DriveCam.com - Offers an in-car camera to monitor teen driving

With cell phones becoming so commonplace, the cell carriers are wondering where to get their next million customers. Clark thinks they may tap the preschool market after they get done with the elementary school kids! In reality, they're focused on taking things that have become popular overseas and bringing them here.

Throughout Asia, you can go up to a restaurant that you don't know anything about; hold your phone up to the window; and photograph a barcode of sorts. That will bring up customer reviews and other information about the restaurant on your handset. The San Francisco Chronicle reports a similar service has now launched in the Golden Gate City. Look for it to become more widespread during the next 18 months to 2 years.

This business model won't just apply to restaurants. Let's say you're reading a magazine. There's an ad for a new release from your favorite musical artist. You'll soon be able to hold your phone up to a barcode on the page and cue up a sample of the artist's latest music. You'll also be able to click a button and purchase their new album. The cell carriers will, of course, get a cut of any e-commerce transactions.

Ultimately, you'll be surfing the web on your cell phone -- if you don't already do so. Clark recently got a Sprint PPC 6800 when his old cell broke. It turns out the PPC is the first cell phone to surf the web at high speeds like DSL or cable modem. When the Crackberry first came out, almost no one used it. Today 14 million Americans are Crackberry addicts. So the web will be huge on cell phones, and the barcode business model will be a part of the coming revolution.

The Wall Street Journal's Personal Journal reports that a number of auto insurers are writing policies for brand-new teenage drivers for the first time in memory. Clark is stunned that Safeco, Nationwide, American Family and Fireman's Fund are among those doing this around the country -- with some conditions. In addition to requiring safety courses, some insurers want parents to install a camera in their teen's car. DriveCam.com offers one such device that can be monitored remotely.

This is not just about money. The No. 1 cause of death among teenagers is auto accidents. We as parents fear the impact that drugs and alcohol can have on our children's lives, but the thing that's most dangerous is the road. Several states have begun doing graduated licenses for teens. Clark recently told you that such plans have helped cut back on teen fatalities behind the wheel. As a parent, it may seem creepy to go the camera route. But Clark thinks it's reasonable. Other insurers make teens log their driving and turn in the logs.

A teen's newfound mobility does not mean they have good judgment. Clark's 19 year old recently told him that she thought she was invincible at 15. But she's changed her mind after being through 2 auto accidents where the vehicle was totaled. Thankfully she was not hurt either time.

People love their cell phones, but hate their cell phone providers. The Better Business Bureau now reports that the cell phone business has received more complaints than any other industry for 3 consecutive years. There are now 22 states with bills in various stages of consideration or adoption all seeking to establish a cell phone users' bill of rights. The response of the cell carriers has been to spend millions to fund lobbyists who are trying to get rules bent in the industry's favor. Why not just fix the bad business model instead? We're not talking about dropped calls here; we're talking about those rotten 2-year contracts. Clark is hard-pressed to find another country in the world that does these contracts.

For the longest time, the cell carriers argued that contracts were necessary because they helped subsidize the cost of cell phones. But this explanation turned out to be bogus; iPhone customers had to pay full market price for their phones, and then they were still forced into a contract! Clark has long thought consumers should be offered the choice to either buy a phone at market value with no carrier strings attached, or sign the 2-year contract with one carrier and get a free phone.

Meanwhile, all of the carriers are in cahoots with crooks. If you're not on an unlimited text messaging plan, they get paid every time you receive an unwanted spam text message. They're also ripping off teens (and their parents) by billing on behalf of third party carriers that offer ring tones and other premium services.

Why is there no movement in Washington, D.C., on the issue of a cell phone users' bill of rights? Simply put, the members of the U.S. House and Senate are in their Capitol Hill bubble. The cell industry is trying to get a preemption law that will make it illegal for any state to pass a rule governing the industry. Sounds like they're taking a cue from the airlines who managed to get New York's air passenger bill of rights overturned!