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A New Market? Fujitsu Makes Laptop for 60 Year-olds

By - Source: Fujitsu | B 18 comments
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Fujitsu's new Grannote laptop is marketed towards mature, active 60-year-olds.

Fujitsu has announced a new laptop – the Grannote. This laptop, according to the press release, is intended for "active, mature adults, primarily around 60 years of age." This seems like a rather strange PR stunt, though we imagine that retailers won't be paying too much attention to this when selling the laptop.

What sets this laptop apart is the software that is included. The two key software pieces included are "Intellicolor" as well as "Awaseru Voice." Intellicolor is intended to adjust the image, including brightness, color balance and more to the surroundings, while Awaseru Voice adjusts volume levels of various sound frequencies in order to make up for hearing problems that might have developed with age. In addition to this, other software is included as well.

The hardware in the laptop doesn't distinguish it from the crowd. It carries an Intel Core i7-4500U (ULV dual-core) processor, 1 TB of hard drive storage, as well as 8 GB of RAM. While this won't give you any performance to brag about, it should indeed be enough for what "active, mature adults" would be doing with the laptop, whatever that might be. Anyone who needs more performance will likely know enough about computers, and won't choose a laptop based on software goodies intended for easier accessibility.

There was no word on pricing for the Fujitsu Grannote yet, though it is set to go on sale exclusively in Japan starting February 13.

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Top Comments
  • 11 Hide
    Avus , February 6, 2014 10:43 AM
    So it is a product line with almost no repeat customer....
Other Comments
  • 4 Hide
    velocityg4 , February 6, 2014 10:31 AM
    Clearly they have no clue about what old people want. Bigger text on screen system wide (that doesn't screw up OK buttons and windows placement), some sort of removable mouse built in, bigger text on keyboard, an actual manual, no trackpad and reinstall discs. Most importantly easy and intuitive to use or at least a consistent GUI to memorize placement and steps.
  • 11 Hide
    Avus , February 6, 2014 10:43 AM
    So it is a product line with almost no repeat customer....
  • Display all 18 comments.
  • 6 Hide
    g-thor , February 6, 2014 10:48 AM
    Well, I'm in their target market and this has absolutely zero appeal to me. However, I'm probably not who they had in mind with this - a 60+ gamer (of the Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, Borderlands kind, not Words with Friends). If I got a laptop like this, I might lose my title as "the cool uncle".
  • 2 Hide
    brandonjclark , February 6, 2014 10:48 AM
    The Grannote? Insulting name.
  • 2 Hide
    Yuka , February 6, 2014 10:53 AM
    I must be 60, because I kinda like it. Darn... Cheers!
  • 4 Hide
    Shankovich , February 6, 2014 10:54 AM
    A large portion of Japan's population will be in this age bracket soon, and many of them will be familiar with computer use. This product is for them and them alone. The culture is also extremely respective of the elderly and older members, and this is just one of many examples of that.
  • 6 Hide
    burmese_dude , February 6, 2014 11:52 AM
    Looks pretty good. Start button should be replaced by a program that yells "hey you damn kids, get off my lawn."
  • 0 Hide
    iknowhowtofixit , February 6, 2014 12:21 PM
    Is this the Jitterbug of laptops?
  • 2 Hide
    robochump , February 6, 2014 1:02 PM
    Better be waterproof!
  • 3 Hide
    Yuka , February 6, 2014 1:24 PM
    Quote:
    Better be waterproof!


    It's not like they're going to sit on-- Better be sturdy!

    Cheers! xD
  • 4 Hide
    pythy , February 6, 2014 6:17 PM
    does it have Teamviewer pre-installed?
  • 0 Hide
    mergers09 , February 7, 2014 5:30 AM
    If this product has special key to directly adjust ease of access options and pre-installed teamviewer or other remote desktop applications, i will consider buying it for my parents.
  • -1 Hide
    killerclick , February 7, 2014 12:18 PM
    I think this would be insulting even to 80 year olds. They should have given it some neutral name and advertised it in media that has older demographics, as well as provide sales guidelines for retail, so that salespeople would steer the appropriate customers to this model.
  • 0 Hide
    grebgonebad , February 10, 2014 3:41 AM
    To be fair my granparents have more up to date tech than I do these days. Nice to see them spending my taxes on stuff I want but cant afford...
  • 0 Hide
    grebgonebad , February 10, 2014 3:41 AM
    To be fair my granparents have more up to date tech than I do these days. Nice to see them spending my taxes on stuff I want but cant afford...
  • 0 Hide
    grebgonebad , February 10, 2014 3:42 AM
    To be fair my granparents have more up to date tech than I do these days. Nice to see them spending my taxes on stuff I want but cant afford...
  • 0 Hide
    BulkZerker , February 10, 2014 12:05 PM
    Quote:
    Quote:
    Better be waterproof!
    It's not like they're going to sit on-- Better be sturdy!Cheers! xD
    Looking at the KB it very well might be. I dunno why people would get mad about this TBH. A Lappy with decently loud speakers, a water resistant KB (Because Juice from JR will wreck a KB as will Gam-gam's tea) and a high capacity battery. . . . I want this lappy too.
  • 0 Hide
    Solandri , February 10, 2014 12:06 PM
    Quote:
    Awaseru Voice adjusts volume levels of various sound frequencies in order to make up for hearing problems that might have developed with age.
    Yes. Crank up those high frequencies until the kids cover their ears and yell, "Can you turn down that damn racket, grandpa?"