You know homeowners plan to ‘age in place’ – repeated across all surveys. It makes sense to them – they like their homes, locations, their familiar neighborhoods, shops, their friends, and neighbors. Statistics underpin the goal for 93% of adults 55+. And they are willing to spend on services to enable them to remain there – home security, food and supplies delivery, and transportation services if they choose to or must go places without driving. They have fueled growth in the home remodeling businesses, spending on bathroom modifications and other aging-related enablers, especially home care – which may be an out-of-reach luxury for many.
Has the tech user experience substantially improved? For years device and software tech ‘improved’ to a point of widespread optimism about our tech future. Certainly access has improved: Ninety-five percent of Americans use the Internet and more than 80% have broadband at home. Today there are numerous programs to subsidize access, and smartphone penetration has exceeded 92%. One would believe this ubiquity of access might make us hopeful that we are now in the era of tech helping consumers of all ages, no matter what task or level of knowledge.
Consider Google and its tightly coupled products. You launch the search engine on your phone and are surprised to see all of these ‘news’ items about local topics that have appeared in your Gmail inbox. How personalized. A few years ago, a $395 million settlement with 40 states was reached about Google’s lack of clarity about its location tracking, which users thought they had turned off in settings. An apology followed, along with many more lawsuits and fines, including some large ones in Europe. Did anything change? Not really. In 2024, as a result of European pressure, Google announced how to disconnect some ‘Linked Services’ in Europe, a euphemism for passing your data (you) from one Google product to another, a feature that may appear in the US one day, though will it really change anything? Doubtful.
User experience non-design – it’s not just tech devices – consider the stove’s cockpit.’ Studying the screen plus button choices on a new Microwave, one wonders who tested this interface? Did they really think that the combinations were self-explanatory and intuitive? Or is the convention of poor design so inherent in microwave, oven, and washing machine interfaces, that a ‘cockpit’ design is expected (both by the vendor and the user). Of course, a cockpit is an appropriate term – imagine a pilot sitting down in the left seat of an airplane with zero training on what to touch first.
Publicly available up-to-date stats about the older adult population is weak or non-existent. The most recent version of ChatGPT admits it cannot state the current population in the US that is aged 75+. Nor can Google. This is somewhat surprising, given the angst in business and market predictions about the aging of the US population and the potential doom that it portends. But anyway, the answer is buried in Census tables. Would you be surprised to learn that there are 25.7 million people aged 75+ today? That 14.8 million are women and 10.8 million are men? Would it surprise that 42% of the 65+ population (60.5 million) is aged 75+?
The more things change. January 2024 brought announcements, updates and a plethora of new tech, some a dream in the eye of a startup, some in the market and some likely to improve lives, if not right away than soon. In fact, the most intriguing aspect of the month of CES 2024 was how much like previous events it was – and yet it was the first post-Covid big event, and the first for many new to the tech industry. Also 2024 is shaping up to be a big year of change for the older adults-tech market – some actually think it is disappearing into the tech market for all. Maybe! Here are the six blog posts from January 2024:
You know homeowners plan to ‘age in place’ – repeated across all surveys. It makes sense to them – they like their homes, locations, their familiar neighborhoods, shops, their friends, and neighbors. 
The decline of design. As interviews proceed for the upcoming report, The Future of the Tech User Experience, all agree. The deteriorating user experience, aka UX, is the result of 
Has the tech user experience substantially improved? For years device and software tech ‘improved’ to a point of widespread optimism about our tech future. Certainly access has improved: Ninety-five percent of Americans use the Internet and more than 80% have broadband at home. Today there are numerous programs to subsidize access, and 
Tech user experiences are deteriorating at a rapid rate – for all. If you have encountered any of the following, you know. The 
In the tech innovation world, a decade is both a long and short time. In 2014, AARP’s Health Innovation @50+ sponsored a report, 
The frustration of the user experience. February was short but busy – but a topic emerged on the last day of January that is beginning to take shape in the form of interviews and insights from others. All agree that the user experience, whether it is a car, a microwave, 
Consider Google and its tightly coupled products. You launch the search engine on your phone and are surprised to see all of these ‘news’ items about local topics that have appeared in your Gmail inbox. How personalized. A few years ago, a 
User experience non-design – it’s not just tech devices – consider the stove’s cockpit.’ Studying the screen plus button choices on a new Microwave, one wonders who tested this interface? Did they really think that 
Publicly available up-to-date stats about the older adult population is weak or non-existent. The most recent version of ChatGPT admits it cannot state the current population in the US that is aged 75+. Nor can Google. This is somewhat surprising, given the angst in business and market predictions about the aging of the US population and the potential doom that it portends. But anyway, the answer is buried in Census tables. Would you be surprised to learn that there are 25.7 million people aged 75+ today? That 14.8 million are women and 10.8 million are men? Would it surprise that 42% of the 65+ population (60.5 million) is aged 75+?
The more things change. January 2024 brought announcements, updates and a plethora of new tech, some a dream in the eye of a startup, some in the market and some likely to improve lives, if not right away than soon. In fact, the most intriguing aspect of the month of CES 2024 was how much like previous events it was – and yet it was the first post-Covid big event, and the first for many new to the tech industry. Also 2024 is shaping up to be a big year of change for the older adults-tech market – some actually think it is disappearing into the tech market for all. Maybe! Here are the six blog posts from January 2024: