When an older relative has to get a new phone, it is quite a household matter. Often, this is a difficult and time-consuming task since the older user does not assist but rather hinders by being capricious and complicating the problem in every way imaginable.
For the past few months, I’ve been going through this tedious procedure myself. My father’s Samsung phone from 2009 was starting to malfunction (it’s just been 12 years, so not surprising, right?). About two years ago, the battery died. After considerable effort, a replacement was found. Thin streaks of dead pixels have now drifted across the screen, and it is becoming less and less sensitive to touch.
I thought that replacing the phone would be easy, but it was a mistake. I’ve already gone through a lot of complaints: a complicated Android system, a complicated keypad system, a screen that is too large, a screen that is too small, a screen that is too bright – my eyes started to water, an incomprehensible menu, uncomfortable in hand, uncomfortable in the pocket, overcharging, buttons that are too tight, and so on. And all of this is followed by continual complaints that the old phone isn’t operating properly. All that is needed for old people’s use is their usual chat rooms for Indian friends and the contact menu.
As a result, the Philips Xenium E255 with a push-button flip phone was born. Following this episode, I recognized that my strategy was flawed. As a caring son, I tried to find a phone for my father that he would like. An older person, on the other hand, will be uncomfortable with anything new because they still have to strain their brain a little and get acclimated to it. To us, it’s insignificant, yet everything changes with age.
Old phone or smartphone?
The dimensions are the first significant distinction. If an old phone is often a little gadget that fits comfortably in one’s hand, a smartphone is frequently twice the size. However, there is an advantage to having a large screen. So, if the phone has a 1.5-2 “display, the smartphone can have a 3.5” to 7 “display! Of course, a screen like this may be used to view movies, play games, read e-books, and so on. At the very least, it is inconvenient to do so using an old phone. Of course, being able to call WhatsApp, send a photo, or a link to a video is nice.
However, one must first determine whether such a need exists. My father, for example, calls all of his family on Skype and enjoys looking at the images that are shared there. But he does it all on a laptop. Neither Messenger nor Skype on phones (with varying screen sizes) caught his interest. This is a more human approach: make a cup of coffee, sit down at the laptop, and watch everything on the big screen comfortably. The same is true for games, videos, and other media.
So there’s no need to study the complicated Android operating system, put on your glasses, and plunge into all the tiny icons. You don’t have to force it, after all.
Of course, there are also circumstances in which a person, regardless of age, is drawn to technology or sees its benefits and wishes to use it.