When you hear about the percentage of people in the country that are already using cell phones (industry analysts call it the "penetration rate") the numbers include the entire population.  From a practical standpoint, though, the real meat of the market has been people that are in their teens all the way up to, let's say, "near-seniors," who are somewhere between 65-ish and 80.  If, in fact, you were to remove those extreme ends of the market the penetration rate would probably be much, much higher than the roughly 80% that we hear about.

The problem has historically been that cell phones offer either too much freedom to the pre-teen group or too much confusion to the near-seniors group.  It's logical, really, when you think about it because the manufacturers are aiming their products at the meatiest part of the market – and that part demands texting, browsers, email, calendars, address books and more.  Some applications – like those at the extreme ends of the population spectrum – just need to make and receive calls. 

There are a couple of companies that have just started making some serious headway in penetrating those markets, so if you've got someone in your family that fits into one of the extreme ends of the spectrum you might want to check out their offerings. 

The key to making these phones useful for kids and seniors isn't to add stuff, it's to subtract the things that they don't want (or, in the case of the kids, that you don't want them to have or use).  For example, while text messaging may be really important to you (it is to me) it may be the kind of thing that you want to keep your kids away from or not have on the phone of a senior because it just confuses the issue. 

Firefly and Jitterbug – for kids and seniors, respectively – have done just that.  Let's take a look at the Firefly phone for kids first (even though you could just as well use this one for seniors and, conversely, use the Jitterbug phone for kids).  
Firefly (www.FireflyMobile.com) has taken a minimalist approach to the phone while still making it look cool enough for kids to not feel like a dork when they pull it out of their backpacks.  In addition the important functional things that you, as parents or guardians, might want, it's got different color translucent shells, a special hook for clipping it to a backpack and comes in motifs designed after superheroes and cartoon characters.  It's got a couple of buttons on it that look like icons for a man and woman so you can easily program in phone numbers for Mom and Dad (or son and daughter, brother and sister, etc.).  It's also got a specially dedicated "911" button on the side, away from all the other buttons so as to avoid an accidental emergency call.  In addition, the phone can be programmed to hold 20 numbers in its address book so that the kids don't feel like they're tethered to Mom and Dad. 

The company has done a smart job of making the phone appealing to kids so that they don't reject it as some sort of a leash put on them by Mom and Dad; there are multiple ring tones, flashing lights and some customization aside from the case colors that will give the phone a "cool" factor that is likely to make the kids happy to carry it.  You can buy glow-in-the-dark skins for the phone, too, for about $10, making it easy to change the appearance if the kids tire of it.  
The best part, however, is that the content of the phone is completely controlled by the parents.  You get to decide who appears in the address book and what numbers the kids can and cannot call.  Plus, if someone calls from a phone number that's not in the phone book the call is automatically rejected.  (Now, I can see a disadvantage to this if a parent forgets their cell phone and has to call from a phone not in the Firefly's address book, but for the most part you can cover that by entering your work and home numbers.)

Parents can control the amount spent, too, by purchasing a monthly package or a minutes package; you get a monthly package for $10 but it's not clear from their web site whether that includes a certain number of minutes or affords the buyer a discount on purchasing. 

The web site is easy to use and clear in its explanations about the various plans, accessories and features of the phone.  If you feel better seeing and touching the product it's available at a lot of larger retail stores around the country (Target, Toys "R" Us, Kmart, etc.).  It's not clear from the site which carrier the company uses for their service but there are several press releases and news stories specifying Cingular/AT&T as the provider behind the brand. 

It's a different world than it was when I was a kid and not as simple for parents – putting a phone in a kid's hands can make both parent and child feel more secure but it's essential to control the environment that the phone is in as well as putting a cap on the expense.  Firefly makes it a more comfortable experience all the way around. 

Next up – The "Jitterbug" phone for seniors (and maybe for kids, too).