# My mother (a) is old and (b) wants a new cell phone. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680 "2011-03-23T02:52:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/1 "2011-03-23T02:52:42Z")
Can anyone recommend a good phone for a cranky neo-Luddite with big fingers? She claims [this](http://www.pencilbugs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/black-rotary-phone.jpg) is her ideal model, but it doesn’t come in a wireless version. My mother is 65. She and my father gave up their landline to save some cash a few years ago. She’s hated every cell phone she’s had since, from the RAZR on down to the Sony Ericsson she’s unhappy with now. Her specific problems: [ul] [li]It’s hard for her to dial using the flat keypad[/li][li]The phone is uncomfortable to hold up to her ear[/li][li]Buckeyes![/li][/ul] I’m hoping someone here is in her position and found a cell phone that they like. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/2 "2011-03-23T02:57:00Z")
Your mother is not ‘old’. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/3 "2011-03-23T03:07:09Z")
I’m being mildly facetious. 🙂 She’s been complaining that her phone is too techy for “an old lady” like her. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/4 "2011-03-23T03:07:41Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Your mother is not ‘old’. Yes she is. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/5 "2011-03-23T03:09:36Z")
Do a web search on “cell phones for seniors.” A number of manufactures have realized that small keypads, small text and small form factors are not winning combinations when you are older. Jitterbug is supposed to be pretty good. A place like Best Buy will allow her to maximize the number of phones she can look at (i.e. multiple carriers = more phones). You can pre-shop them, so she isn’t looking at anything you haven’t pre-screened. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/6 "2011-03-23T03:22:04Z")
My mother will be 70 this year, and has had a cell phone for approximately 3 years now. She absolutely hates it. I’m confident there’s no cell phone in existence that would get her seal of approval. It doesn’t matter to her that it’s more convenient than her land line phone, can be taken with her wherever she goes, is small enough to fit in her purse, or that it has features to make her life generally easier and keep her organized. Phones should have rotary dials and be wired, not plugged, into the wall. If she’s out and needs to reach any of us “kids”, she’ll wait until she gets home to call or, get this, look for a pay phone. If we call her, she’ll say something like “Wait, I’ll call you when I get home” or, if she’s home “Call me back on the house phone.” ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/7 "2011-03-23T05:27:22Z")
It won’t help with the dialing but [this](http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cell-phone/8928/) might be familiar enough to make a cell phone work for her. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/8 "2011-03-23T09:45:37Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > It won’t help with the dialing but [this](http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cell-phone/8928/) might be familiar enough to make a cell phone work for her. Oh, you can go further than that. I give you the [rotary cell phone](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/287). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/9 "2011-03-23T14:00:09Z")
How about the [Samsung Jitterbug](http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=940)? Ergonomic shape, tactile larger buttons. I’m 63 and I hate those tiny phones. They’re difficult to hold onto if you have any sort of arthritis problems. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/10 "2011-03-23T14:21:49Z")
Just for the record, my parents are 75 and 77, and they both do just fine with normal people cell phones. They just got rid of their land line. It’s not a given that you hit 60 and now everything has to be oversize and really loud. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/11 "2011-03-23T14:30:51Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > Her specific problems: > [ul] > [li]It’s hard for her to dial using the flat keypad[/li][li]The phone is uncomfortable to hold up to her ear[/li][li]Buckeyes![/li][/ul] That last is easy to fix. Get her one of [these](http://www.fansedge.com/Michigan-Wolverines-iPhone-4-Case-Silicone-Skin-_-308866576_PD.html) 😃 Nobutsrsly, my rents are looking at similar issues. They don’t like leaving the things on when they travel because it’s actually hard to adjust the ringer and phone volumes, let alone redial. Do the dumb-phones avoid all those fiddly nested menus and mystificating nav buttons? ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/12 "2011-03-23T14:41:20Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > How about the [Samsung Jitterbug](http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=940)? Ergonomic shape, tactile larger buttons. I’m 63 and I hate those tiny phones. They’re difficult to hold onto if you have any sort of arthritis problems. Seconded. My wife’s 87 year old grandmother has one of these and prefers to use it over her landline because she can hear better on it. Using it in lieu of a landline, as opposed to occasional use, may not be optimal though because I seem to recall that the service is not cheap. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/13 "2011-03-23T15:57:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Oh, you can go further than that. I give you the [rotary cell phone](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/287). OMG WANT!!! That is way too funny… How awesome would it be to pull that thing out of your bag at work to make calls with? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/14 "2011-03-23T16:09:42Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > OMG WANT!!! That is way too funny… How awesome would it be to pull that thing out of your bag at work to make calls with? 😛 I know, right? I want one, too, and I’m 49! I must be ‘old before my time’! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/15 "2011-03-23T16:32:11Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > She claims [this](http://www.pencilbugs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/black-rotary-phone.jpg) is her ideal model, but it doesn’t come in a wireless version. [Here ya go.](http://i51.tinypic.com/2cpuag1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/16 "2011-03-24T02:21:17Z")
She’s a little young for [this model](http://bit.ly/eAIZew), but its something to think about in 15-20 years. Just tell her you have really bad reception on _yours_. …And wait to give it to her until After you have power of attorney. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/17 "2011-03-24T02:46:57Z")
[Here’s a page from Squidoo](http://www.squidoo.com/cell-phones-for-seniors#module109182181) on cell phones and plans for seniors. Seems to have a lot of information. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/18 "2011-03-24T03:25:42Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Just for the record, my parents are 75 and 77, and they both do just fine with normal people cell phones. They just got rid of their land line. It’s not a given that you hit 60 and now everything has to be oversize and really loud. 😉 But for some of us it starts MUCH earlier. I missed four calls this week because I forgot I turned down my ringer. My boss, my kid’s school, my son, my husband… no one important. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/19 "2011-03-24T03:38:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Oh, you can go further than that. I give you the [rotary cell phone](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/287). That might be good for the OP. There’s also the [Dock-N-Talk](http://www.phonelabs.com/). You connect your cell phone and a wired phone to it. Then the calls you make via the wired phone are actually placed on the cell phone network. If it works properly, your parents need never know that a cell phone is involved. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680/20 "2011-03-24T03:43:03Z")
My mom is 85 and she just got a Pantech II from AT&T. I got the following text from her over the weekend: “Look at me, I’m texting!”. She loves it- she had been looking at an iphone, but all she really wants to do is make phone calls, text, and send and receive pictures. She doesn’t care about surfing the internet or playing Angry Birds, so this is perfect for her. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mother-a-is-old-and-b-wants-a-new-cell-phone/575680.md?page=2)