Tuesday, December 08, 2009

A good insight into the 50-plus’s attitude towards technology

Earlier this year, 60 people gathered for dinner and after-dinner discussions about their attitudes toward, use of and expectations for technology. The lengthy sessions were in four cities: San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and New York. The participants ranged in age from 50 to 60. The event was sponsored by AARP and Microsoft.

The recordings of those conversations have been sifted and distilled, and the results published in a report called “Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation.

I have to say that this is not the easiest document to read and to translate into “so what” conclusions.

The bottom line conclusions seem to be that this group were generally enthusiastic about techno gadgets and the use of technology that improves their dealings with the health care industry (e.g. electronic health records) and the ability to interface with their doctor online.

A repeated complaint was that products were cluttered with too many features that they were never likely to use. This is the joy of Apple's iPhone, it is a truly “feature on demand” product.
Worth downloading the report. Dick Stroud

1 comment:

Ron said...

I agree that people of all ages enjoy the convenience of modern technology- it usually enhances life. On the other hand, when there are unnecessary adolescent features to every gadget, this can become a turn-off. I know that there are features on all of my gadgets that I find useless and space consuming. They don't bother me, but I know that I won't ever use them!
Options are good, however, because making a gadget that is all-age-friendly can allow people to discover new things.