COMMUNICATION I New Jitterbug for 55-and-older market works with hearing aids
Shannon Proudfoot
Sun
Martin Cooper, inventor of the cellphone, and Arlene Harris, CEO of Great Call, creator of the Jitterbug, hold their respective inventions.
The latest entry to the cellphone market can’t shoot pictures or video, and it has no customizable wallpapers or voice-dialing capability.
It is, however, hearing aid-compatible.
Meet the Jitterbug — the cellphone named for the swing-dancing era and designed for baby boomers and their parents in the 21st century.
The phone has chunky, easy-to-read keys and a large screen display, straightforward Yes and No command buttons, a “familiar” dial tone that tells you it’s ready to make a call, and a friendly operator who will help out at the touch of a button.
A simplified version of the phone has just three buttons, for making calls to 911, the operator and a pre-programmed frequently called number.
The Jitterbug is the brainchild of Samsung and California-based GreatCall, Inc., whose mission it is “to simplify technology and make it available to everyone.”
The phone launched in the U.S. in mid-October, and should be available to Canadian users within a year.
It is poised to tap a burgeoning market: a Decima Research study commissioned by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) found that cellphone use among Canadians 55 years and older has doubled in the last six years, to 48 per cent from 24 per cent.
User-friendly technology is “a life-stage issue” and until now, cellphone manufacturers have focused on the rapid-fire preferences of consumers under 40, says GreatCall CEO Arlene Harris, who co-founded the company with her husband, Martin Cooper, designer of the first cellular handset in 1973.
“Most marketers, when they think about people over 50, there’s some switch that turns off,” Harris says, adding that “lots of research and probably as much common sense” went into the Jitterbug’s design.
As the postwar generation swells the ranks of the 50-plus, any smart entrepreneur will find a way to cater to their demographic, says Reginald Bibby, a sociology professor at the University of Lethbridge and author of The Boomer Factor.
In addition to sheer numbers, the baby boomers are an “incredibly materialistic crew” that will drive an unprecedented wave of consumer products tailored to aging needs, he says.
“They’re going to be a prime group when it comes to anything of a technological nature,” Bibby says.
“They’ve been readily co-opting things as they’ve been emerging over the last several decades, and it’s just going to continue.”
Already, Ford Motor Company has created a “Third Age Suit” that simulates loss of strength and flexibility so young ergonomics engineers can understand the needs of older drivers, and Black & Decker is producing tools with more comfortable grips and bigger information readouts, says David Cravit, senior vice-president marketing of Toronto-based 50Plus Group, which operates several Internet portals and newsletters.
Home Depot stores in Toronto and Victoria have launched special collections of products designed to assist older people with independent living, he says, while manufacturers are producing helpful goods that are increasingly intuitive and attractive.
Even though most boomers don’t yet need grab bars in the bathtub or a simplified cellphone, Cravit says the estimated five million Canadians caring for a chronically ill loved ones represent a “massive market” for all sorts of aging-friendly products.
“Most of the marketing is aimed at the boomers, because they’re either buying it or influencing the purchase for their parents,” he says.
“They’ll spend heavily to keep their parents safe, in comfort and convenience.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
