My grandma and her iPhone

My grandma made the decision to get an iPhone earlier this year, on the recommendation of many people in her life, including myself, who claimed having one would make her day-to-day life easier. As I discussed it with her on Thanksgiving, it is quite clear she uses it for a plethora of different functions and purposes.

First and foremost, my grandma suffers from Macular Degeneration, a debilitating ocular condition that causes her to be nearly completely blind in her right eye. Her other eye's vision, while nearly perfect (how ironic), is not enough to get her through the day without corrective lenses and products that make seeing easier. The dynamic aesthetic features of Apple technology make the phone itself quite easy to use; the numbers are big, she can zoom in and zoom out to read texts/iMessages and news articles, and she can FaceTime her family members, like me, that she doesn't see that often. For her, it's extremely practical.

Before she bought her iPhone 4S, my grandma had a series of Motorola flip phones for most of 10 years. She found no need to use her cell phone for more than calling and the occasional received text message from a loved one or friend; she was not willing to obtain the literacy to send her own at that point. Then, with the spread and the technological evolution of the iPhone, and her deteriorating vision, she decided that it would only make sense to have a smartphone. She has praised its dynamic features ever since she got it, and has a surprisingly advanced comprehension of its features for someone in their mid-seventies. She uses her phone to look up weather conditions, read news on CNN and NPR, check email, look up recipes, communicate with her kids and grandkids, and, perhaps most beneficially, the new native flashlight app on the iOS 7.0 software upgrade.

While the iPhone has certainly facilitated daily life in an unprecedented, advantageous fashion, it must not be overlooked that it has also bridged the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants. With its user-friendly interface and extremely reliable reputation, the iPhone is also quite helpful to older people looking to get connected.

That said, however, I did turn on her read receipts so I know she's reading my messages :p