AARP fielded a survey that is worth a look. The topic was health and wellness app usage by the 50+ population. The goal was to understand 50+ level of engagement with health and wellness apps – an online survey that included 694 individuals who owned smartphone or tablet. Interestingly the 15-minutes survey also includes a response comparison with 40-49 year-olds, likely because that is AARP’s next-up target membership.Responders needed to be comfortable with downloading a health and wellness app -- and have interest in trying them.
It’s a bad sign when you get a warning from Amazon about Prime scams. Shopping online has definitely deteriorated when you receive a desperate email from Amazon warning about Amazon Prime scams. But their advice is worrisome – you should check Amazon Messages to verify that a message is really from Amazon? How hard can it be for a scammer to fake messages that look like they’re from Amazon? Did you know that Amazon Prime Day is a big day for scammers? The Better Business Bureau warns about lookalike websites, too-good-to-be-true social media ads, and unsolicited emails or calls during sales events this month. You might not know that "1,230 new websites that associated themselves with Amazon popped up in June. The vast majority were malicious or appeared suspicious, according to Check Point."
Technology has enhanced the world for those with vision limitations. As many as 50 million Americans have some degree of vision loss -- a problem that was poorly addressed by technology prior to the arrival of smartphone navigation, smart glasses, sensors, robotics and AI in nearly all devices and technologies. Today, it's a whole new and innovative world -- supportive of individuals with a range of vision limitations from low vision to completely blind. And in fact, today those who are blind can use haptics to follow a game in real time, even in a stadium. They can create presentations from data sets, read road signs down the road, navigate airports and safely make their way through obstacle-filled streets. Here are five technology enablers that will likely make a difference:
The population is aging – and still, the tech solution market is immature. Investors of all types demonstrate interest in a product here and an offering there. Competitions highlight product winners; money is raised for one product at a time. One reason for the immaturity of the market is the behavior of buyers. Senior living companies buy a product for this and an offering for that. The future is predicted to incorporate new technology like AI – but that is always ‘in the future.’ Everyone agrees that AI could enhance retirement living and healthcare, but deployment of new offerings is always described as in the future. No other software categories in tech history – consider office, finance, supply chain – remain a laundry list of point products when markets expect suites.
Don’t we already have technology to live our best life as we age? Absolutely, aspredicted in 2011, needs have been fulfilled, tech innovation has made it so. But do older adults know about it? Could they afford it? Could they deploy it in their homes? Will it enable them to age in place? Do investors view the ‘best life’ suite of capabilities as an opportunity worthy of funding? The process of pitching one product at a time is well established – and innovators are comfortable with it, as are their judges. But is that what older adults need? Or would a suite of offerings, with deployment before the need becomes urgent, make more sense? Here are the four blog posts from June, 2024: