Grandma's don't try this at home -episode 2
Some of you may remember that Grandma's dont try this at home episode 1 was in regards to the purchasing and installation of a carseat. This of course was done so that I could borrow babysit my little bean frequently and take him places. You think I would have learned from that experience and avoided all assembly or installation like the plague. Nope!
My little bean loves talking on the phone! He frequently manages to get ahold of legendofthehawk's phone and has even managed to call me and his grandfather by the luck of pressing random buttons. We have been amazed and fascinated by the genuis of our little guy who could hardly walk or talk but could call us on the phone! Of course these phone calls would consist of brief ramblings in his own special language ( which we have thus far been unable to decode) and then an abrupt hang up. No Matter! Its the sheer awesomeness of him calling that is the thing.
So in view of the aforementioned...how could I resist when I came across the Fisher Price Elmo knows your name phone! This phone can be programed so that Elmo says your childs name. It has 5 ringtones, phrases and sounds. Seemed like just the perfect thing for one of his Christmas gifts. So...purchase done I am at home with this cute toy in the box sitting on my table.
I start thinking (which can be dangerous!!!) that there were several reason's why I should try to customize/setup this phone before Christmas.
1. I need to make sure the phone works. There is nothing worse then a kid getting a christmas gift that right out of the box doesnt work!
2. Said phone does NOT come with the mini-5pin type USB cable that you need to program the phone. Luckily it is the kind of cable used by most digital cameras to interface with the computer. I had one and it fit. I wasnt sure the little beans parents would have one though so there is reason 2.
3. I didnt want him to be confused on Christmas when Elmo said " Hi Michael!". ( that is the default name in the phone). I wanted him to know right from the start that Elmo was talking to him and this was HIS own special phone. I wanted the first thing the phone said to be " Hi Nathan."
So after contemplating all of that I took the box and ventured upstairs into my office. The back of the box gives very limited information. It just says you need to attach the mini USB cable*which is not included* and go to www.fisher-price.com/us/knowsyourname/phone.
Now an important thing about the above is if you follow the directions/picture on the back of the box it wont work! If you plug in the cable before downloading the software it will not update. Of course I didnt not find this out till much later.
I go to the website and it just has a screen with a picture of Elmo , dora and Diego. You click on whichever image goes with the phone you bought. This then takes you to a screen where you locate the correct childs name and click on it. It will then download a file and gives you instructions for updating the phone. Sounds Simple right? Hardly!!!
Now keep in mind I have not removed the phone from the box as it is a gift. After 15 minutes of messing around I finally managed to open just enough of the box to insert the cable in the phone. I follow all the website instructions and then press the button on the phone excitedly. * HI Michael*...arghhh...thats not right. Somehow the download didnt work. So I delete the files, go back and download the file again and do the whole update again following the online instructions to the letter. I once again press the button on the phone and hear * Hi Michael*! I now repeat the deleting of files and redownloading and updating and once again it does not work.
At this point I turn to trusty Google and type in problems with knowyourname phone. It brings up just what I was looking for. Complaints for parents and other relatives trying to get this phone to say their childs name! I find a post by an Engineer who spent no less then 3 hours figuring out how to do the update. First he lets us know you have to remove the phone from the box. There is an instruction sheet under the phone that does tell you there is a little tab that must be removed. Now if you dont have the phone out of the box you would never know this and I am by far not the only one who tried to update the phone WITHOUT removing it from the box because of it being a gift. The second thing he told us all was that you cannot have the cable plugged into the usb and the phone before you download the software. No place on the booklet or on the website did it impart this gem of knowledge.
Armed with this sane explantion I immediately removed the phone from the box, unplugged the cable, went back to the website and completed the download. I then plugged the cable in and did the update. Saints be praised!!! I pressed the button and low and behold Elmo said " Hi Nathan". I now did the happy dance around the office. I can feel quite proud of myself to because unlike the engineer who spent 3 hours figuring out how to customize the phone...I gave up and googled the answer after only 1 frustrating hour...ROFL!
So all's well that ends well but the moral of the story once again is leave all assembly and installation to said childs parents. Give them the pleasure of this parently duty and the sense of accomplishment that all this entails :)
Now I just hope on Christmas day that he likes this phone and does not abandon it to a corner to instead grab the remote control to my TV , hold it to his ear and begin chatting away.
