A few days ago, I told you about my grandmother’s problem with her stylish phone. She could have learned to use it, but saw that as a waste of her time, and her eyes glazed over when she did ask us to show her how to use it. In the last article I presented you with her problem, a common one, but I never told you about the solution we found.
Well, now I will.
Our family is pretty much a Verizon family. I’m not sure how we got started with Verizon, but we take full advantage of the free mobile-to-mobile minutes, so our loyalty has been fixed. (Sometimes I want to be rebellious and talk about getting a Sprint line, or maybe even picking up AT&T’s iPhone, but I digress.) So when it came to picking out a phone for Mrs. Dunkle, we only looked at Verizon’s selection.
Thankfully, due to the foresight of Verizon’s phone-pickers (whoever they might be, thank you), good old Verizon had the perfect phone–the Knack.
While the phone might not have as large of buttons as the Jitterbug, it features a large text setting, great hearing aid compatibility, and an innovation that I admire–the ICE button.
ICE, I’m told, is a standard abbreviation among rescue personnel standing for “In Case of Emergency.” For those individuals who did not purchase the Knack, please remember to program a contact into your address book titled, “ICE,” whomever you would most like called in the event that you are unconscious or otherwise incapable of speech. Rescue personnel will look for this contact in your phone. However, for those of you with the Knack, all you will have to do is program your top three phone numbers (yes, three, making it very convenient for those hardworking folk who wish to help you) into this button. It even has a convenient space therein for your medical history. If you are worried that you will need help to do this, simply ask your phone salesperson. I’m sure that they would be more than willing to help.
Another feature that I like about the Knack is that it comes with a charging cradle. I don’t know who designed the charging ports on most phones, but if I have so much trouble getting the little plastic guards to slide out of place, you can bet that someone with rhuematoid arthritis is going to have some trouble and be wishing some very bad karma upon those designers. The charging cradle eliminates the need to open the very tiny hatch and guide the charger head into the tiny hole. Some chargers even have to be squeezed whilst inserting or removing the device! A charging cradle means that every night before bed, you can plop the phone down into its slot and rest easy, knowing that it will be fully charged by morning.
So far, I think my grandmother is enjoying the phone. Her biggest complaint? Probably that I don’t call it often enough.
(Love you, Grandma.)
