Why did it take so long? The Emporia Telecom (Austria) at the 3GSM congress in Barcelona showcased a phone designed to be used by old people. "The handset they developed has no digital camera, Internet access or instant messaging capabilities, but it does include a button to call relatives or friends in an emergency, is compatible with hearing aids and can run on regular AAA batteries. [...] None of the mainstream handset manufacturers has launched an oldies phone, but some appear to have recognised that enthusiasm for new products and flash handsets is not shared by everyone." This quote is pretty unbelievable: "Finnish manufacturer Nokia, which has a strong reputation for simplicity, has so far desisted from launching a special phone for the elderly" because their market research didn't show strong demand. (Physorg, Yahoo.)
A two-edged sword for the ad people here if the trend catches on. On the one hand, a wider install base among the older demo. On the other hand, the lowest common denominator is pretty low -- pretty much voice only, no Bluetooth, SMS (?), alerts, MMS or other funky stuff.
Earlier:
Duh: Mobile Phones Are Voice-Centric Media
