In the next fifty years, the percentage of people aged 65 and over is predicted to increase to roughly half the UK population, yet handset manufactures are still more concerned with jam-packing the latest features onto a device, often alienating silver surfers.
Many technology companies are turning a blind eye by ignoring the increasing and lucrative senior market. According to a mobile phone comparison site DialToSave, smartphones are aimed at tech-savvy youngsters and despite growing interest from older people, they are often perplexed by jargon like Android, Symbian and 3G HSDPA.
Richard Cappin of DialToSave.co.uk said, “mobile companies need to wake up fast to the potential of the 'silver buck.” He believe that if vendors tap into this demand, it could potentially lead to the world's first 'Silver Surfers Superphone.'
"The most frequent question I am asked, and always by older people, is which is the simplest phone that does all the snazzy stuff without the fuss.
The demand for an all-round easy-to-use handset could one day even lead to a superphone, rather than just a 'smart' one," added Cappin.
According to a study by mobileSQUARED, those over 55 are now the second-fastest growing Internet user group and 45-64 year olds are now the second largest group of all mobile phone users.
However, there are companies like Emporia, Doro and Binatone promoting handsets aimed at the elderly "but those are mainly for the visually impaired, the hearing impaired or those who have little dexterity," added Cappin.
The video below of Emporia Telecom illustrates the importance of why the mobile sector mobile needs to cater technology for the elderly in mind.
please sign in to rate this article
47345
