And the time to explore it

I see Laurie Orlov was also posting about phones the other day, (http://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/cell-phones-older-individuals-more-features-fewer-features-or-smarter) and she has a great quote from a woman who loves her smartphone but notes "I've been retired for seven years so I have the time and patience to play with all the stuff on the phone." This brought up two thoughts related to my Nexus/iPhone post.

First, the quote seems to reinforce that the affection for "all the stuff" came after the purchase of the phone and was discovered because she had the time to play around. The phone is a source of entertainment. I've noticed for years that those of us in the middle, heavily involved in our work lives, are the ones who are the least adept at our gadgets because we have the least time and inclination to explore.

And this reminded me of a trend in the adoption of digital photography. Even before digital cameras became mainstream, consumer photo quality scanners and inkjet printers and related software applications made their way to the affordable end of the market. And, it was commonly the grandparents who adopted the technology first. They began to use them to make calendars, albums and cards using their travel pics and particularly pictures of the grandkids. It was the 50+ crowd that was often at the forefront this adoption cycle, with many of the rest of us only adopting once it had gone mainstream and one was built into every phone.

So, to temper my last post, perhaps time is a factor here--will we see a rapid uptake in more user friendly smartphones not because of specific applications, but because the abundance of apps is inherently an entertainment and relaxation opportunity for those with the time to play with it?

And, once they become mainstream in this way, will they start to serve more age specific purposes like monitoring, fall alert, etc?