Pump Up the Boomer Volume on Tech Hype

Where are the tech businesses to help boomers as they age?

CNBC wants to believe boomers represent big business. Tom Brokaw says it is so about “boomer$” in a book and an upcoming CNBC TV special. Since baby boomers are “history's wealthiest and most influential generation,” it must have made sense to send CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau chief Jim Goldman to sniff out boomer tolerance for technology, especially given the Microsoft–AARP 2009 conversational focus group study about boomers and technology (to sum that up, boomers like technology but want it to be more intuitive). Read More >>

Smoke Signals and Caregiving Apps

What should they do?

As one VC executive, Andy Donner of Physic Ventures, noted recently, this is the year of the “care.” There seems to be a growing list of vendors who are trying to offer some sort of “keep in touch” product that connects an older person with family members who may live elsewhere. The basic element is to provide some means to signal “concerned about you” from family members and obtain an “I'm all right” response from the older family—accompanied by the ability to react in the event that a response is not received. Add-ons include devices with environmental sensors, health-related self-care devices, health record tracking, reminders, and communication capabilities. Read More >>

Is the iPad for Boomers and Seniors?

Could be!

So much iHoopla about the iPad. But as the famous saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Folks at Apple must be having a great time with this. The geeks have weighed in, and plenty of snippy negative commentary has been spewed about the Apple iPad (including lots of sophomoric humor about the product name). Read More >>

Aging in Place, Living Well, Thriving at Home, Welderly, Zoomers

Isn’t obfuscation great?

Medicine turned into health care, doctors became providers, small coffee cups became tall, exercise became fitness, recycling became a sustainability tactic. So it has come to pass that politically correct eventually becomes . . . correct. And everything else therefore becomes incorrect, inappropriate, or even offensive. Read More >>

The Myth of a PC-Free Life for Boomers and Seniors

Are seniors largely cut out of the digital picture?

A Pew Research late-2009 survey update indicates that broadband adoption and Internet use by those age 65+ is dropping year over year: 38% use the Internet, 26% have broadband (down from 30%), only 16% have wireless access via a laptop or device. Why, and what this means, that's for another day. Read More >>

The Virtual Doctor's Visit

Aging studies don't tell much about its inevitability

Wait, wait, don't tell us. If we are patient, media reports will enable us to fully catch up with attitudes about technology in 2006. No, despite many typos in this blog, that's not one. Virtual doctor's visits were recently discussed in a New York Times article that I posted, "Are Doctors Ready for Virtual Visits?” The answer was a definitive "no" based on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).  Read More >>

Cell Phones for Seniors

More features, fewer features, or smarter features?

Let's look at a Japanese cell phone feature list and wonder why no US manufacturer or distributor has duplicated the features of the Fujitsu Raku-Raku (Simple to Use) phone. Read More >>

Ten Aging in Place Trends to Watch in 2010

We’ll save deeper analysis for another day

It's the end of the year and time for a wrap-up of the indicators from 2009 that will drive trends for 2010. Read More >>

Where Are You When You Need Help?

A Panasonic pilot error

Another day, another idea from Japan on how to help seniors be and feel safe(r)—this time from Panasonic. The aging wave, or “silver market” in Japan (22% are 65+) is the fastest-growing segment and has prompted numerous corporate experiments on how to care for (or at least keep tabs on) people who have no nearby family. Read More >>

Caregiving in the US 2009 Report Offers Material for Tech Marketers

Caregivers and recipients face challenges--and opportunities

The new report Caregiving in the U.S. 2009, sponsored by the National Alliance for Caregiving, AARP, and MetLife (and funded by MetLife), is a comprehensive survey of 1,480 caregivers, defined as those age 18 and over who provide unpaid help to another person. The most intriguing aspect of the study is the comparison to the last published version from 2004. Seventy percent of those surveyed care for someone over the age of 50; of these, 66% of the caregivers are female, and their average age has increased from 46 to 49, with the average age of care recipients who are age 75 and older up from 43% to 51%. Average time in the caregiving role is 4.6 years. Read More >>