This is right on. I actually have a watch that includes a phone book. Of course, there is no way to sync the watch with any existing software, so I would have to enter each letter and number by scrolling through a list with just 2 buttons. This watch probably has more memory than the first computer I ever programmed back in the 80s (a Commodore VIC-20). The watch also has a couple other featuers I don't even know how to use--I just want to tell time.
I have had a theory on technology for some time which I call the "gaseous nature of technology need" which states that a person's (perceived) "need" for technology will expand to fit the available technology. For example, for anyone addicted to their balckberry, how many could have honestly said 15 years ago--in 1991--that they really NEEDED something like that. Keeping in mind that in 1991 most people outside a few circles didn't even HAVE e-mail, much less a mobile phone or the need to connect the two. Just my $.02.

Recently my Dad’s bag phone… yes I said bag phone… died. We have sent it in several times to get it fixed and it continued to function… until now. We have been refused service at two service centers and the one we had been using went out of business. My Brother and I have had the dubious task of finding him a replacement that is as simple to use as his bag phone. It has been near impossible to find one. Some cell phone store employees’ have even laughed in our faces during our search. A rotary cell phone would be great!!! What we have found are phones that cater to tweens and teens.
There is a whole population of mature baby boomers and their parents that don’t text, can’t see or use the small buttons and have problems using these miniaturized wonders. The best we could come up with were heavy duty models built for company employees… their plan coverage did not provide the coverage my Dad needs. What we wanted was simple or at least we thought it was simple. We were looking for a phone that is slightly smaller than the handset on a regular phone, with at least two programmable buttons (one for home and one for emergencies) and the regular dialing buttons. The big requirement was to have the buttons large enough and space between them so that miss dialing (fat fingering) is reduced. Not to mention, they (the buttons) can be seen and read. One company (Jitterbug) that is catering to more mature customers is only taking pre-orders due to limited supplies of their simple phone. Clearly, there is a market out there for cell phones that simply make phone calls; I think companies are missing the boat when it comes to the mature customer.

This is kind of old news isn't it? About a year ago there was a big brouhaha about cell phone companies making and manufacturing "just a phone" because of consumer backlash against technology.

There was a great quote I had for a while -- I've lost it's exact source, but it was a noted computer scientist -- to the effect of:

"Computers will finally be succesful when they are as easy to use as the telephone. We've succeeded: I no longer know how to use my telephone."

What frustrates me is the creation of standards which then get ignored by key players. My Bluetooh Sony Ericsson phone syncs wonderfully with my Mac using the SyncML standard....the folks at RIM, of course, have a completely proprietary solution. This isn't a "it should work with Macs" argument: it's a "it should work with everything."

I'm putting my soap box away again.

Best phone I ever had? My StarTac. It was rugged and a great phone. I had a clip-on organizer that gave it great added functionality, albeit a bit primitive.

That silly RAZR thing looks pretty, but breaks too easily. Crappy interface too. Best thing about it though? You can charge it using a fairly standard, readily available USB cable. Chances are, if you're packing a computer & a RAZR you don't need to pack your RAZR charger.

That's A Good Thing(tm)