The toy, called the Tin Can, is basically a stripped down landline phone that places calls over WiFi. It’s free to call other Tin Can users, or parents can pay a $10 monthly subscription to make outside calls. Yet when kids rushed to phone their friends over the holidays to schedule playdates and sledding runs, they found the string had been cut. Sometimes you’d pick it up, and there would be a dial tone, you would call, and nothing would happen. More on gadgets: New AI Device Pours Alcohol Directly Into the Void Where Your Soul Should Be