T-Phone concept for old people - because old people can't dial numbers
Posted by Will on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 1:42 pm under Devices
This one is a bit strange. The T-Phone concept from Jeong-Kyun Nam almost seems to make fun of old people - sorry, the elderly. Apparently, while even babies can use the iPhone, Jeong-Kyun Nam thinks that the wiser-generation can't even muster the strength or mental willpower to tap out a 7 or 9 digit number sequence.
The T-Phone features large numbers on the keypad, but adds an RFID feature that dials the number associated with a particular RFID button. Bring the RFID button close to the phone and hit the "Talk" key, and T-Phone will dial the contact stored on the RFID button. Barely more complicated than the baby-toy that requires tots to match up a square or round block with an appropriate hole, the T-Phone negates the complexity of actually dialing a phone number to reach a loved one.
Anyone else think this concept is a bit offensive to the elderly?
[Via: Yanko Design]
Thanks, Teemu for the heads up!
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October 19th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Honestly, I like this concept. Considering how much I used to rearrange the magnets on my grandma's fridge when I was younger, picture doing the same thing on the fridge with a bunch of pics, and the reciever right next to this.
Having a frequently-dialed list would be handy for this for those times those tags are not available.
As for being offensive to the elderly, I would think its more or less offensive to those who just don't want to admit that they don't remember numbers, only faces.
October 19th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
You make a good point about elderly people forgetting numbers and remembering faces.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
[…] intoMobile.com finds this concept disrespecting for old people, I actually find it pretty interesting, if not […]
October 23rd, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Its really good concept.I think this will be more helpful for old people..
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:04 am
I think it's an interesting "concept" and Jeong-Kyun Nam deserves our support for his expression of talent. Rather than insulting older people i think most people would appreciate his efforts to use technology to help aid this massively underserved market.
I hope that he contacts senior phone manufacturers ( such as www.jitterbug.com/ and www.emporia.at) and lets them know more about his concept.
November 30th, 2007 at 5:11 am
I still think they will struggle.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
If you knew somebody slipping into Alzheimer's, you wouldn't think this was making fun of old people at all. My mother lost her ability to dial numbers before she lost her ability to carry on a conversation. This phone would have been great at that stage in her life.