As a teenager, having a landline in your room was about as good as it got. Now that old-school experience is making a comeback, with a modern twist designed specifically for kids.
I’ve been testing two products, Tin Can and Pinwheel, that essentially bring back the home phone without bringing back the phone company.
Both use the internet to make calls and give parents control over who their kids can talk to. The idea is simple: give kids a way to connect with friends and family without handing them a smartphone loaded with apps, social media and other distractions.
Tin Can looks and feels like a modern corded landline. Parents set it up through an app, connect it to Wi-Fi and decide who their child can call and when.
Calls to other Tin Can users are free. If you want to call regular phone numbers, service costs about $10 a month. The company says the sweet spot is kids ages 5 to 13.
Pinwheel takes a slightly different approach. Instead of selling you the phone, it makes an adapter that works with just about any traditional landline phone. Plug the adapter into power, connect it to Wi-Fi or your router, then plug in the phone. Plans range from free to about $10 a month.
Parents approve contacts, so random numbers and spam calls don’t ring through.
And yes, both have a dial tone. You might just have to explain to your kids what that sound means.
After testing them, I think the appeal goes beyond nostalgia. A landline forces kids to communicate using just their voice. There’s no scrolling, texting or jumping between apps while they’re talking. It’s simply a conversation.
Both systems can also call 911, an important modern feature for something that might become your family’s home phone.
The equipment for Tin Can and Pinwheel costs around $100. I think these make the most sense before a kid already has a smartphone and is regularly using FaceTime. Once they’ve made that leap, convincing them to go back to a corded phone could be a much tougher call.