Clear Sounds Amplified Phones

There are two things I like about this company right off the bat. First: They are a women-owned and they brag about it. Second: They put a video commercial up for their products, to offer additional visual and auditory information for consumers.

Clear Sounds: Hear How Good Life Can Be offers amplified phones, answering machines, bluetooth headsets and neckloops, earbuds, and more. In addition to communication equipment with mods for hearing impairment, there are large-button phones and backlit LCD screens for those with visual impairment too.

I want to get this for my Grandpa...

Presto Computerless Email is a great GREAT solution for a tech-shy person, like many of our parents and grandparents. This really neat service allows emails and pictures to be delivered to a printer in hard copy form. Presto points out that not everyone uses e-mail, and there's no doubt that loved ones could be missing out on family photos and stories without the use of email.


This is another "win-win" as I like to refer to. E-Mail users win by keeping in touch, non-e-mail users win by keeping in touch, and we all win because the frustration and confusion of a tech-breakdown is nearly eliminated.

Presto boasts the following features:

"-No Spam. Ever!
-Easy to use. Guaranteed.
-Easy to set up
-Personalized E-mail address
-Unlimited E-mail delivery
-Photos print perfectly
-Deliver documents
-E-letters
-Templates
-Newsstand"

Potential drawbacks that I've read about and can foresee include: the price of printer ink, difficulty repairing in the event of a breakdown, a monthly service charge no matter how much you use it.

Happy E-mailing/Reading :)

Aging in Place Technology Watch

Aging in Place Technology Watch is a great website that has information on "Industry Trends, Research & Analysis." The self-proclaimed content may sound a little dry, but once I started to dig into this website, I was hooked on much that author, Laurie Orlov, had to say.

In the January Newsletter, there's talk of the baby-boomers beginning to turn 65 and the effects of gaming on interpersonal communication and mental health (with some pros AND cons... how objective!).

Aging in Place Technology Watch January 2011 Newsletter

My favorite part of the newsletter was the observation that there is a distinct lack of continuity across every day devices. In my daily life I encounter my computer (Apple MacBook Pro), my cell phone (Motorola Droid), my iPod (Apple iPod Touch), and Netflix (via my Playstation 3). None of these devices have the same operating system, search engine, set of controls; for that matter, there's even variation between Netflix for a PC, TV, PS3, or Xbox. It's dizzying!