A personal friend, a senior citizen, responded to me directly regarding my recent posts about the future of news media (see under the media category, right column). Her comments raised some interesting points about newspaper reading but also reminded me of some other ways in which seniors will need to adapt to the digital age (and the digital age to them).
One key point is the effect of failing eyesight on getting the news. Not all seniors are affected by this (yet) but for those who are, as my friend points out, it can be a big obstacle. Lest you suggest that modern browsers solve the problem by providing a choice of type-sizes and zooms up to several hundred percent, keep in mind that even for a 20/20 in his twenties, reading a web page at 200% magnification (or reading it on a tiny cell phone screen) is hardly convenient, as you'll be constantly having to scroll left, right, up and down just to read an item. The jumble of webpage design, with popups, popunders (hey, have virtual poptarts or popovers been invented yet?), multiple columns, flash animation, and color, can also be more distracting, especially if you're trying to find something on that blown-up, run-off-the-margin screen.
My friend also points out that most oldsters don't have the fancy phones, or even laptops, so that means, as I pointed out earlier, a comfort disadvantage in online viewing. Given all this, she concludes that, if forced to choose between an on-line news"paper" and no news at all, she'd opt to do without.
Another area I've found where seniors may increasingly have problems is in the miniaturization of digital equipment. I'm a fan of the Kindle, but I have to admit - though I have no eye problems, the tiny close-packed buttons with their illegible gray legends, which you need to use to order books on it, are pretty inconvenient. What would that be like for someone whose eyesight is going, or who just doesn't have the finger-flexibility they once had? It's not that seniors aren't mentally alert enough, smart enough, or tech-savvy enough to operate a computer or a Blackberry - but the inevitable slowing down of the body's physical plant will eventually have some effect.
One more: Banks and other institutions are increasingly pushing their online services - bill paying, investments, statements, and tax forms. I know many seniors who are using these features enthusiastically, yet in the back of my mind, I realize that in this extremely important area of managing their money, seniors may get to the point where, because of physical or mental decline, they will run much higher risks of being victimized or just making choices they don't intend on such sites. By the time that happens (assuming they recognize it), will there still be other options, or will paper statements and handwritten checks be out there in the landfill with those newspapers, never to be available again?
It's not that similar problems couldn't happen in the pre-digital age. When my father died some years ago, and we looked at his checkbook, it was clear that his usually neat engineer's printing had given way to a nearly illegible scrawl in the last few checks he wrote before his death. It's just that in the digital age, the sources of confusion, the chances for error, will be more widespread. Sons, daughters, aging experts, and digital designers, I hope, will take note.
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