Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids • Hacker News Board

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#31

Post by legitster » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:07 PM UTC

I really like this idea, but I have 3 pieces of feedback:

1. I love the idea, but I do not love the pricing. $10 a month for something you can get for free with a Voip box is tough to justify.

2. It looks like they are refitting "antique" phones for their Flashback model. If they just sold the standalone Voip kit with their service wrapped around it, then we could find our our vintage hardware to use.

3. Realistically, 90% of the time my son would be on this would be to voice chat while playing Minecraft. So knowing that it has a decent speakerphone would be nice.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#32

Post by JKCalhoun » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:07 PM UTC

digi604 wrote: post #7

Why subscription service on top?

> Bestie has a Tin Can? Free calling to other Tin Cans is included for every device, no subscription required.

> Subject to a valid account & our terms of service.

Yeah, subscription aside (though that alone is a deal-breaker for me) I don't like it requiring an account.

Might there be a way that an open-software/hardware device could simply have a person enter, what, a friend's IP address to make a call? Or is there more middleware required to connect the two VoIP?

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#33

Post by J_McQuade » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:07 PM UTC

floren wrote: post #5

Highly, highly, highly recommend you enable 911 calls by default on all plans -- let parents disable it if they want. Cell phones do this, even without a SIM card. Don't gate safety for $9.99/mo. Edit: "The FCC requires that providers of interconnected VoIP telephone services using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) meet Enhanced 911 (E911) obligations." https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/voip-and-911-ser…

I kinda get why they think they don't want to enable this, but when I was a kid I once called 999 (in the UK) as a joke and let me tell you it was only once. My friends and I were there in the room watching films that we shouldn't and the uniformed and kitted-out Constables turned up and gave us an incredibly stern dressing-down about 30 minutes later.

Luckily, I am in the UK where a bunch of 12 year olds who've just watched Scream calling the police about shadows doesn't result in something getting shot, but still - I think I learned something about actions and consequences that day.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#34

Post by ortusdux » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:07 PM UTC

It should play the dialup handshake every now and then.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#35

Post by aaron695 » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:07 PM UTC

floren wrote: post #5

Highly, highly, highly recommend you enable 911 calls by default on all plans -- let parents disable it if they want. Cell phones do this, even without a SIM card. Don't gate safety for $9.99/mo. Edit: "The FCC requires that providers of interconnected VoIP telephone services using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) meet Enhanced 911 (E911) obligations." https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/voip-and-911-ser…

[dead]

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#36

Post by lucaslazarus » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:08 PM UTC

ars wrote: post #18

floren wrote: post #5

Highly, highly, highly recommend you enable 911 calls by default on all plans -- let parents disable it if they want. Cell phones do this, even without a SIM card. Don't gate safety for $9.99/mo. Edit: "The FCC requires that providers of interconnected VoIP telephone services using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) meet Enhanced 911 (E911) obligations." https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/voip-and-911-ser…

Is it possible to call 911 from a phone that doesn't have an incoming phone number assigned?

Yes, because cell phones can do it even without a SIM card

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#37

Post by turnsout » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:09 PM UTC

bja wrote: post #24

This just seems like another VOIP service wrapped in nostalgia. There are MANY cheaper and better options. I say this because I recently added a VOIP line for exactly this reason to give my kids a way to call their friends without a smart phone. Here are many good options https://www.ooma.com/blog/home-phone/best-voip-service-for-h...

Keep in mind, the main use case is allowing kids to call their friends and family and no one else.

VoIP nerds out there, is there any simple PFSense equivalent for VoIP that would allow you to DIY this? Basically restrict inbound and outbound calls to a whitelist?

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#38

Post by spankalee » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:10 PM UTC

bityard wrote: post #19

For technical parents, you can do this with a SIP server, a pair of ATAs, and of course the phones. No subscription needed.

For those of us who are aware that these things exist, but now how they all integrate: how do you go from SIP server to actual phone service?

Are you meaning that the SIP server is shared by all the friends in the network who want to talk to each other, or that you can get phone service via the SIP server?

My dad worked on a lot of VOIP equipment in his career, so I always kind of wanted to do this, but don't like the $10/month for something almost never used, and got my kid a phone anyway because the portability and camera are pretty key. We just control the phone so that it acts like a land-line. I might be templated to do a VOIP setup for the house any if were easy enough.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#39

Post by wffurr » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:10 PM UTC

bja wrote: post #24

This just seems like another VOIP service wrapped in nostalgia. There are MANY cheaper and better options. I say this because I recently added a VOIP line for exactly this reason to give my kids a way to call their friends without a smart phone. Here are many good options https://www.ooma.com/blog/home-phone/best-voip-service-for-h...

How easy is it to manage the calling allowlist for those providers? That seems to be the key value proposition here; the parent app that controls the allowlist.

Re: Tin Can – The landline, reinvented for kids

#40

Post by wffurr » Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 10:11 PM UTC

turnsout wrote: post #37

bja wrote: post #24

This just seems like another VOIP service wrapped in nostalgia. There are MANY cheaper and better options. I say this because I recently added a VOIP line for exactly this reason to give my kids a way to call their friends without a smart phone. Here are many good options https://www.ooma.com/blog/home-phone/best-voip-service-for-h...

Keep in mind, the main use case is allowing kids to call their friends and family and no one else. VoIP nerds out there, is there any simple PFSense equivalent for VoIP that would allow you to DIY this? Basically restrict inbound and outbound calls to a whitelist?

Some of the providers on that link have “allowlist” as a feature, but I am curious how easy it is to manage. The parent app seems like the real value proposition here.