I built it
for my father.
My mother needs it
the most today.

800 km away from his father with Alzheimer's, a son built a simple tablet. Not to sell it. To stay close. His mother's name is Simone. This project carries her name.

Read the story

When distance becomes unbearable

When I found out my father had Alzheimer's, I lived 800 km away from him.

That's not a metaphor. It's 8 hours by car, or a plane ticket. It's not being able to stop by in the evening. It's my mother alone with him, every single day.

I decided to do something.

A tablet. Just a tablet.

Not an app costing €9.99 a month. Not a carrier contract. A tablet. Built with my own hands, configured for him.

So he could browse family photos. So he could find his morning radio station. So he could feel we were there — even from far away.

He was growing weaker. He loved falling asleep on the sofa with the radio playing softly and photos scrolling on the screen.

What we didn't see coming

After falling off the sofa, he was hospitalised. The tests revealed cancer.

He passed away one month later.

What remains

That tablet helped us get through those last months together, despite the distance.

Today, my mother still uses it. Every day. She chose to stay there, 800 km away.

My mother's name is Simone.

This project carries her name. Not by chance — because it exists for her. Because she's the one who gave it meaning.

For her, this tablet is a presence. In the evenings, when the screen goes dark, she says it leaves a void.

It's been running without interruption for two years. No subscription. No calls about tech problems.

Why I'm telling you this now

When I shared this story, 20,000 people read it in one hour.

Messages from sons and daughters. Exhausted caregivers. Families looking for exactly this — something simple, reliable, respectful of their loved one.

I understood this wasn't my project. It was our project.

Today, I need your feedback to decide what comes next.

What it does. Nothing more.

Five essential features. Designed for someone who doesn't like technology.

Your data stays in the family

No social network. No unknown cloud. Your father's photos, your mother's habits — they belong only to you. Always.

One button, and she's back to her routine

Her favourite station, every morning, like before. No account to create, no app to understand. Just the radio.

Your photos arrive in 30 seconds

You send a photo from your phone. It appears on her tablet. That's it. Distance disappears.

The news you chose for her

No algorithm. No fake news. You select the sources. She reads.

Less than €5 a year in electricity

It runs continuously at almost no cost. Forget batteries to recharge.

Open source, transparent, free

The code is public. You can verify it, modify it, share it. No dependency on a company that might disappear.

Does this story sound familiar?

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An open project, a caring community

SimoneBox is open source. The code is available. The documentation too. If you're a developer, a maker, or simply curious — you're welcome.