Lis, even though some of today's boomers will already have cell phone experience by the time they become elderly, I think we overestimate just how many people in the older generation are truly comfortable with the tools. More importantly, don't forget about reduced cognitive abilities over time.
If you consider how common diseases like Alzheimer's are becoming (see some stats below), and even lesser forms of dementias / memory loss, I think the market for these kinds of devices is going to continue growing over time. That isn't to say that these particular devices are that great (I don't know much about them), but I think we're going to be seeing more and more of these kinds of tools in the future, and for a long time to come. ---- Stats on Alzheimer's via Wikipedia: - There are an estimated 24 million people with dementia worldwide. By 2040, it is projected that this figure will have increased to 81 million. - More than 5 million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer's disease. It is projected that 14.3 million Americans will have the disease by mid-century: a 350 percent increase from 2000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer's_disease#Statistics_on_Alzheimer .27s_disease ---- Interested in hearing other opinions on this, Meredith > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:discuss- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ELISABETH HUBERT > Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 11:16 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] comments to the "Doro's ridiculously > simplephones in the wild" > > Is it just me or is the market for these types of phones starting to > disappear. I know that older people are looking to use these types of > phones now, but I'm assuming that the number of elderly that don't > know how to use other features (address book for example) is > decreasing over time. Any idea how long we'll need these types of > solutions around?? I'm thinking no more than say 3 - 5 years, but > that is a shot in the dark. The need for bigger buttons may always be > around. > > ~Lis > > http://www.elisabethhuber.com > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=22900 > > > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
