Thank you for saying that. I would suspect that many Alzheimer's patients don't really need to worry about making phone calls - they're too busy trying to do much more basic things like remember their family members.
I'm not saying this to be insensitive or rude. My family members have suffered from Alzheimer's and it's not pretty or funny. Thinking of selling mobile phones to them, or even thinking of them as a "market segment" is a bit disrespectful and unethical, IMO. I do realize none of the posters in this thread intended to do this, but I do have to point it out as a matter of principle. We've had discussions on this list about the ethics of design and this certainly seems to be a worthy candidate for that topic. Jeff On Nov 26, 2007 4:47 PM, Alexander Baxevanis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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 ....... 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