Suggestion: phones for OAPS

jas72

jas72

jas72

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Belgium land of chocolate
mobile phones for old folks


I think there's a huge market in mobiles for OAPS. None of the shops cater for them at all. the phones are all tiny and do too much. Why not create a phone with just the 1-9 buttons and a green call button and the red button with "hang up" printed on it.

My parents in law are 80 and we had to get them a mobile but it's nearly impossible to just buy a phone!

What do you think. Given that 30% of the population are over 60 it's a huge chunk of the market overlooked.
 
They already exist. My grandparents were given a mobile phone each last Christmas. The phones are just a slab of plastic with the numbers on it and a screen to show you who is calling. I can't remember who makes them though.
 
i think it is a very good idea, one that will be applicable for all generations to come as old people are always usually behind in technology so a simple easy to use phone with just a call feature would be an excellent idea.

however it would have to be cheap too.

daven
 
My grandma could really use a phone like that, she hyas very bad arthritis and cant really manage the new phones with buttons that can only be measured in nanometers.

*watches thread with interest*
 
daven1986 said:
i think it is a very good idea, one that will be applicable for all generations to come as old people are always usually behind in technology so a simple easy to use phone with just a call feature would be an excellent idea.

however it would have to be cheap too.

daven
Click to expand...

Given that the most expensive gadgets are usually the smallest, surely the reverse must be true! lol.
 
Nokia 1100 (as suggested above) is a nice and simple phone.

The main downside is that the display isnt that big, so could be a problem is your folks cant see that well.

Can get them from Tesco for £30 (when I got one for my Mum & Dad it came with a £10 airtime voucher).
 
Yeh all those are complicated thingmajigs... all very easy for us to work coz we grew up with them, but most OAPs simply don't have the technological mindset that we do.

Whenever I stay with my grandma I get sent off to fix/setup all my grandma's friends computers/printers/videos/phones etc. What seems to be pure common sense to me is a complicated and difficult proceedure to them. I can only assume it's because I grew up operating gadgets and computers and trained my brain to understand them.

So it's not just big displays and buttons, the user interface has to be little more complex than a normal housephone. Literally switch on and go.

None of the phones mentioned so far seem completely suited to this purpose.

A big, clear screen, big solid buttons spaced well apart from each other and no extra features... just a phone... and maybe text messages. finito!
 
jas72 said:
Why not create a phone with just the 1-9 buttons and a green call button
Click to expand...

You might need a zero as well :D

I'm sure Pokia or similar were going to make a full handset converted from an old dialling phone
 
I bought one of the Simply phones for an elderly relative and even that was too complicated.

One feature that it was really missing was quick dial. Even with a big screen, navigating through endless menus to the address book is tough.

The Raku Raku phones in Japan are a lot better.
 
all of the phones dont even need a screen as most elderly people cant or say they cant see that small anyway.............

All they need is as said before 1-9 and call and hang up with maybe a green light flashing like the old SE phones to show its on.

My nan has a old motorola i managed to get off the bay...........She uses her address book like many oaps do to make phone calls.

Problem is things like when battery needed replacing it cost more than a handset but she paid it as she wanted to keep the phone,.

Its already saved her once when she had a nasty fall on her own, she managed to dial a ambulane on her own :) bless her brings a tear to my eye now:)
 
The Nokia 5110, 3210, 3310 etc are in my opinion the most suitable phones for elderly people. There is no phones made this simple anymore. A simple 'ok' button to call and hang up and arrows to access the phone book, it's all they really need to do.
 
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