If only all human beings made purely rational decisions... Working in the mobile industry, I have seen a lot of studies focusing on that population segment. Something that comes up in every study is that many people find the idea of "dumb-looking phone with large buttons" very patronising and wouldn't want to be seen dead with them. They want to have the same phones as their children & grandchildren as a matter of pride.
Reading the article below it seems to me that Alzheimer patients may have more serious problems than operating a mobile phone, problems that make them need frequent assistance of a carer. Maybe we could come up with a different paradigm for a communication device tailored for such people, but I doubt it's worth trying to twist the mobile phone paradigm to accommodate such needs. On Nov 26, 2007 4:51 PM, Meredith Noble <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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 > ________________________________________________________________ *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
