
In reality, the speed of delivery is really a product of the cell towers, not the phone, isn't it? Your phone is merely accessing data on the Internet. Your Internet access is provided through your connection to the tangled web of cell towers near you at the time you are trying to use this service on your phone. You do not actually NEED to have a phone in order to access the Internet as computers have given you this possibility for a couple of decades now, but hopefully you already know that. A desktop computer with a wired Internet connection is also faster than any phone because it is a more direct connection, but we hope you know that, too. So, the IPhone's speed is really just a potential for speed. To really use 4G speed, you need 4G towers, which are not in hot demand right now. To find an area with an entire network of them would be rare. So, even with your 4G phone, you will likely be using towers with 3G speed. And, guess what? If you have any previous version of the IPhone, then that's exactly what you have right now.
They say the IPhone 5 has more trivia and tidbits in the functionaity of "Siri," the electronic assistant. Siri sounds a lot like "Figit," a kid's toy you can buy for around $25. The voice-recognition and response technology is a quirkly novelty that adults and children both get bored with quickly. Not sure if that IPhone is stacking up to the $800 price tag, are you?
Here's one more thing: It uses a new mapping program. The mapping program replaces Google Maps which have worked fine in the other IPhone versions. The new map is supposed to have 3-D maps and better walking directions. There is just one problem - Apple is receiving complaints for this mapping program being incorrect and sending people to areas of town that do not exist. One article even stated that Apple misplaced its own Apple store on a particular map. Others have said the map program has invented entire neighborhoods that do not exist and have told them to exit on the side of an Interstate where there is no off-ramp. From MSN:
"It's a complete failure," said Jeffrey Jorgensen. "It's slower, its directions are poorer and its location data doesn't seem to be accurate. All around, it's not quite there yet."
Jorgensen, a user interface designer for a San Francisco-based startup, began using Apple Maps months ago, because Apple made it available early to people in its software development program. He said he finds himself relying on Google Maps running on his wife's Android phone instead.
What Steve Jobs would have likely never approved was the fact that the folks at Apple KNEW about these map problems, but allowed the IPhone release to go on sale to the public anyway. That's not the quality this company was once known for. And, that's a hard issue to get over when you are shelling out $800 in this economy.So, what is the problem with land lines, exactly? What's the problem with surfing the Internet from a desktop computer that's plugged into a cable modem or a fiber optic network? These options allow you to surf the Internet faster than you can on a phone. And, if you are seated at a desktop computer workstation and look around, you will likely be able to find something else nearby - like a telephone that plugs into the wall. If you need to call someone, go ahead! You can talk while surfing the Internet and you can even do it without pumping radiation into your head and risking a brain tumor! Now THAT is something worth paying a little extra for, don't you think?
But, here's the good news - computers and telephones are communication tools that ALREADY EXIST so there is no need to camp out to get them. AND, they are likely to be cheaper than the price of your IPhone and its costly monthly data and voice plan. Even better is the fact that anything you do on your computer is gong to be more secure than a wireless connection. So, if you are discussing sensitive or private matters, using a credit card or accessing personal account information, your data cannot be as easily intercepted. Conversations on land lines require wiretapping and search warrents whereas cell phone calls can be plucked out of the air by anyone at anytime and without any special permits.
And, by using the truly faster, cheaper, safer way to access the Internet or make phone calls, you will also be doing a favor to those around you. You will not have to burden your entire neighborhood (or local school children) with the intrusion of a huge, dangerous, unsightly cell tower that increases the overall background radiation that we are all exposed to all day, every day.
Teach the children well.
Why is it that we feel the need to ditch what is old and buy what is new, even when we are hurting for money? Shouldn't we be setting better examples for our children so they do not continue the cycle of spending more than they can afford and confusing items they "want" for item they actually "need?"
If being "mobile" is the best feature your phone can offer, then look at the one you already have. Is it "mobile?" Is it affordable? Then, why fall victim to advertising or peer pressure to have something new, just because it is new?
Are you setting a good example for your children by not using it while driving? Are you teaching by example? Are you participating in meaningful face to face conversations to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence and other misunderstandings? Or are you relying on texting, emailing and other forms of communication when you know you really should be having these conversations in person? Don't forget that children are like sponges and they often learn more from what we do than what we say.
Can you help your household budget by cutting back on your monthly cell phone bill? Are you really going to wait in a line to buy an $800 phone, along with the required new plugs, new monthly data plan and other expenses to go along with it just so you can play a game or use an "App?"
Do you really "need" a phone that talks to you?
As my six year old would say, "Really?" (You would have to actually see and hear her in order to get the full effect of that sentiment. But, then again, that's sort of the whole point of this article, isn't it?)
