14. Great Call Samsung Jitterbug J

Great Call Samsung Jitterbug J

$147 plus monthly service

Not every dad gets excited about the bells and whistles included in the latest gadgets, and not every dad is a technology enthusiast. But most dads do want to keep in touch. For dads and grandpas who have resisted getting a cell phone, or who have one but get frustrated using it, the Jitterbug could be a convenient and stress-free solution. This is a cell phone designed to be as simple and user-friendly as possible. Its loud and clear for weak ears and eyes, it feels good in the hand and against the head, and it makes the two complicated but quite necessary features of today’s phones—Bluetooth and text messaging—a snap. The menus are straightforward and easy to navigate, and the numeric keypad is big—each button feels substantial under the fingertip.

And if any of the features of this simple phone confuse dad, he can simply call up the Jitterbug service operator (dial 0) and the operator can remotely complete any of the tasks dad is attempting (from adding a contact to making a call). A short call to the operator automatically uses up 5 minutes from dad’s Jitterbug phone service plan (these range in price from $15 to $80 per month, and texts messages are 10 cents extra, each).

Beyond the simple phone, Jitterbug offers lots of services to its users, for a fee. The company will: connect subscribers to an always-available nurse, provide roadside assistance, phone insurance, and pre-program the phone before they send it to the owner (contact lists can be sent by mail, fax or via the company site).

Now, we’re not suggesting you should simply offload your dad’s phone support questions from yourself to a Jitterbug operator, but we think your self-sufficient dad might like being able to handle phone business on his own if he needs to. Jitterbug makes this easy for tech-novice dads.