Seniors: Mythical Computer Curmudgeons

By Marie D'Amico, 

Growing Old Could Be a Digital Venture

Seniors are definitely not Pac-Man playing teenagers with bucks to burn. They are, however, the fastest growing segment in society, with more leisure time, discretionary income, and political power than any other socioeconomic stratum. If you believe the current myths that seniors are techno-phobic, techno-resistant, and techno-cheap, you’ve fallen for digital disinformation. If you’re a developer, you might target your next new media title or service not to the teenage or middle-aged well-researched masses but to the people you were compelled legally to live with for the first 18 years of your life. Your parents.

Seniors Are Growing and Aging

Most everyone we see in the television, magazine, and movie media is young and gorgeous, but soon those Melrose Place beauties will be minorities. In 1995, the average life span is 75, up from a life span of 47 in 1900. You may not see them in Rupert Murdoch’s empire, but 43 million Americans celebrated their 60th birthday in 1995, one person in every six. About 21 percent of the current population is 55 or older and almost 13 percent is 65 or older. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2030, 70 million Americans—one third of the population—will be 65 or older and a senior citizen discount will be more universal than a driver’s license. In fact, if current birth and immigration rates remain stable, seniors will be the only age group to experience significant growth in the 21st century.

This age group is not only the fastest growing segment of society but the seniors themselves are also getting older. The proportion of Americans over 85 will double by the year 2000 and the median age in the United States will increase from 35.8 in 1995 to a whopping 42 in 2030. The composition of the senior group is becoming more multicultural and more female, trends developers should consider when they plan new titles. By the year 2000, the U.S. population of white seniors of white seniors in the total population will grow 97 percent, whereas the U.S. percentage population of black seniors will grow 265 percent and Hispanics, 530 percent. In the 65 to 69 age group, women outnumber men by 122 to 100, but in the 85 and older group there are 256 women to 100 men. These growing pains are occurring worldwide. In Canada, for example, the over 65 age group is currently 12 percent of the population but growing at a rate triple the under 65 age group, while the over 80 age group is growing four times as fast as any other group. By 2030, the median age in Canada should be a mature 45.

But Are Seniors Daddy Warbucks?

In 1993, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the median income for adults aged 65 was $14,983 for males, $8,499 for females, and $25,821 for senior-headed households. In a move that would exacerbate the income pinch, the federal government may soon cut Social Security payments, which represent 40 percent of seniors’ income source. Developers, don’t despair. For seniors, income is a small percentage of their total net worth, or assets minus liabilities. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates seniors’ median net worth as $73,500, more than double the national average of $35,800, with 14 percent of seniors worth more than $250,000. In a project called AHEAD, the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan has studied the assets of over 8,000 individuals in the 70 and over age group for nearly two years. The Center’s preliminary datasets show that although seniors’ annual mean income was $21,709.50 from 1992 to 1994, seniors owned significant assets. For example, 73 percent of seniors have almost $22,000 in savings and 18 percent have over $100,000 in mutual funds. Seniors, unlike younger societal segments, have low fixed living costs because they generally own their homes, cars, boats, furniture, and the other accoutrements of daily life; for example, 82 percent of all seniors own their homes outright. With low living expenses and income from sources such as Social Security, assets, and public and private pensions, many seniors have discretionary income which could be spent on new media titles and services. Marketeers should note that while seniors comprise only 20 percent of the U.S. population, they control 40 percent of the total discretionary income in the U.S. They may not be the technological elite, yet, but many are already the moneyed elite.

Are Seniors Computer Curmudgeons?

Seniors may have a significant amount of money invested in assets, but how can you persuade your marketing department they’ll spend it on your new media title or service? By dispelling the outdated assumption that seniors are computer curmudgeons. A RAND study shows while only about 10.1 percent of seniors currently own a computer and only 3.2 percent use network services, these rates are growing at 30 percent and 46 percent annually, faster than the rates for any other age group. A profile of 3,000 senior Americans recently conducted by the Markle Foundation found about 30 percent of all seniors "have a strong need to keep up with the latest developments in technology" and about 20 percent of seniors, even those aged 80 and older "care a lot about their ability to learn how to work new electronic products." While seniors have an open attitude towards technology, they report a mismatch between the current crop of digital technologies and their wants and needs. Seniors, with lots of leisure time, are interested not in time-saving but time-filling technology. They need new media which doesn’t minimize, but rather facilitates social contact. A report by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging found seniors They want new media made simpler to use, especially the 25 percent of seniors with a physically-limiting disability. Helpful ways of achieving that includes: larger type, clearer instructions, improved user interfaces, voice synthesis and recognition, and diminished keyboard interaction. Indeed, in another study, 35 percent of all seniors thought computers and technology could help them by giving them more control over their lives.

