In 2019, Tech adoption changes -- some. It’s known as the Amazon effect. As brick-and-mortar based businesses dwindle in favor of online, access to smartphone and broadband are becoming the enablers of information flow to older adults. Pew Research helps us understand who, what, and possibly why people buy and own technology. Non-users, particularly broadband, are thus on one side of the so-called digital divide. The latest Mobile Technology and Home Broadband 2019 report reveals a change in the role of smartphones, particularly as a sole device for connecting to the Internet – 37% of responders to this year’s survey go online primarily using a smartphone, with 58% of 18-29-year-olds saying they mostly go online that way, though that number dropped to 15% for the 65+.
What does it mean when offerings and consumers aren’t aligned? For older consumers and their families, the technology market and senior housing industry are two cases in point. Consider the slower-growing 8(8% occupied) senior housing industry – where in ten years, 81% of couples will not be able to afford the $60,000 average cost of assisted living (a number that does not reflect higher cost memory care). Or mull over the technology industry, which is releasing new versions of every category faster than you can Google them, filling voids like adding mouse for the iPad. Why did it not have a mouse in the first place? Oh, yes, and it is an accessibility feature. Still no headphone jack on the phone. Or creating a folding phone (without much testing) with a screen that breaks within days of announcement. Did anyone ask for a phone that folds? So in that vein, here are five blog posts, mostly rants, from May, 2019: