So last week my mother instructed me to look into getting a cell phone for my father. While my Mom has had a cell phone for many, many years, Dad has gone without, mainly because he’s not good with modern day technology. Mom thinks it would be really convenient if she could get a hold of her husband when he’s out and about. Currently that’s not possible unless he phones in from somewhere.
Because he’ll be using a phone sparingly, a pay-as-you-go plan is probably the most sensible way to go. Also, it’d be crazy for him to get the latest and greatest smartphone. That would be like using a rocket launcher to kill a fly, way over the top. To that end, I’m giving him my very first “smartphone”, the HTC Legend, which I bought sometime in 2010. This phone was barely adequate when it first came out but now five years along, it has not aged well. The screen resolution sucks and it’s stuck on Android 2.2 which makes it seem like an Atari 2600 compared to the Lollipop version of Android that powers my current phone.
I think this phone will be ok for my father’s needs for the short-term, until perhaps we get him a better one. Now when I say better, I mean most likely a bigger screen (for larger text) and a more advanced (and thus user-friendly) operating system. The concept of programs, applications, icons, and the meaning of various UI constructs is mostly lost on my father because he didn’t grow up learning any of these things. To that end, I’ll have to strip down the phone to the basics, and not litter the screen with a billion icons.
Well, at least my Mom will be able to remind my Dad to get eggs when he’s at the store.