Besides traits like "simpler to use," what specifically do seniors need or want in new media? John Linkous, a senior consultant with Issue Dynamics, Inc. , a Washington firm that provides consulting services to telecommunications corporations and nonprofit and governmental groups working with the aging consumer, said, "Seniors tend to be savvy shoppers who are less subject to peer pressure. They want products directly related to their needs; for example, financial management, health and home care, or electronic delivery of something worthwhile watching." At the most recent W hite House Conference on Aging , titles of interest helped seniors tour The National Gallery of Art in London via Art Gallery or plan their next big adventure with the Automap Road Atlas . Corbis Publishing has no statistical evidence but loads of anecdotal statements demonstrating seniors purchase its art collection CD-ROM, A Passion for Art . Victoria Wagman, public policy associate with the National Council on the Aging , said, "Seniors are particularly interested in chat lines, playing casino-type games, games about World War II, and swing era songs, for example." Wagman has found that seniors have best access to computer programs and services through senior centers, libraries, or school systems where they can go and use the resources, mostly in the evenings.

Linkous said seniors will "leap into electronic things which will improve their lives in some way." One of the biggest concerns and financial expenditures for seniors is health care, for which they spend four times as much as the rest of the population. An Arthur Little report estimated home health care telecommunications systems could cut medical outlays in the U.S. by approximately $36 billion annually. In Otia, Japan, trials are being conducted on a commercial telecommunications home care system. Television monitors with remote diagnosis allow 24-hour contact by patients and immediate responses supplemented by regular visits by nurses. Linkous estimates telemedicine—for example, online doctor-appointment-making applications and electronic house calls—will become extremely important in the next few years. If you’re a developer, you can find funding for senior title and services from the various state and area agencies on aging who contract with private groups to provide services to "plan, develop, and coordinate systems of supportive in-home and community-based services," or you can speak with the Senate Special Committee on Aging .

At the close of Douglas Coupland’s book, Microserfs , the main character and his cohorts assist his mother, who has had a paralyzing stroke, to communicate using a Macintosh Classic. While it seems strained in the novel, it’s truly one type of technology seniors desperately need, want, and for which they’ll pay. The National Association of Area Agencies of Aging (NAAAA) recently proposed the public telephone network be upgraded to support a wide range of communication functions, and terminals be placed in nursing homes, community centers, malls, libraries, and hospitals. As Julie Beckley, the director of Eldercare Locator Service for the NAAAA, said, "Every aspect of seniors’ lives could be touched positively by personally harnessing computerization, from banking, to bill paying, to staying in touch with friends."

Is Anyone Out There?

Is anyone currently developing services or titles to address this potentially wealthy and hungry market? Not really, although as Braden Michaels, spokesman for Voyager Co. , said, "Someone who addresses this market could do quite well." In the service sector, SeniorNet , an electronic senior service started as a research project in 1986, has grown from 22 members in 1988 to 17,000, with almost no gender gap (52 percent male, 48 percent female). SeniorNet also supports 75 Learning Centers which provide computer classes to seniors and are staffed by senior volunteers. The Learning Centers recently paired with the Gray Panthers and the Older Women’s League (OWL) to reach potentially 80,000 more seniors. The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) has a new online service with the potential to produce hefty revenues if it can persuade its 30 million members to log on. The AARP is already a media success and its magazine, Modern Maturity , is the nation’s most widely circulated with a readership of 22.7 million. Tom Otwell, AARP’s spokesman said, "It’s a myth seniors don’t want to use email; it’s a great way for shut-ins to broaden their horizons." In Canada, the Seniors Computer Information Project, with six test sites in Manitoba, has been used by about 400 people in the past year and its Web site has already been accessed over 20,000 times.

In the title sector, nothing much is happening. Bradley Haas, Director of Public Relations for SeniorNet said, "This is an underdeveloped market; there is a need and a desire for computer-related products for older Americans. This industry was developed by young people who initially marketed products to their peers." He listed WillMaker by Nolo Press and Family Tree Maker , a genealogy title by Banner Blue Software , as two popular senior titles. In the AHEAD study, 66 percent of all seniors had a will. Nolo Press, like the rest of the industry, hasn’t taken advantage of seniors’ concern in this arena even though it is poised to do so because WillMaker is the gold standard in its field. Nolo Press also might try marketing Living TrustMake r, easily the best legal trust software, to seniors because approximately 8 percent of all seniors, almost four million consumers, have placed their assets in a trust with a median value of almost $400,000. Banner Blue does a bit better. Its developers created Family Tree Maker after they discovered consumers, including many seniors, used their organization product for genealogy purposes, the third most popular indoor hobby in the United States. Banner Blue, in a smart marketing move, provide it free or at a discount to various computer senior learning centers.

The Tragedy of Old Age

I live in a town in Silicon Valley in which half the population is over 65, but it’s as animated and alive as mid-town Manhattan, and exponentially more polite. As opposed to cannibalizing their own middle-aged market base, digital developers should produce and market new media title and services to seniors. They’re an oft-ignored segment of society with money and time enough to purchase and learn new products, and more patience and persistence than any preteen. Oscar Wilde said, "The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young." The real tragedy would be for developers to technologically ignore seniors and forsake the people we shall all unequivocally become.

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