Tuesday, September 16, 2008
When my 91-year-old mother-in-law stopped driving and moved into an assisted living facility, she started to rely on taxis to get around town. It was time to get her a cell phone. But which one?
Grandma is a fiercely independent lady who didn't like the idea of bothering store clerks and pharmacists to call her a cab. (And have you tried to find a pay phone lately?) And we worried about her getting stranded somewhere in an emergency. Enter the Jitterbug, a "senior friendly" phone with big, bright buttons and loud, clear sound. The key pad is bare-bones with "yes" and "no" buttons and no mysterious icons. (I still don't know what some of those symbols on my Blackberry are.)
The Jitterbug offers no bells and whistles or long term contracts but you do get customer support via a live JItterbug operator, and there's a 30-day return policy, in case Grandma doesn't care for the phone.
Downside: It's not the cheapest phone or plan in the world and will be cost-prohibitive to some people. (I'm sure there must be other "senior friendly" phones out there that would be less expensive.) And there's still a learning curve with regards to voice mail, call history or voice-activated dialing.
In the meantime, if you have an old cell phone just sitting around taking up space, why not donate it to someone who really needs it through Phones4life?
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