Tech for Seniors Must be Practical
A recent upgrade to his parents' home tech gave columnist John Caldwell a new perspective on A/V.
Much has been written about the need for consumer electronics manufacturers to embrace the burgeoning senior citizen market. This last week gave me a deeper appreciation for just how vexing today's tech world can be to seventy-somethings.
My son Cameron's spring break was last week. He wanted to get away for a few days and I needed a few days of R&R. Cam could hardly wait to see his cousins and other desert rat buds in and around Scottsdale, AZ. I was envisioning a few lazy days by the pool and even a round or two of golf. The desert in the spring is truly resplendent. While Cam executed his social game plan perfectly, I on the other hand wound up performing all manner of tech support upgrades for my parents and never did make it to the pool, much less the golf course.
Let me back up a bit. My dad is a retired Navy carrier fighter pilot and aerospace engineer with a couple of graduate degrees. Pretty sharp guy technically you would think. But the very notion of upgrading his computer's operating software or hooking up a DVD player to his HDTV completely stymies the guy.
When I arrived at my folk's home in Scottsdale, dad had a short list of home technology spring cleaning issues waiting for me. Evidently things had been festering for quite some time.
To read the rest of John's rant, check out
http://www.electronichouse.com/artic...ractical/C155/
A recent upgrade to his parents' home tech gave columnist John Caldwell a new perspective on A/V.
Much has been written about the need for consumer electronics manufacturers to embrace the burgeoning senior citizen market. This last week gave me a deeper appreciation for just how vexing today's tech world can be to seventy-somethings.
My son Cameron's spring break was last week. He wanted to get away for a few days and I needed a few days of R&R. Cam could hardly wait to see his cousins and other desert rat buds in and around Scottsdale, AZ. I was envisioning a few lazy days by the pool and even a round or two of golf. The desert in the spring is truly resplendent. While Cam executed his social game plan perfectly, I on the other hand wound up performing all manner of tech support upgrades for my parents and never did make it to the pool, much less the golf course.
Let me back up a bit. My dad is a retired Navy carrier fighter pilot and aerospace engineer with a couple of graduate degrees. Pretty sharp guy technically you would think. But the very notion of upgrading his computer's operating software or hooking up a DVD player to his HDTV completely stymies the guy.
When I arrived at my folk's home in Scottsdale, dad had a short list of home technology spring cleaning issues waiting for me. Evidently things had been festering for quite some time.
To read the rest of John's rant, check out
http://www.electronichouse.com/artic...ractical/C155/
