Senior Tech Helps Baby Boomers Come of Digital Age

(Jérôme Choain/Flickr/Creative Commons license)

Jessica Naziri, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES (USA Today)—Beverly Hamburg is on her third iPad, owns an iPhone, MacBook Air and subscribes to Apple TV. She texts to order refill prescriptions, posts on Instagram, and chats on Viber to stay connected to her four grandchildren who live here — all at the comfort of her home in Montreal. You can say she is tech savvy.

While younger people are typically the “experts” of high-tech gadgets and gizmos, compared to their older compatriots who as a group continue to lag behind in adopting new technology, an increasing number of elders like Hamburg, a seventy-something, are interested and involved in using technologies that allow them to stay more connected socially, with family and friends.

“I cannot live without it, from group chats to news to shopping and research,” says Hamburg, who adds she is always connected to at least one of her devices.

As today’s boomer population get older and grayer, and approach retirement, the market for technology to monitor their health, transition into active retirement and support them in thriving and being independent, rather than in some institution — businesses are realizing the 50+ demographic — which has at times been overlooked when it comes to the marketing of new technologies, is actually a goldmine of active and potential tech consumers.

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