By Suzanne Choney


A quick-thinking 12-year-old girl prevented a kidnapper in a van from taking her when she held up her iPod Touch -- which looks exactly like the iPhone -- and told the man she was calling 9-1-1. According to a news report, he then fled.
The incident happened Wednesday in Stanton, Delaware, and was reported by ABC station WPVI in Philadelphia.
The girl was standing on a sidewalk outside a middle school, waiting for her ride, when the man drove up and said to her, "Get in the van." When she heard that, she held the iPod Touch to her ear and told the suspect she was calling for help.
As Cult of Mac points out, the iPod Touch can be turned into a phone using the device's Wi-Fi capability "in a pinch by installing VOIP apps like Truphone to make calls. To use your second- or third-generation iPod Touch as a phone, you’ll need the app plus a headset with microphone, or a microphone adapter like those sold for the iPhone." As long as you're in a Wi-Fi area, you don't even need cellular service from AT&T (currently the exclusive seller of the iPhone in the U.S.).
Parents, it's something to think about when you're debating whether to get your child the highest-end iPod, which starts at $229. And kids, what better argument to give your folks when lobbying for that iPod Touch than the example cited here?