I was following the hoopla about the new Google Nexus phone and happened to notice the image on the Google site—this phone’s user appears to be “helping Grandpa get his tech on.” (It's down next to the weather icon.) It got me thinking, are these new generations of phones particular well suited to the aging among us? Could Google even be targeting the new phone for such users?
ElderGadget (http://www.eldergadget.com/) has posted several related articles on Elder Friendly iPhone and iTouch apps. I like what I see in that most of the applications are not things designed just for “old people” but rather are apps intended to be mainstream but with particular application or pertinence for seniors. Brain Games, for example, are stimulation exercises that can benefit anyone, but brain stimulation does have particular merit for seniors. While the original post fell into the trap of focusing primarily on health and emergency related apps, later posts have branched out to include apps for relaxation and mood lifting.
But, don’t I really have to be an iPhone user before I would experience these apps and find them useful? I’m not sure that many seniors would adopt the iPhone form factor in order to get the apps. The would adopt the iPhone for the same reasons people of any age will—because it is fun, interesting, engaging, well marketed and “cool.” But if there is anything about the iPhone, Nexus or their emerging ilk that does anything inherently to be more age appropriate and “help grandpa get his tech on” is that they have larger screens and single touch, icon driven operation rather than the small keypads and screens of more traditional cell phone offerings. It’s the basic design that provides the real benefit.
The Wii has generated widespread adoption in senior communities because the interface and opened up a whole world of virtual activities that seniors can easily adopt. I’m not sure that the touch screen interface of the newest phones has married to the software to the same degree.
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