Will the new mobile devices too difficult for the old people to handle?

Handling of mobile devices by elderly people is a growing issue among manufacturers and customers alike. Most western countries are met with an ageing population, most of which are barely affiliated with technology, yet required to use it as its popularity grows exponentially. Elderly people can often experience a range of difficulties with mobile telephones; from the screen and the keyboard being too small to see and handle, incompatibility with a hearing aid or just too many complicated specialized functions.

Cell phone manufacturers and service providers will always gear their services towards the market segment which will buy their products more - that would be the younger generation, not the elderly. Nevertheless, mobile phones can greatly benefit the elderly by their convenience and availability for a senior who might have problems - someone who got lost or fell down, for instance. Some seniors might be intimidated by the high-tech features and fear they couldn't figure out how to use the phone, but many models have simpler features that can be easily demonstrated. Also, some mobile services are cheaper than land lines in certain parts of the world - in some parts of the world, it's the only service available.

In 2003, 41% of senior citizens over the age 58 in the U.S. had cell phones. However, many senior citizens in study [2] reported that cell phones did not form a crucial part of their daily life, very unlike the sense of "addiction" to cell phone connectedness reported by many younger people. Those retired people who do use the phone on a more regular basis are motivated by the cheap or free long distance calls to call children who live far away. Hearing aids can be especially adapted for the phone, and the vibration feature can be useful for those who cannot hear certain frequencies anymore.

Despite the beneficial potential of a device targeted to the elderly, there has been an ageist resistance from the market, and especially the retailers; the latter are driven by a young market because that's their main source of revenue and are dubious how this kind of device will fit their brand. [3]

===Sources===
1)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6462559.stm
2)http://www.moba-ken.jp/kennkyuu/chousa/2006/research06_05/finalreport_06-05.pdf
3)http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6903128.stm

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