Courtesy of Laurie Orlov

Maybe 2011 will be the year I finally stop whining about older adults not being online.

The Pew Research Center just released its Generations Online 2010 report -- one of the few Internet reports that divides the 65 and older population into subgroups. Pew surveyed seniors this past spring and report that the use of the Internet is growing rapidly among these older Americans. The survey found that 76 percent of adults aged 56-64, a group they describe as “Older baby boomers,” are online.

The survey also found that 58 percent of “the Silent Generation,” those in the age range of 65 to 73, are using the Internet; and 30 percent of those age 74 or older (the G.I. Generation) are surfing the Web. These percentages have all risen from the different categorizations used by Pew in its 2009 report. The following are some of the other results found by Pew’s survey:

1. Access is slow for some - but still of value. Seniors surfing the Web are embracing broadband connections and downloading videos. The study indicates that 61 percent of older baby boomers, 44 percent of the 'Silents' and 20 percent of the ‘G.I.’s are now connected via broadband. Last year, just 13 percent of both of the older two online generations reported downloading videos.
2. This year, 44 percent of the Silents and 20 percent of the G.I.s are watching videos online - presumably those are the ones that have broadband connections. Connecting to others via the Internet is also important: among the oldest age groups online, social networking use has jumped from 11 percent among the Silents and 4 percent among the GIs last year, to 34 percent and 16 percent in this latest survey.
3. Some activities are compelling -- who knew that 'rating things' matters. For the oldest group surveyed, email was the most popular activity, followed by “searching.” About 76 percent of those aged 65 to73 are now looking for health information online. In the oldest online group (age 74+), 57 percent are buying products. That figure is up from 47 percent in 2009. A full 35 percent of the oldest group now bank online. That is up sharply from 24 percent in 2009.
4. Pew also offered up a very interesting heat map of activity emphasis - for the 65-73 year olds, 'rate things' ranked just after e-mail on a list of the top 10 online activities. Doesn't that make you eager to see more participation among older adults on consumer complaint sites, pressuring sellers to provide better and more communicative service and make tolerable packaging?
5. The Pew research panel surveys offer so much, but I want to ask for more.  I am extremely grateful that Pew offers age breakdowns past 50 - so many other surveys lump all in a 65+ bucket. That said, we want to know more.

For the older age groups who have broadband or wireless access, how much does it cost them, do they already have or are considering a smart phone? How many older adults have iPads, since Apple plans never to tell us? Among the reasons for not going online, how does that break down by age? For those who say online connections are too expensive (10 percent of non-users), what do they perceive the correct price to be?

Many folks I speak to believe that when baby boomers are older (in their mid-70s or beyond) resistance to tech among older adults will evaporate. Maybe. The pace of change is accelerating, but the desire to keep spending and relearning, reading the manual and re-installing, swiping and re-typing, maybe that will dissipate as we age.

I called Best Buy recently and tried to pin them down on how many steps were involved in setting up Internet-enabled televisions, the only type of TV they are rumored to be selling by January. Their answer is that it takes at least five steps. That many steps are not for the faint of heart. I think Best Buy’s technical help team, know as the Geek Squad, is going be very busy.

While the older generations become more connected, connecting their devices becomes more daunting. It's a looming conundrum. We clearly want and need to be 'online' in some capacity. But we are entering a new and nasty period where devices and access mechanisms are multiplying like weeds and these weeds are mostly aimed at the young and the determined.

Product developers design for the young. And many of these devices are destined to be inadequate or “uncool” in the shortest possible time span. For instance, there are 15 different tablet competitors coming soon to a store near you and if you get sick of the tiny buttons on your smart phone, you can drown in “Droid” choices.

 I hope that in future Pew Research studies, there will be a way to tease out whether there is growing discomfort with the pace of the current technological changes.