Don't get me wrong -- I love my BlackBerry.  Really for no reason except that it fairly reliably buzzes wherever I am so that I can read e-mails, 80% of which are basically junk. Which makes me a true junkie, I guess. Otherwise, my PC is vastly preferable -- with its big screen, connected to the fiber that I am lucky enough to have connected to my house. My cheap cell phone is a (slightly) better phone and doesn't make me feel like I am talking on a calculator.

So let's say you live in an isolated location, leave the house to go out to a garage or walk the dog, how useful is a PERS pendant or watch? I am not impressed with how forthcoming PERS vendors are with little details like how far from the base station the wearer can travel. Here's the big player, Philips Lifeline: "Works from anywhere in or around the home, including basement, garage and yard.

Move over, Jitterbug. An intriguing new cell phone announcement popped up on my screen this week that could -- with some in-your-face marketing -- give the cell phone super marketer some competition in the senior cell phone market.