Android for 15-year old, first smartphone

[Stelv]

If you want a phone that will be relavant and useable in a years time you want a phone with more than 512mbs of ram. Vzw is pushing these low ram phones that will seem like junk in a year. Thunderbolt or inc2 are the winners here.

Sent from my fascinate

 

[Droid noob]

I must be in the minority, but my question is why does a 15 yr old need a smart phone??

15yr olds are as tech savvy as adults these days. Gaming , texting , are probably the two things teens do most these days lol

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[The Robot Cow]

I must be in the minority, but my question is why does a 15 yr old need a smart phone??

I'm with you, i have a 13 year old cousin who wanted a smartphone cuz "all his friends and everyone at school had one" on top of knowing his parents wouldn't pay for the plan required i told him he didn't need one.

 

[dark juggalo]

I must be in the minority, but my question is why does a 15 yr old need a smart phone??

....so daddy can root it

 

[Bang Pow Boom]

In 10 years, when my girls are 13........................ 2 words, gps tracking.

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[DroidXCBR]

Better than having them fall behind with what technology is capable of.

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[Suuperflie]

I got my 13yr old a droid because of the keyboard...it lasted about 30min before she was on the touchpad and telling me it was easier to use..used my TB to text one of her friends and now wants a gingerbread keypad..just goes to show you how adaptable kids are..the only thing I would realy give thought to would be if I wanted 4g or not.

Does that mean you didn't know they make feature phones with physical QWERTY keyboards?

 

[Abadus]

They do? 10 char

 

[Natey2]

Damn kids are getting smartphones now?

I think there are some 14-year-olds re-ROMing their phones.

Got Driver's License? :^)

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[brad92]

Man, everybody is getting a smartphone now.

I didn't get a phone until 4 months before my 17th birthday and that was because I was driving across town. And that was a LG flip phone. Kinda like a/c being installed on school busses nowadays. We didn't have that.

Dang, I sound old and I'm only 19...

Sent from my DROIDX

 

[Suuperflie]

I must be in the minority, but my question is why does a 15 yr old need a smart phone??

15yr olds are as tech savvy as adults these days. Gaming , texting , are probably the two things teens do most these days lol

Sent 2 u via Incredible 2

Yes, I know they're tech savvy, but my question is do they need it?? You can get a good texting phone without buying a smartphone and paying extra for the plan. If mom and dad don't mind shelling out the extra cash, fine, but parents these days buy their kids toys to babysit them and keep them out of their parents hair....and kids are more and more disrespectful as time goes on. Parents need to spend more time raising their kids instead of buying stuff to do it for them. They have Xbox's and Playstations for games. Now, if he's going to work and pay for it himself, I'm all for it, but since when do kids need access to texting and gaming 24/7? It's as if it's inhumane treatment if you don't give it to them. Get their butt's in the yard mowing and trimming the lawn, cutting the hedges...something. Put down the Twinkies and the game controller and go play some ball with the kids around the block.

Sorry, this is just a general rant no aimed towards anyone in particular other than just modern day kids and parents as a whole.

 

[dark juggalo]

I got my 13yr old a droid because of the keyboard...it lasted about 30min before she was on the touchpad and telling me it was easier to use..used my TB to text one of her friends and now wants a gingerbread keypad..just goes to show you how adaptable kids are..the only thing I would realy give thought to would be if I wanted 4g or not.

Does that mean you didn't know they make feature phones with physical QWERTY keyboards?

no,no...she wanted it because it had one....30 min later her whole theory on physical keyboards was out the window.

 

[MAPSTER5500]

My 15 yr old had the droid x dvds he said it was the cool factor a year ago but now with 4g we got the charge and it's everything he needs and more my opinion is to go for it and that way you won't get out dated in a few months and btw I'm the cool dad he saved and didnt have quite enough to cover his plan for two years so I'm footing it for 4 months of the 2yrs....good luck

My Thunderbolt

 

[joan3]

(from OP) Thanks for all your great, prompt suggestions and laughs. We went again to the Verizon store and my son's decided on the Droid Charge. I just saw the announcement about free phones on Amazon on Monday so it will be even more within our budget (I was going to give it to him as a birthday present, but that seems a bit chintzy if that announcement pans out!)

P.S. Suuperflie, I totally agree with you that my 15-year old doesn't need a smartphone and "kids nowadays" are really spoiled. I tried to talk him into a feature phone, but told him if he wants a smartphone he'll have to pay for the monthly data plan (as well as the $10/month phone line fee). That's why he's been mowing several lawns each week and putting it into a savings account. He is convinced that I'm the meanest Mom in the world because "everybody's" parents get them a cell phone and pay for their monthly fees.

(I do think I'm pretty mean - we get our kids their first bike, but after that they have to buy them if they want better ones; they have to pay for their cell phone plans, if they want a computer they have to save for it and buy it, if they want to drive they have to pay for their car insurance - pro-rated from our insurance plan, and buy their their own car if they don't want to borrow ours, etc. We do pay for their college education as long as they maintain a B-average though, so I think it's fair. It has made them into quite good deal shoppers, Craigslist, E-bay, and they've learned how to buy computer parts and build their own computers so it has been educational for them)

 

[destin246]

I got a d2 when I was 15 last November n. Loved it ever since rommed it and everything too.

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