The Pill Phone -- an app for medication reminders

I've spoken before about the difference between technology that connects outside the home (and can be upgraded and improved) versus gadgets and gizmos that are one-off and destined for obsolescence. The former has the potential for connecting seniors to caregivers as well as connecting seniors to information they could use. Here is a very clever app that runs on Verizon, AT&T phones -- called The Pill Phone. A web interface with access to The Pill Book (a data base of drug information that includes recommended doses and known side effects) -- it combines that with a mobile phone app that nan be configured to remind when it is time for a med, and enable the phone user to signal (back to the web app) that a dose was taken or skipped.

Compare that to a standalone watch or a pill box with an alarm -- maybe useful for a while, but difficult to upgrade to new capabilities -- and especially difficult to share information with others.

Of course, the devil is in the details of user willingness (probably willing, according to the AARP study but may not be aware) and the diligence of either a caregiver or senior to make sure information about their own prescriptions is updated.