Smart phone plans: a super-sized way for carriers to make a buck. McDonald’s now has to tell you the calories in a Big Mac, but Verizon and AT&T don’t need to warn you that watching videos on your phone will suck up the monthly minutes on your data plan faster than a vacuum cleaner picks up dirt. So while only 11 percent of the 65+ have smart phones, they are part of the 50% of households that have one or some. Instead of being told upload-download speeds, storage capacity on the phone, and how to video conference the whole family in, how about giving you a WARNING sheet that shows price equivalents (like calories) of the various activities you think you want -- and how these activities fit into or drive up charges beyond your data plan? How about handing you a sheet that outlines all hidden costs? If that doesn’t make you blink, then ask what percentage of customers exceed these plans and what the average monthly bill is for customers with the type of phone you're considering? And if that data doesn’t make you blink, you obviously can afford to both buy dinner and own the phone.
Wow – twice in a week, accusations of ‘commercialism’. An epiphany – occasionally I have them. The backdrop: In Incident A, a future topic I am discussing at an aging services event was (at least temporarily) classified as ‘commercial’ versus ‘educational’ because vendor executives were to be on the panel, jeopardizing the continuing education credit that attendees might get. Then, the very next day, Incident B: a proposed slide deck was critiqued by (different) organizers with the recommendation to remove slides that had many vendor logos. Why? Because it might be perceived by sponsors as commercials for those vendors – again jeopardizing continuing education credits.
QUINCY, Mass., Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Connected Living, a mission-based organization helping senior citizens live richer, more connected lives through the use of technology, today announced the national launch of the Connected Living Network. The award-winning social platform is expanding into leading senior living communities across the country, helping to narrow the digital divide that isolates nearly 19 million senior citizens in the U.S. alone.
VANCOUVER (Sept 17, 2012) – Available free of charge, the Retirement Home Finder Free application has just been released via iTunes. Equipped with a simple-to-use interface, it can locate region-specific services for seniors with the tap of a finger. With bright, easy-to-read menus, this intuitively designed app allows anyone to instantly search for retirement homes homes, assisted living facilities, and Alzheimer’s care facilities in any area throughout North America.
EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mather LifeWays announces the launch of a new online experts forum for the seniors housing/aging services industry, called InvestigAge. Developed by Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging, InvestigAge is anticipated to be a key resource for senior living/aging services providers, professionals, developers, and investors, as well as for researchers and other stakeholders with interests in the field of aging. InvestigAge will highlight current findings and trends impacting housing and services for older adults.
Don’t see the products your constituents need? Launch a fund to get them created. Sometimes organizations become frustrated with the pace of change and decide to do something about it. One of those is Link-age in Mason, Ohio, a group purchasing organization that buys on behalf of 450 senior living communities in 39 states. The organization, led by CEO Scott Collins, is launching a $20 million ‘gray’ national fund to accelerate creation of products and services for seniors. Local investment banker, John Hopper, managing director of the new Link-age Ventures (partnered with CincyTech), rightly observes: "We haven’t bumped into anyone else in the industry doing anything similar." Says Collins: "Entrepreneurs are eager to address the market, but few understand the needs." The investors will make money when the companies are sold – which they surely will be if they do find new and innovative ways to address, as Scott Collins indicates, the food, shelter, transportation and socialization needs of older adults -- well beyond the boomer age ranges of 48 to 66.