I have 5 android tablets in my house (two for myself, and one for each of my kids).

Two things I'd like to share:
1) The kids have NEVER liked reading off any tablet (not the kindle, not the nook and not the samsung galaxy's). They are avid readers, but physical books only and I can't convince them otherwise.
2) Speaking about posting without having a clue at all... Your "tethered to Google" seems to fit the bill for posting without any idea what you are talking about.

Bonus: the kids did create accounts in google play without a credit card with ease as they wanted to grab a few apps.

Extra points for your use of "dead trees" to describe physical books. It was just as cool in 2004 as it is now.

It is my (limited) understanding that Teachers in China are not unionized and can be fired fairly easily for poor performance.

Didn't apple just recently agree to pay like $400 million as a settlement for price fixing ebook prices?
So on top of the price of the device, there is also the artificial ebook prices?

Care to cite some examples of people actually creating content on the iPad in the real world? Most of the people i see with them are playing games or watching video's (consumption).

So, using the post right above yours...

https://www.libreoffice.org/
http://www.linuxmint.com/
http://www.gimp.org/


how are any of these quality apps tracking, selling my data or any of the other nonsense you posted?

They say they are "free" and they don't beg for money every time you use them.
They do have a donate page on them, but you are free click "not now" and contniue to download it.
How hard is it to post something that is not free as "freemium" or "in app purchases" instead of free?

"As I said, levels of ignorance."

What does this even mean? people are ignorant when "free" games beg for money and this is not 'false advertising'?

Normally i have a bias towards China as a lot of people post things which are just factually inaccurate.
For your post, clearly you are not being serious?
China - Fantastic history going back a very long time, but unfortunately does not contain many successful "conquests".

They are far more likely to stay within their own nation.

OMG, please list some examples of my "lack of parenting"?

You seem to be on a crusade to slander every parent on here, despite you clearly knowing NOTHING about them to protect corporate profits at the expense of vulnerable members of society. This makes zero sense. Long ago they removed child labor laws, and changed the rules to protect children from being taken advantage of.

Kids are not adults, they can not be expected to make sound decisions which is specifically why they have different rules around them.

Before you respond back with an additional attack, please clearly state how i "lack parenting" and be precise, no vague ambiguities.

Let me help you. I have three kids, one has an android based phone with NO CC attached. She comments from time to time that some of the games "constantly beg" for money even they they stated they were free.
Said daughter's lowest grade is B+ and if she wants to play some android game for 15 minutes on the bus i dont see any issues.

What was the point of the "age appropriate" system if companies sneak in grubbing for money which isn't age appropriate?

Please learn to read before posting, lest you look silly.

See where i said "As i have stated before, my kids have never had this issue as i made them create their own google play accounts and they dont have CC numbers. Flip side it is clear the companies involved shoulder some responsibility as well."

Now outline the part where I am not being a dad to my child?

Nothing like flying off the handle and making wild accusations (i am not a god father) with ZERO facts is there?

Unfortunately the courts don't agree with you when it comes to children and money in past cases like this.

Why does the device which has the ability to spend real money not simply ask for the credit card number back to confirm the purchase? THis is the exact same mechanism amazon uses online to prevent fraud.

instead of "smurfberries" why doesn't the in-game purchase simply say you are going to spend [whatever unit of your currency] REAL money?

The abstraction is intentional.

Your argument seems to fail logic 101. The people in question used Amazons tools to protect them from this problem. Had amazon simply used the same rules for in app purchases as they do for their own online site this wouldn't have happened.

Regardless, the law is often based on previous cases and each time this comes to the courts the company in question has lost and given refunds.

Let me guess, you develop games with in-app purchase and so you naturally want to exploit this loophole?

As i have stated before, my kids have never had this issue as i made them create their own google play accounts and they dont have CC numbers. Flip side it is clear the companies involved shoulder some responsiblity as well.

It is hard to debate that when a company targets children with in-app purchases they are attempting to exploit them.

When i purchase something online using Amazon it asks me to re-enter my credit card number. I dont use amazon to do in-app purchase, but i suspect this "anti-fraud" requirement is not present?

If they required you to re-enter the credit-card at purchase time it would address a lot of this.

Are you serious? They used Amazons own controls to reduce the risk, and you still claim "lazy bad parent reasons"?

Perhaps you can explain why a game rated at age 8 allows in-app purchases? DO a lot of adults play Smurf world or such? So the app developers target children intentionally for in-app purchases?

As i posted elsewhere here, you know a child can invalidate any contract they have entered into right?

Read that again, children have a LEGAL RIGHT to void any contract they enter into. So asking for a refund for in-app purchases made by a minor should be legal, they are simply voiding their purchase.

And when should the company take responsibility for entering into a contract with a minor which can not be enforced?

So, they were raised to know the difference between right and wrong and also can think on their own?

What if they think that something you told them was "wrong" is in fact "right"?

I have three kids, and for reference i am strongly against these "in app" purchases which target kids because of this exact problem. My kids have androids and use their own account which doesnt have a CC card so they cant buy anything. Flip side, it is somewhat annoying when they get a game advertised as "free" only to be constantly hounded for "in app" purchases. More annoying when said "in app" purchase bait-n-switch game stated it was age appropriate when clearly it is not.

Not sure about your country, but this probably holds true in yours as well....

"Generally, minors cannot be bound to contracts because they are not old enough to enter them. In many cases, if someone does enter a contract with a minor, the minor has the ability to have the contract deemed void. On the other hand, if an adult breaches a contract with a minor, the minor can hold him liable."

How does a child agree to make an in-app purchase when they have a legal right to have it become void? Heck, even the "agreement" they "signed" to use the device is probably not legally binding in the first place. (NOTE: IANAL)

This smells of false advertising, and i suspect if a bricks and mortar company did this they would be in court facing "bait and switch" charges.

"Not only do you grossly overestimate your intelligence, you don't even pass the self-awareness test."
Well put.
the part where they write "I'm right. Period...." seemed pretty arrogant.

If you are hitting slashdot's required time between posts, it might be a hint that you are posting too much?

Look up the meaning of the word "argument"...
"a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong."

So you were not trying to persuade others?

Oh boy, you resorted to name calling so you clearly won the argument.