$30/month is too much for this to get Wal-Mart traction (which is what it needs, because not even the daughters of seniors buy FitBits online). Seniors often live on what they call "fixed income" which is a euphemism for government aid, pensions (which are diminishing), etc. A new expense cannot be covered by working harder or smarter. A $30/month new expense is exactly why lots of seniors do not have smartphones (ironic then that Amulyte folks say they considered making a phone app but not enough of the audience have smartphones, then made a device that costs the same as a smartphone data plan).
Consider that the Kindle 3G comes with free cellular service. The hardware is in the same price ballpark, so why does Kindle let me download entire books for free, but Amulyte charges me $30/month to publish tiny updates that I hope I don't need?
Also consider the SPOT satellite messenger. It costs $150 plus $150 per year, which is much cheaper than Amulyte. The main downside for this application is that it does not work indoors--but the SPOT folks could add GSM capability and then their device seems almost universally better (the one exception being ergonomics for seniors).
Finally, ergonomics. Amulyte can't be too large, or it will be a constant dangling reminder of dying. And it obviously shouldn't be black in color--if not because black implies death then because new little black electronic widgets are really confusing and scary to old people. Round and light-colored would make a difference for some of the target audience.
Consider that the Kindle 3G comes with free cellular service. The hardware is in the same price ballpark, so why does Kindle let me download entire books for free, but Amulyte charges me $30/month to publish tiny updates that I hope I don't need?
Also consider the SPOT satellite messenger. It costs $150 plus $150 per year, which is much cheaper than Amulyte. The main downside for this application is that it does not work indoors--but the SPOT folks could add GSM capability and then their device seems almost universally better (the one exception being ergonomics for seniors).
Finally, ergonomics. Amulyte can't be too large, or it will be a constant dangling reminder of dying. And it obviously shouldn't be black in color--if not because black implies death then because new little black electronic widgets are really confusing and scary to old people. Round and light-colored would make a difference for some of the target audience.