Presto: Gagging Grandma

So I read about Presto, a service which plugs into a phone line and a power outlet and prints out emails for - apparently - older people. From Presto: Because Computers Scare Old People:

A silicon valley startup called Presto has quietly launched a new service aimed at people who don’t currently have Internet access, but want to be able to receive emails and photos from loved ones. It combines a special printer produced by Hewlett Packard with a web service that sends data to the printer over a normal phone line - no need for internet access or a computer.

Featured prominently throughout the Presto website are pictures of happy old people receiveing photos from (younger, presumably tech savvy) loved ones. My guess, based on those ubiquitous pictures, is that old people are the target demographic for the Presto service.

Teasing aside, Presto looks like a pretty cool service for some people (possibly the parents and grandparents of TechCrunch readers). The printer costs $150. Take it out of the box and feed it electricity and a normal phone line. No need for broadband internet service. You are assigned a special @presto.com email address, and when someone sends photos or other content to that email address, it prints out on the printer. The old person user simply takes it off the printer and looks at it. We’ll be getting a test version of the printer and service and will post a more lengthy review after a hands on experience...

It's not a bad idea, but it lacks something sort of important. Lots of people are talking about issues of Spam and other things but are missing the key question: How are people going to send messages back?

Maybe you should get Grandma a game console for Christmas. After all, they can run Linux (see here) and connect to the internet. So in between fragging baddies, Granny can get those pictures of little Jimmy. Oh, she wants to print them out?

Now, a printer for a game console... that would be a great idea.