Tech-savvy seniors debunk myths over age and technology
A grandmother is one of five tech-savvy seniors who are challenging the stereotype of the tech-befuddled senior citizen.
The Age Hackers are a group of over-60 bloggers, who run a section of the online senior lifestyle magazine GrownUps.
They blog about how using technology affects their lives, they review gadgets and give tech advice.
Carol Bron said the group had been going since mid-Febuary.
She hoped the conversational English style of their articles would encourage their readers to learn more about the technology they use.
"It makes some people feel more comfortable when you're not being bamboozled with jargon."
Grey Power Manawatu president Lew Findlay thought the blog was a great idea.
He said the older generation had become very technical.
"Over half our members are doing their banking online now," he said.
"A few older people do struggle with technology but it's a much smaller group than people think."
Bron said she had always been interested in new technology.
She learnt basic programming on a Commodore 64 computer, and worked with computers since the early 1980s often acting as an informal IT department.
She said it often surprised people to find out she was the person in the family who owned all the latest gadgets and doled out the tech advice.
"I've had it happen in shops. They see I'm old, and female, and think I know nothing."
She said while shopping for a smartphone with her husband she had explained her technical requirements and preferences to a salesman, who then ignored her questions and talked to her husband instead.
Bron said people should not assume older people would have trouble adapting to new technology.
"They forget we've seen more changes than the younger ones have.
"If anything new technology is easier to learn than ever before.
"In the early days of home computers the assumption was that if you had access to one you had some basic programming skills. But modern PCs and mobile devices are designed to be intuitive and easy for anybody to use.
"You just charge and go. Plus there are apps and search engines that do the work for you," she said.
"It's a whole lot easier than coding your way through a doc on a Commodore 64, that's for sure."
Written by Paul Mitchell. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz. Image credit: Warwick Smith / Stuff.co.nz.