Can senior phones and service be standard no-contract offerings? We can dream. Recently I watched an older man at the Verizon store counter inquiring how he could save money on his phone bill based on his usage (he couldn't) and specifically what were the contract cancellation terms (big penalty fee). He departed with a deep sigh. It just wasn't pretty, as anyone who has analyzed the ever renewing 2-year contract experience that is a 'feature' of upgrading to a new phone.

Today Jitterbug owns the message in this market. Great Call's Jitterbug reputation has built around its no-contract, easy-to-use phone, buy just as many minutes as you will need, no more no less. There is a bit of grousing here and there on the Internet about service issues, but the overall story remains senior-focused and friendly.

We need more players with no-contract phones. I was excited when I saw a TV ad the other day that seems to be targeting Jitterbug's core market -- phones for seniors. Check out Consumer Cellular and particularly the Nokia 6085h, no-contract phone plans and a phone description that it is particularly appropriate for seniors.

In case you haven't stumbled on them. Tracfone and Hop-on.com offer no-contract plans as well, and Hop-on presumably offers a senior phone -- ChitterChatter HOP 1890 -- a GSM offering, although the overall Hop-On website looks like it was designed for twenty-somethings headed out for a night on the town.

Maybe just skip the cell phone and head for the BlackBerry. Of course, boomers and seniors are becoming Internet and e-mail junkies (c'est moi, actually). My retired neighbors just traded in their cell phones for the BlackBerry Curve (yes, it was Verizon, yes, there are contracted data plans -- sorry).

They seem very happy with the sound quality and the combination of useful functions available in a single device. And here is an interesting mention of a Nokia N82 smart phone and Kurtzweil application for those seniors who are suffering from vision loss -- expensive, but it will read the text out loud. Maybe many more of those these days. And there are free applications for BlackBerry -- I noticed one that lights up the screen more effectively than the standard product. 

Apps and more apps. And BlackBerry has just launched BlackBerry App World, competing with Apple's iPhone which should grow the library of apps that could be useful for seniors and those with disabilities -- combining e-mail and phone and eliminating the need for any of the above. And for you iPhone addicts (I can't comment on that) here's a review of the iPhone for boomers and seniors. But more to the iPhone app point, you can download music, TV shows, podcasts of nearly anything, all things Apple at the Apple Online Store.

Minor digression -- smart phones and tech annoyances. This just in from ZDNet -- everyone seems to have a smart phone offering ready to take Apple and BlackBerry down. Check it out.

And I really enjoyed this CIO.com article -- 10 things I hate about tech by Thomas Wailgum. Smart phones ("You're not cool or special just because you can talk away on your pink BlackBerry Pearl") and Twitter ("NOBODY REALLY CARES WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW") were high points for me.