If you have looked into buying a mobile phone for an older person you may have been surprised (and confused) by the number of choices you have. However, there is a new ebook published by Guy Dewsbury, well known consultant, writer on technology and occasional contributor to Telecare Aware, that will reduce that confusion and help you make a better decision. Called A Guide to Buying A Mobile Phone for the Over 50’s, it begins by discussing the factors one has to take into account and then lists 45 appropriate (non-smart) phones and reviews 12 of them in detail. It references phones on the market in the UK but many of the phones will have equivalents in other markets, and the principles are universal. Considering that it is likely to prevent you from spending more than is necessary – or worse, getting a phone that goes unused – then the modest cost of GB£6.48 or US$9.98 (Amazon Kindle links) may be a good investment.
3 thoughts on “A guide to buying a mobile phone for people over 50”
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I will be interested to read the book. I had expected to see included in the description of the content how to identify if the functionality of a smart phone is for the person looking to buy ir not. Also would have expected some indication of apps and features a smartphone may offer those over 50. The implication of this artical is that those over 50 are not technically aware. Also given this implication I find it interesting that this is only released as an Ebook.
Moira,
Thank you for the comment. There was a deliberate decision to exclude smartphones as these change so regularly that the book would be out of date before it was released. I also agree that you might have expected stuff on apps, but these also change so rapidly that their obsolescence makes their inclusion more difficult. The book is an attempt to look seriously at non-smart phones, which are suitable for people with a range of conditions that are associated with getting older as well as phones for people who have not embraced full blown modern technology.
Smartphones are now beginning to be developed for older and disabled people and the new Doro phone is an interesting attempt at making a phone smart.
I am contemplating releasing the book in paper form but have not found a suitable publisher who will allow me the ability to reuse the text in other articles etc. I actually see that the considerable merit in being published as a physical book so if anyone knows a publisher, I would be happy to discuss this with them.
A final point, is that this is the first in a series of books, which I am writing, not to make money but because there is nothing of comparison out there and I know when I started trying to buy a phone for my hard of hearing mother which she could actually use, there was little information available to me in this search.
Hi Guy, Great idea – I haven’t bought it because I am so young!!!!
I don’t know the content but would it be equally applicable to people that have a learning disability, acquired brain injuries, had a stroke or anybody really that was looking for a phone that does what it says on the tin plus a couple of other bits?
If it is then it might be worth thinking about the title, or re-ePublishing under the ‘A Guide to buying an easy to use mobile phone’.
Purely a suggestion based on the people I speak with and assess and their relatives for eAT, Telecare, Telehealth etc that I see are in need of assistance such as this