It's been a long winter -- between the news, the weather, and news about the weather. As spring has sprung (or nearly so in blizzard-bombarded regions), let's think about excellent spring-time opportunities for seniors, families who care about them, and the residential environments in which they live.
Today, this is a non-blog blog entry: I am not targeting any specific vendors. But I think it has to be put out on the table. There is a not-so-fine line between offering products that assuage fear and pitching product offerings within a terrifying context. I saw such a pitch today and I was so upset, I had to leave the room.
It's been a long couple of days. So many vendors, so little brain capacity left. But let's get right down to the point. Silvers Summit is the first time CES has ever had a day-long track allocated to discussions and presentations about technology and aging.
Builders have little interest in changing their home-design practices to accomodate seniors -- unless pressured by consumers who want their homes designed that way, of course. In fact, in Florida, universal design standards are not part of the building code for new buildings, although contractors can be certified in it as well as becoming
I am trying to understand whether Nintendo intends to expand its cognitive fitness and exercise offerings into the senior market or whether its success is accidental. Here is a response I received when querying Nintendo about their plans for targeting seniors: "Nintendo’s goal is to expand the world of video games to new audiences, so while we were not focusing on seniors exclusively, we wanted to make a system that could be played by everyone in the family, from 5 to 95. It is exciting to see that it's been such a big hit in senior centers and think it's resonated with them for a number
A market research firm, SharpBrains, which bills itself as "The Brain Fitness Authority," has posted a product evaluation checklist for determining whether a brain or cognitive fitness software product is the 'right' product for you. By the way, SharpBrains estimates this software market was $225 million in 2007.
I love the idea of 'brain wellness'! Don't we all want our brains to be well? Exercising them right along with our calf raises and seated arm curls. But how? And with what? We certainly know that web surfing helps but there is an entire product range out there from game workstations and technology, but also software that is purely for improving mind health and vigor.
