What's this, you say? Kiddies like traditional numeric keypads, too? For
Firefly, that's been a problem -- its original model lacked all but the bare essentials necessary to get calls through to parents or authorities. Its new "flyPhone" candybar makes good on that indiscretion but goes one giant step further, offering a dynamic touch sensitive area that can change appearance based on the phone's current mode. Listening to music or watching a movie (yes, watching a movie on that little screen -- the manual says so!), for example, you get the appropriate controls; playing a game, you get directional buttons, and when making a call, you obviously get digits. The flyPhone also offers a camera, so all in all, it looks like this is a giant step up for phone-toting tykes everywhere. Actually,
we kinda want one. Does that makes us weird?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chuck @ Aug 15th 2007 2:50PM
It's pretty funny that Firefly's stance went from "kids don't even need a numeric keypad on their phone" to "kids need a phone with a dynamic keypad for making calls, watching movies, and taking pictures".
Maybe the sales of their original four-button phone weren't as good as they had expected?
KC @ Aug 16th 2007 1:50PM
Smart people working there I tell ya.
They marketed the original to parents who don't want to pay for the extra features. But when overprotective parents rushed out and bought them the kids didn't want the damn things because the kids saw them as completely useless.
Marketing something to parents for kids NEVER works because what parents think kids want and what kids actually want are almost never the same.
If you want to sell to kids make something they will want, and they'll do the marketing (incessant nagging) on their parents to buy it.
Do it the other way around, sell to parents and get them to push it on the kids and you'll be out of business in no time.
I guess Cingular dropping the device in the USA and Rogers doing the same in Canada caused them clue in that kids are far more technology savvy then adults and are more likely to use the added features in their phones then their parents are.