tablets and eReaders

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.

This is a quick thought and I know that it is obvious I've been hanging around IT too long. Even so, I'd love feedback on it -- please! It's about the parallel between a hassle-freeing Citrix technology called GoToMyPC and what seniors  in the future will need in their homes.

This is a crazy idea for the gift-giving season, I know. But I just got off the phone with Landel -- the maker of Mailbug, a single-purpose e-mail appliance for the PC-less (or PC-useless) home.  Wouldn't it just be a crazy idea this holiday season if baby boomers who can afford to do it gave a suite of communication products to their PC-less parents and in-laws?

I have been searching the web for robots that could be useful to seniors -- today. Yeah, I know that's a tall order. So much research, so few commercial products, and I really don't want to count the companion toy dogs. And while vacuum cleaners and floor washers are interesting and available through Target, they're not quite what I had in mind for helping seniors stay safely in their homes. And the research programs, funded by every company (including Toyota, Sony, etc., etc. and its mother, don't seem to have commercial product near ready. 

So if you are a baby boomer and want to imagine your long-distance grandparenting experience (assuming it hasn't already begun), here's the scenario.

This article about taking seniors to a Christmas orchestra concert was a bit depressing. It made me think about all the seniors who can't get into or out of this or any other bus -- or who are unlikely to be asked to go to a concert. It especially reminded me of my late mother who had Alzheimer's and spent her last six years in a nursing home.

Juxtapose this.  1) There's a modest trend towards Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs), which are

Move over, Jitterbug. An intriguing new cell phone announcement popped up on my screen this week that could -- with some in-your-face marketing -- give the cell phone super marketer some competition in the senior cell phone market.

I've spoken before about the difference between technology that connects outside the home (and can be upgraded and improved) versus gadgets and gizmos that are one-off and destined for obsolescence. The former has the potential for connecting seniors to caregivers as well as connecting seniors to information they could use.