We sit at a crucial phase of the crossover and convergence of technology and products. TVs turning into computers, mobiles evolving into mini PCs and cameras, music stored digitally in the cloud and accessed anywhere. And gesture based input devices will only hasten the revolution.
Nowhere is it more apparent than in the iPad. Apple took the interface from an iPhone and coupled it to the software of a Macbook, they extended the aesthetics of an iPhone to the size of a small Macbook and gave us an iPad. The market was given clear pointers to the iPad as soon as the iPhone; its arrival was logical. When it appeared on cue it came with key questions as to who would use it and why? How could it replace both a laptop and an iPhone, one has the ergonomics for easy typing the other you can carry for making calls. It seemed destined to slip into an awkward gap like teaspoons dropping between the fridge and worktop.
But there is ‘another way to look at iPads’, maybe one Apple has overlooked or is yet to see. If in retrospect we realise they saw it all along then good on them, if not then the hubris falls on Apple’s entire marketing and advertising teams. Because the iPad is perfect for the elderly yet, as ever, is advertised for the young and trendy!
For many of the elderly, and in that I include anyone whose working or domestic life failed to cross the path of computing technology, learning to use computers has been resisted assiduously. Take my mother-in-law (Please!). At 80 she was vitriolic in resistance, ‘I don’t want to learn about computers’ and more importantly ‘I don’t see why I need to use a computer’?
But something changed in the last year, a prime example of the tipping point, the social equivalent of the adage that ‘the final straw broke the camel’s back’; shopping. These mythical mother-in-laws became tired of hearing they could find something cheaper online and frustrated by begging favours to look something up on neighbour’s computer. When something ordered on Monday evening at 10pm arrived on Wednesday morning at 10am, cost less than a shop and involved no expedition they finally saw the rationale to learn.
Who has money right now, the young or the elderly? The answer is clear, the grey pound is king. It is a matter of financial insulation, their final salary pension schemes still pay out like clockwork, their houses increased in value by 1000% and they can sensibly downgrade releasing unimagined capital. Plus their day to day needs are modest. We have heard for 10 years this demographic blip was coming, credit crunch hastened its arrival.
So why is an iPad right for the elderly? Because there is no awkward mouse to grip, no dexterity of the fingers needed to manipulate buttons, a very simple and intuitive interface, a clear screen that can be used on your lap in a comfy chair rather, than a desk. typing can be managed by touching the screen with a pointed finger, a capacity we all retain despite arthritis. Of course the price is a challenge but buying a computer is a one off purchase and likely to see them right through retirement. Set that against the money saved on shopping trips and paying over the odds and it makes good financial sense.
So Apple may have a runaway hit selling iPads to the elderly first timer. If they planned it good on them, if they missed it then shame on them and fire the ad agency and hire a new marketing department.
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