My little bean loves talking on the phone! He frequently manages to get ahold of legendofthehawk's phone and has even managed to call me and his grandfather by the luck of pressing random buttons. We have been amazed and fascinated by the genuis of our little guy who could hardly walk or talk but could call us on the phone! Of course these phone calls would consist of brief ramblings in his own special language ( which we have thus far been unable to decode) and then an abrupt hang up. No Matter! Its the sheer awesomeness of him calling that is the thing.
So in view of the aforementioned...how could I resist when I came across the Fisher Price Elmo knows your name phone! This phone can be programed so that Elmo says your childs name. It has 5 ringtones, phrases and sounds. Seemed like just the perfect thing for one of his Christmas gifts. So...purchase done I am at home with this cute toy in the box sitting on my table.
I start thinking (which can be dangerous!!!) that there were several reason's why I should try to customize/setup this phone before Christmas.
1. I need to make sure the phone works. There is nothing worse then a kid getting a christmas gift that right out of the box doesnt work!
2. Said phone does NOT come with the mini-5pin type USB cable that you need to program the phone. Luckily it is the kind of cable used by most digital cameras to interface with the computer. I had one and it fit. I wasnt sure the little beans parents would have one though so there is reason 2.
3. I didnt want him to be confused on Christmas when Elmo said " Hi Michael!". ( that is the default name in the phone). I wanted him to know right from the start that Elmo was talking to him and this was HIS own special phone. I wanted the first thing the phone said to be " Hi Nathan."
So after contemplating all of that I took the box and ventured upstairs into my office. The back of the box gives very limited information. It just says you need to attach the mini USB cable*which is not included* and go to www.fisher-price.com/us/knowsyourname/phone.
Now an important thing about the above is if you follow the directions/picture on the back of the box it wont work! If you plug in the cable before downloading the software it will not update. Of course I didnt not find this out till much later.
I go to the website and it just has a screen with a picture of Elmo , dora and Diego. You click on whichever image goes with the phone you bought. This then takes you to a screen where you locate the correct childs name and click on it. It will then download a file and gives you instructions for updating the phone. Sounds Simple right? Hardly!!!
Now keep in mind I have not removed the phone from the box as it is a gift. After 15 minutes of messing around I finally managed to open just enough of the box to insert the cable in the phone. I follow all the website instructions and then press the button on the phone excitedly. * HI Michael*...arghhh...thats not right. Somehow the download didnt work. So I delete the files, go back and download the file again and do the whole update again following the online instructions to the letter. I once again press the button on the phone and hear * Hi Michael*! I now repeat the deleting of files and redownloading and updating and once again it does not work.
At this point I turn to trusty Google and type in problems with knowyourname phone. It brings up just what I was looking for. Complaints for parents and other relatives trying to get this phone to say their childs name! I find a post by an Engineer who spent no less then 3 hours figuring out how to do the update. First he lets us know you have to remove the phone from the box. There is an instruction sheet under the phone that does tell you there is a little tab that must be removed. Now if you dont have the phone out of the box you would never know this and I am by far not the only one who tried to update the phone WITHOUT removing it from the box because of it being a gift. The second thing he told us all was that you cannot have the cable plugged into the usb and the phone before you download the software. No place on the booklet or on the website did it impart this gem of knowledge.
Armed with this sane explantion I immediately removed the phone from the box, unplugged the cable, went back to the website and completed the download. I then plugged the cable in and did the update. Saints be praised!!! I pressed the button and low and behold Elmo said " Hi Nathan". I now did the happy dance around the office. I can feel quite proud of myself to because unlike the engineer who spent 3 hours figuring out how to customize the phone...I gave up and googled the answer after only 1 frustrating hour...ROFL!
So all's well that ends well but the moral of the story once again is leave all assembly and installation to said childs parents. Give them the pleasure of this parently duty and the sense of accomplishment that all this entails :)
Now I just hope on Christmas day that he likes this phone and does not abandon it to a corner to instead grab the remote control to my TV , hold it to his ear and begin chatting away.