Last updated April 12, 2019
While new technologies such as tablets and voice-enabled software that can understand even the vaguest of instructions are making the headlines, they appear to be widening the digital divide between young and old Americans.
The newest trends in technology do not appear to be making inroads with the lowest income and oldest seniors. A total of 1789 seniors responded to a paper survey, where it was revealed that of the 71 percent of respondents who were over the age of 75, the only technology that had reached over 50 percent of them was the good old cell phone.
The responders to the survey, over 50 percent of whom had an income of under $25,000 per annum, would like to use new technology to be able to connect more with their families, provided they were affordable and they could receive training on how to use them. Most however admitted that in their current circumstances such technology was out of their financial reach, while others could not access it due to other factors such as hearing or vision difficulties.
“Seniors are an important segment of our society, one that is rapidly growing, and one that has needs and desires,” says the chief executive officer and president of Linkage, an Ohio based company that conducted the survey last year, Scott Collins. “But are too many vendors and service providers making unsupported assumptions about products and services?”