Posted 09/07/2009

Why Don’t Large Vendors Invest More in Technology for Seniors?

Aging in place is here to stay

By Laurie Orlov

This is a rant. I am tired of youth-oriented tech vendors with their back-to-school laptops. I am tired of how clumsy and nonintuitive most computing technologies are—especially home networks. I am convinced that vendors like Apple, Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, and Microsoft must be populated with thirty-somethings who design products for themselves and their inner geek. (Gee, why have a device that can be plugged in and just works? Instead, why don't we just add these 14 configuration steps?) So it has always been thus, and so perhaps it will always be. But with so many boomers who insist on staying put in their homes and who have more disposable income (even accounting for the recession’s assault on their portfolios), why not make and market home technology for them?

People will age longer at home, but it won't be pretty. This year we know, according to an AARP public policy study, that 89% of people age 50+ want to stay in their own homes. MetLife Mature Market Institute found the same thing. News article after article has confirmed that aging in place is a trend, perhaps fueled by the real estate slump. Remodeling of Peter Pan houses is taking off. Meanwhile, on January 1, 2011, the first wave of baby boomers turns 65. Despite our never-get-old mentality (60 is the new 40, 80 is the new 60, etc.), when you're not 64 anymore, you slip into a new and not entirely problem-free life stage. Read more. . . .

By Laurie Orlov
Aging in Place Technology Watch Blog

[Originally posted September 5, 2009, at Laurie's Aging in Place Technology Watch Web site.]

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