What Just Happened?

Marco's bragging gave Tony an opportunity to take advantage of Marco's innocence. Marco was left holding the bag: Besides having to explain to his mother where the pictures came from should she discover them, he will also have to deal with the charges for them on his phone bill.

But the most serious damage is that Marco has been exposed to some potentially very disturbing content and introduced to unsavory use of the Internet through his cell phone. Whether he chooses to download more pornography or not, his worldview has changed. He won't forget his exposure to all that's out there, and how easy it is to access via his cell phone.

Cell phones and other mobile devices provide a lot of freedom. They enable people to keep in touch with family and friends while on the road, get work done, send images and files across long distances, and have fun buying content such as ringtones, games, and background graphics. People are doing very creative things with these devices, including pho--tography, school projects, and learning new skills for future jobs in a knowledge-driven economy.

However, mobile devices also carry some specific risk factors that you should know about. One danger is that kids can use features to download inappropriate material, away from the supervising eyes of their parents. The boundaries of what you feel is appropriate for your family might not extend to their purchases of some types of extreme ringtones and background graphics, or to pornography. Not all downloads have an associated charge that a parent can track on a phone bill. They might be purchased through a premium service, or might just be traded among kids. Pornography can also be sent to a child by a predator who is grooming them.

What Is Mobile Computing?

Mobile computing includes a range of portable devices, from personal digital assistants (PDAs) to cell phones, laptop computers, and portable gaming consoles. Today, most of these connect to the Internet through wireless technology, and many allow you to sign on at public and private wireless access points in airports, libraries, restaurants, and at business sites. Many can also connect directly to other mobile devices using a wireless technology called Bluetooth. Mobile devices can send and receive a variety of media, such as e-mail, real-time text messaging, video, and voice.