Jitterbug Cell Phone

A jitterbug cell phone may or MAY NOT be right for you or your parents if they have difficulty using a standard cell phone. The jitterbug phones have big buttons which is good. Their phone plans, however, are rather expensive.

On top of that their website seems to be slightly condescending. Still they do have one feature which could come in handy: a dedicated operator line you can call for assistance with dialing. Using the operator costs you additional airtime, however.

What's in a Name?

Well, the word Jitterbug is probably meant to convey the swing or rock and roll dances of the past. So let’s see: If you were Sweet 16 in 1935 when Cab Calloway had his Jitterbug hit, then you are 88 years old today. If you’ve made it to 88 then congratulations. If you need a cell phone, you might find the Jitterbug phone useful if you forget numbers or how to use the cell phone’s phonebook which your dear grandchildren or great grandchildren have set up for you.

If you were Sweet 16 in 1959 when the rock and roll versions of the Jitterbug were popular, then you are 64 years old today. You may find the Jitterbug cell phone useful, but you probably want a standard phone. Actually, let's face it, you want an iPhone.

And, if you were Sweet 16 in 1985 when “WHAM!” had their hit “Wake Me Up Before you Go Go” with the line “jitterbug into my brain”, then you are 38, a couple of years younger than me. You may have a few senior moments now and then, but you probably wouldn’t be caught dead using a Jitterbug cell phone.

Inventors

So much for the walk down memory lane. But one more thing. The Jitterbug phone was invented by Arlene Harris, and her husband, Marty Cooper, invented the first cell phone!

In fact the Reader's Digest voted the Jitterbug cell phone one of the 100 best things about America(pdf file)!

So let's really take a look at the . . . .

Phones

There are two Jitterbug cell phone models, one with a basic keypad with large visible buttons to dial, and one with just three buttons which you can set to call emergency numbers. Both phones have padded ear-cushions, which Jitterbug claims make it easier to hear what’s being said. Both phones cost just under $150.

Jitterbug One Touch (3-Button Phone)

This Jitterbug cell phone has three big buttons: “OPERATOR”,”TOW”, and “911”. In addition you can use the up and down arrows to choose from “FRIEND”, “HOME”, and “TOW” (again), or “MYPHONE”. You can ask their operator to set it up for you or do it online at their user site: myjitterbug.com. This makes it easy to set up or update the phone list for your parents or grandparents phone, rather than asking them to do it themselves or going through an operator.

Jitterbug Dial

As the name implies, you can actually dial a phone number with this phone. It’s got large easy-to-read buttons. It is true that some of those tiny phones now available sometimes make it very difficult to dial a number, but this may be going too far.

Jitterbug has a helpful demo on how to use the phones. Check it out to see if it might be appropriate for you or your parents.

Here's a video review of the Jitterbug phones themselves (from phonescoop.com):

Plans

You have a choice of monthly and yearly Jitterbug cell phone plans, with separate “add-on” minutes you can purchase. There is also a “simply share” feature.

Monthly Plans

The monthly plans ranges from $10 per month for the “SOS” plan to $80 per month for the Plus plan. Taxes and surcharges are not included up front, so these will eat away at your balance.

SOS Plan

The closest to a prepaid plan, because you pay $10 a month just to be a Jitterbug customer and then you pay 35 cents for every minute you actually use the phone.

Simple30, Simple60, Simple150, Simple300

You pay $15, 20, 30, or 40 monthly for 30, 60, 150 or 300 minutes per month. Minutes, supposedly, don’t expire for 90 days. I not sure how they keep track of them all though.

SimplePlus

Their most expensive plan at $80 per month, includes 800 minutes and free access to the operator (otherwise a 5-minute charge) and to voicemail.

Yearly Plan

Basically the SOS plan, but you pay in advance for a whole year for $120 and then each actual minute used costs 35 cents per minute.

Add-on minutes

In an apparent effort to make up for the simplicity of their phones, Jitterbug complicates their plans by further offering add-on minutes that you can buy separately from the monthly or yearly plans. But they can be a good deal and don’t expire for one year. You can buy 100 add-on minutes for $25, 500 minutes for $100 or 1000 minutes for $150 (15 cents per minutes if you exclude the monthly cost).

If you include the monthly cost then it would work out like this: $120 plus $150 for 1000 minutes = $270 for 1000 minute or 27 cents per minute.

Not great, but not too bad. In any case, it’s probably worth it to buy at least the 100 minute pack for $25 along with the yearly plan. Then you have some peace of mind that your service and those 100 minutes are good for a year. Other than keeping the phone charged, you can forget about the hassles until you know how many minutes you really use a month.

Simply Share

For an additional $15 a month (for all parties involved one assumes) you get free Jitterbug-to-Jitterbug calling and you can share your add-on minutes. The free Jitterbug-to-Jitterbug feature may be worth it if you want to give the phones to yourself and your spouse or to more than one parent. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money.

MyJitterbug Operator and User site

You can use their: myjitterbug.com to set up your phone. You can add the numbers that the big button dial on the "One-Touch" model and do more with the "Dial". Or you can call their operator.

Jitterbug Feedback

Here's some feedback from a reader with issues with both. She did not give an email address I can't respond directly. Therefore, I'll simply post it here until I hear otherwise.

Subject: My new Jitterbug
Message: I have not found how to enter phone lines online.
There is not any options on the left side of the page.
New Member.  Also, first phone number entered by the operator
is wrong.

Conclusion

While I was skeptical of this service as being condescending, I do think the people who created the Jitterbug Cell Phone service have thought through some of the issues for seniors.

I am glad the option to choose them exists.

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