Probably not what you're thinking, but I always thought that a sort of dedicated pager for old/infirm people would be useful. Picture something about the size

Probably not what you're thinking, but I always thought that a sort of dedicated pager for old/infirm people would be useful. Picture something about the size of a sheet of paper that could be stuck to a refrigerator or something. Always on, and maybe with a soft chime when a message comes in. The idea is that you could (say) send your aging mom occasional unobtrusive messages. Big letters would help. And they could do likewise, via some sort of keyboard. Needs to be drop-dead simple. If it's cheap enough, maybe no "addressing" at all--the messages always go to a single correspondent. My aging parents can no longer deal with texting or email. Even voicemail has become too much.