Keeping it simple
09/08/2005 @ 6:00 pm
Japanese phone company AU is releasing three new phones that target seniors.
The new AU models feature simple designs, large keys, limited simple functions, and large display characters. One of the new models even eliminates the display for the ultimate in simplicity.
Though rival phone companies TUKA and NTT already market senior phones of their own, AU is the first to offer simplified phones with 3G compatibility.
Cool. I think I just had a senior moment. I like those large type things all of sudden. (he says, adjusting his reading glasses in front of the computer screen as Father Time smiles in the distance…)
September 8th, 2005 at 7:53 pmI like these too. I finally got one of those “pay-as-you-go” type phones to use in Japan, and my mother has totally come around to how useful it is to have one (she’s in Japan more often than I am). But I think a simple model like the ones shown here would have been easier for her to learn to use more quickly. Not that she’s a senior or anything!
Now if they could just simplify the whole damned Tokyo train system . .
September 9th, 2005 at 4:51 amThe Tokyo train system isn’t simple enough? I don’t even know Japanese and I found it pretty accessible for someone who’s in the city for the first time by themselves…especially when you consider how much of a huge system it is. I guess the week I spent in Seoul maybe warmed me up a little…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:10 amWhy does anybody care about having a 3G phone with no display? “NTT already has a simple phone, but hey this one is better because… it connects to a network which you have no way of taking advantage of!”
September 9th, 2005 at 10:50 amI hate 3G simply because I couldn’t use my phone in Japan/Korea. Apparently it’s only 3G compatible there… none of that 850/900/1900 band or whatever they have in every other country (I was able to use my phone in Singapore). How is this “superior technology” if it’s not compatible with everything else out there??
September 9th, 2005 at 11:30 am