Comments on: Get old, tune out: Is technology leaving the elderly in the dust? http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/ Digital Trends is your home for technology news, CE product reviews, mobile app reviews and daily videos. Fri, 24 May 2013 08:02:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: mHealthTalk http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-490715 mHealthTalk Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:08:12 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-490715 All product designers should see http://www.mhealthtalk.com/2011/09/webcam-101/. It’s a short video of a cute elderly couple trying to use their new PC and includes a link to a related article presenting the iPad as a much simpler solution. Using any new technology can be daunting because of how seniors learn, and that contrasts with how young kids, or adults who grew up with tech, learn.

I noticed this 40 years ago as an IBM systems engineer shortly after the PC was introduced. We wanted to show it off to teachers and also showed it to 3rd graders, and there’s where the stark contrast was noticed.

Opening the demo room to about 5 teachers, we had to coax them over to the new PC, where several chairs were placed in an arc around the keyboard and display. They stood, reluctant to take a seat, as if that was a commitment, and no one wanted the center seat. They even pulled the chairs back some.

Now contrast that to the kids, who went immediately to the PC. All sat down and pulled their chairs closer, fighting to get the middle chair or their paws on the keyboard.

It seems that adults of that generation learn new products by first opening the manual, while kids learn by doing and experimenting without worry about consequences. In fact, they’ll even do unpredictable things with a device just to see what happens. So product design ahold be simplified to eliminate the learning curve, and the manual.

]]> By: Adrian Spiridon http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457934 Adrian Spiridon Sun, 26 Aug 2012 22:01:17 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457934 Anactonic :)

]]> By: Jonathan Wolfson http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457650 Jonathan Wolfson Fri, 24 Aug 2012 01:30:19 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457650 In today’s economy where jobs are scarce, I think a good industry is tutoring elderly folks how to use technology.

]]> By: Max Gelber http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457507 Max Gelber Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:08:02 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457507 Agreed Bill, I definitely think my parents gave up on effort cause they know I can just do it in 2 seconds for them.

]]> By: Max Gelber http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457506 Max Gelber Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:07:15 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457506 My parents can seemingly pick up relatively “advanced” things pretty quickly in terms of using their new iPad from day one. But ask them to delete their cookies or transfer a photo from their iPhones onto the iPad? That’s all greek to them and means an 8am phone call to me demanding I do it for them.

Sometimes I feel it’s just more laziness than it is an inability to pick things up with them.

]]> By: Michael Adkins http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457504 Michael Adkins Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:34:15 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457504 Honestly, I think lots of tech is more elderly friendly, I can get my grandmother to navigate my android tablet and I don’t have a prayer getting her to use any desktop operating system.

]]> By: Benjamin Kubilus http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457502 Benjamin Kubilus Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:13:43 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457502 No more than technology has ALWAYS done so. What, are we suppose to halt progress?

]]> By: Bill Roberson http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457503 Bill Roberson Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:13:43 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457503 My dad (age 77) uses an iMac and a Kindle fire. He dedicated himself to learning how to use them and understand them. Seems to me a lot people (of almost any age) just revert to “it’s too complicated and I’m too dumb to understand all this technology.” Things worth doing take effort.

]]> By: Chrysler Lorenz http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457496 Chrysler Lorenz Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:35:06 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457496 My 4 yrs old niece knows how to use iPad and iPhone(soundhound, playing music, games, how to change brightness, volume, camera, YouTube) and my parents are clueless lmao

]]> By: Bob Mulholland http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457497 Bob Mulholland Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:35:06 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457497 “Tune out” is a choice. I’m a Microsoft Certified Trainer and have taught up to an 85-year old married couple. It’s seniors’ decisions to learn or not learn.

]]> By: Cees Timmerman http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457498 Cees Timmerman Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:35:06 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457498 It’s also Apple’s common sense. I’ve also used a Galaxy Tab, and the amount of ads and annoying buttons that are too easy to press by accident, combined with the hidden screen lock feature and unsafe/incompatible apps, make it dog shit next to the iPad.

]]> By: tommysterling http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/get-old-tune-out-is-technology-leaving-the-elderly-in-the-dust/#comment-457495 tommysterling Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:22:30 +0000 http://www.digitaltrends.com/?p=371068#comment-457495 I guess I am not your typical old geezer of 68 years. You state “The only thing they can’t do is make traditional phone calls.” With a free googlevoice account and MO+ for googlevoice, you can call anywhere in the US or Canada for Free. So your are not well versed on this subject. Imagine an Old Geezer never having to pay a phone bill again

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