How Are Seniors Adapting To Technology (65+, 2014, retired, movies)

[Minervah]

I thought this was an interesting study of Seniors and technology.

Older Adults and Technology Use | Pew Research Center

[silibran]

Older seniors might not have had to learn to use technology at the workplace. For those of us my age and younger, 70 and down, technology revolutionized the workplace in our lifetimes. So, we got a boost. For older seniors and people who did not work in a technology influenced workplace, the trend to tech is slow, and probably not as complete as it is for others. And, of course there are always exceptions. But I personally know of women, my age and older who will not under any circumstances touch a computer, although they will use their cell phones. These are women who have not worked as adults, at least for any length of time.

I also think that for unexposed older elderly, it is too late to learn, and possibly was too late for them 20 years ago. I know this was the case for my mother. She simply could not learn.

I also know that I feel awfully out of it because I don't post on Instagram or some other, newer social sites. And I never could remember how to tweet. I was really worried four years ago because we did not use smart phones, but finally we did, and I was relieved. I felt that we were both falling hopelessly behind.

I think there will always be new stuff that is first adopted by a younger cohort, and that passes up to older folks. Folks ten years younger than I am will know more than I do, and those now turning 50 will certainly be more up to date than those who are 60 years old. And of course, there are always exceptions to everything.

[StealthRabbit]

Last yr I lost a 96 yo friend who emailed daily and had JUST switched his media center / thousands of photo slides / linked data bases from MS based to Apple (I hate IOS / windows... give me CODE!)

just got a txt from a 93 YO gal who published an ebook last yr.!

I am not so swift...but...
I still have to balance my checkbook, and CU is forcing ONLINE (which is a good thing since I am never home...) I have to drive to town to get HS internet to do so.

so... I GROW with the times (and really appreciate the benefits of transferring funds between 10+ accts)

I also appreciate the Efile / computer IRS software, (258 pages worth today)



I 3D print often (tho started in that 20+ yrs ago)

Bionic EYES are on my Christmas list! I'm all for technology, and I have been VERY good this yr!

[MichiganGreg]

Personally, I have a hard time adapting to technology. A few years ago I thought I had it pegged, but now it is all changing.

Case in point: Common HDR video transmission. SerDes technology has changed so fast, and with the latest advances of sensor CSI2 and CSI3 layers in silicon, I have to struggle when trying to realize how broad the impact of changes in the new transmission topologies have become. Now that wide digital bus-widths can no longer handle the multi GHz requirements of the latest platforms, near GPU performance is required to process video data in real-time. Still, clever 'old-school' tuned FPGA architectures and smart designs still allows functional platforms to be built with legacy DSPs, but I have to admit, it is getting hard for some of us old folks to keep up.

[davebarnes]

I struggled to get past the graph right at the beginning of the article.
"Older" is single category of 65+. What!?

My parents are 94. My father goes online daily (using a FIOS link) to check his investments, but he does not use a cell phone. My mother has never used either.

I am 67.92 years old and have been writing code for over 51 years.
I still write code every day. But, I am an iMac user as I no longer want to deal with the innards (hard and soft) of my computer. And, as I use DSL it is technically not broadband. I use my cell phone mostly as a Yelp check-in device. LOL.

"46% of online seniors use social networking sites, but just 6% use Twitter" just proves that old farts are pretty smart.

[jghorton]

Years ago when 'personal computers' became mainstream, there was a great deal of emphasis on figuring out what made them work and how technical they were. Today, that has shifted to the point where computers (smart phones, tablets, etc) are rightly viewed as tools and devices (just like phones, televisions, cars, etc) for getting a job done. Today, not even pre-schoolers are not baffled by computers, much less seniors.

The area I do find a bit perplexing is the paradigm shift from traditional marketing and communications to navigating social networking and understanding how to make it work to accomplish specific results. (For example, I'm in process of publishing a book online, using print-on-demand technology and a variety of web sites and services. But, where I'm struggling is in translating old school marketing into modern networking and marketing ... ie; creating buzz, going viral, creating an online brand, etc).

[matisse12]

Twitter is great for marketing. If you use it, definitely use twitter.com rather than a twitter app. And use twitter.com on a computer rather than on a tablet or a phone.

I use twitter.com for marketing a lot, and it has been very successful. You can also buy a Twitter advertisement - which I've never done.

[jertheber]

At seventy one I'm enjoying my iMac that is going on eight years old, I read a google Chromebook in the living room in the AM, Wife, 74 uses an iPad, We both have iPhones for navigation, web surfing, note keeping, and of course, as a phone also. We use APPLE TV, for streaming movies and music. We both use our iMac's for photo storage and have an editing program that seems sufficient.

I do a lot of simple fixes on both our iMacs , but the phones can be a bit confounding at times. I used computers in my work and I'm happy that I did, some friends are so out of touch with any thing new. On a recent trip to wife's brother (69) in N Dakota, I wanted to log on to his Wi-Fi but he didn't know the pswd, his more capable wife set it up but she recently died and he's totally lost now. I love to learn, but as I grow older, it does become a bit more difficult to keep up.

[Littlelu]

Well I worked in accounting most of my working years so I learned my way around a computer on the job. Email, word processing, spreadsheets, you name it. I'm now 69, retired 7 years and find my experience very useful. I cannot imagine
life without the internet. Don't have to leave the house even to register your car. So handy. And the paperless aspect
is a real plus. I know quite a few folks my age who don't own a computer and don't want one. But that's their choice.

[NewbieHere]

I'm going to load Uber App soon. In a few years, I might give up my car.