<p>Both of my parents are in their 80s and both use cellphones exclusively. When I spent a week with my Dad while he was having his hip replaced, I realized that the poor guy was hand dialing every phone number. So I spent my free time in the hospital programming in all his numbers (he carried around an address book) and then took photos of everyone in the family and programmed those in too. Lastly I set up a speed dialing system for him based on the last two digits of the year of birth for each family member, my mom, me, and my four siblings. Now he dials two digits to call each of us, our photos show up when we call him, and the caller ID announces us to him as well. I also made sure to put in his emergency contact numbers under ICE and all his doctors under the name Doctor. His phone is a simple flip phone. Neither of my parents would do well with an IPhone.</p>
<p>To the OP, was it just that your mom needed a phone at the house? If the power went out, does she not have a house phone? I still have a landline at my house, just for that specific purpose, though we rarely use it. All of my friends call on my cell phone. We have a cordless, and two old school land line phones in the home.</p>
<p>My father (87) was excellent with his Blackberry, but he has not been able to learn the iPhone at all. We should not have switched him, especially since my half-brother (who has to deal with it) has them on Linux, which screws up everything. Our thought with the iPhone was facetime, etc, and that he would like the features, but it hasn’t been a good fit. My father is very sharp and I was somewhat surprised that he hasn’t figured out the iphone. My mother- not a chance. She thought the voice that said “You’ve got mail” on her computer was a real person! We have a facebook account for her, but her caregivers have to get on it and show her things.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have a friend who’s 84 year old mother is having a blast with her iPhone and loves her “apps” and her “google”.</p>
<p>I think it depends on your senior. FIL is turning 84 this spring, he loves his IPhone and his IPad. Previously to the Iphone he had a Samsung smartphone. It took a few weeks for his to get the hang of it but he has had not issues. He also knows how to use the Bluetooth in his car. My MIL got her first Iphone about 6 months ago. She is in love with her cell phone. She takes pride in keeping up with technology. She loves that she can reach the grandchildren by text message(they never would listen to their voicemail).
I recently read an article on best smartphones for seniors. I just wish I could remember where I read it.</p>
<p>Everyone’s different, of course, but my mom is 86 and the plainest phone available is still a stretch for her. She’s had her phone for two years but still doesn’t know how to put names in the address book, open up and read text messages, or take pictures. It’s a shame, because she spends several months a year in Florida, and it would be nice if I could text message her pictures, etc. But she uses her phone strictly as a phone, which suits her fine.</p>
<p>An iphone would cause her to run screaming. lol</p>
<p>@partyof5 , no we all feel that she needs to have a phone with her when she goes out alone too. She drives to the veteran’s cemetary weekly and walks up a slight hill to visit my father’s grave and she chooses to go on Sunday ,when they never have funerals. The place is pretty empty and we worry about what would happen if she fell . Also, worry about what would happen if she were to get a flat tire or anything wlse that could potentially happen. The phone is part of our plan and has tracking on it as well . She is mentally sharp , but she is getting up there in age. Sometimes when I read about missing elderly who drive off and get lost, I worry about something like this happening to my mother . There was a case of this about two years ago in her area and the poor old man was so lost and ended up several towns away and when he was finally found, it was heartbreaking.</p>
<p>Funny thing though, my daughter decided to FaceTime with her today and somehow she figured it out. Same daughter will be spending Easter with her, so I am hoping she can help her out</p>
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<p>While not all plans are created equal, it is good to remember that an iPhone should require to maintain a data plan. It may make sense to calculate the added cost on a 24 months basis. The total might be surprising and a lot more than the expected 10 to 13 dollars for adding a single line on a family plan.</p>
<p>My brother got my 75 year old mom an iPad. I told him beforehand that she would never use it. I was wrong. She carries it around the house with her. When she doesn’t feel like talking to my dad, she pulls out her iPad. She also learned how to post on FB.</p>
<p>@xiggi…our business pays for it and we have several of them , making the rate low. The phone was $99 and the extra phone is $30. Probably less than a lot of other phones, I suspect</p>
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<p>I’m 57, and I don’t know how to do any of these things, either. Somebody once put a few numbers in the address book for me, but I don’t know how to access them, so they’re useless to me.</p>
<p>But at least I have a cell phone and I use it (as a phone). My husband doesn’t even know how to do that. He owns a cell phone, which he carries around in his car (turned off) in case of emergency, but if he did have an emergency, I don’t think he would know how to place a call on it.</p>