VZW and Cingular offer crippled or limited handsets to limit the
child's calling.  Kid Connect is quite a bit different in that it has
a balance threshold but even when that threshold has been reached the
mobile-to-mobile still works.  Refilling the balance to allow regular
calls is as easy as buying a pre-paid card.

So...no limits on the handsets (Jr. gets a RAZR).  Access teaches
responsibility:  Refilling can be tied to an allowance or work for the
refill.  Child is still able to make calls to parents when needed.

The downside is where?  Oh yeah...that whole "playing catch-up" thing.

hmmmm...sounds more like a refinement in the process than a simple
matter of playing catch-up.  Remeber, being first to market is not
always a good thing,  Many times the first one takes the biggest risk
and suffers the most due to poor planning, poor implementation, or
simply a poor product that was rushed to market.  Waiting allows
competitors to focus group their customers to find out what they like,
what they don't like and tailor the product to suit the consumer's
needs.