Anybody who regularly reads my blog know that I am always singing the praises of Laurie Orlov’s blog - Aging In Place Technology Watch. It is the place to read about ageing in place technology and I just love the perspective she brings to the subject and her style of writing.
However, I do think she is taking an overly pessimistic view about all things apps and ‘i’.
Maybe it's the amazing success of apps/iPad/iPhone that makes people (including me) reckon they will have a major impact on the way older people use technology. Maybe it is unrealistic to think that in such a short space of time a new (ish) technology can make such a change.
Unfortunately, there is only a small amount of market data available for us to make any judgements and indeed the iPad has only been on sale for 22 weeks. Ms Orlov is right to advise caution about getting caught up in the ‘i’ hype.
I would really like to read what she thinks about the innate benefits/weaknesses of the technology to be applied to older age groups. Whatever its limitations we must remember is the huge economies of scale that are possible with the iPad,compared with specialist devices and that we are on iPad Version 1 - think what it will be like when we have iPad Version 5?.
I am going to stick my head out and say that the apps/tablet/transducer/Micro-mechanical-device combination will be the driving force to deliver services to older people in the coming 2-3 years. I guess we will have to wait and see. Dick Stroud
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