Will pre-teens really adopt the new iPod touch as a VoIP phone?
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Andy sees disruptive uptake in the pre-teen who needs a phone, but cannot afford a contract. As a father of a couple of teen daughters, who have cell phones and an iPod touch, I honestly cannot see an iPod touch serving as a phone replacement for a couple of reasons. My girls text 90% of the time they use their phone and the only time they really place calls is to me and my wife. Also, in order to use the iPod touch as a phone they would have to be connected to a WiFi hotspot and the only place they really have that access is at home where they can just connect to their IM client and chat today. I would like to hear more about the basis behind Andy's belief that pre-teens will use the iPod touch via VoIP. Another issue is the training and education needed to enable VoIP, but I suppose this can be a simple experience through applications like Truphone and Skype.
Given how much fun my daughters have with the Nintendo DSi's rather limited camera, I do think that the addition of the camera can have a huge impact on iPod touch sales for those younger consumers. I imagine Apple or third party developers will also come out with software similar to what we see on the DSi so that people can have a lot of fun manipulating photos and video footage. We may soon see some crazy videos on YouTube, but I think it is also important for parents to keep an eye on what is being posted for the world to see from their kids. It looks like the iPod touch could add another item to a parent's list of things to closely monitor as they seek to keep their children safe.