The 2024 survey is out – some might say it is positive about tech adoption. Older adults (age 50+) own nearly every tech owned by those age 18-49. They have smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs, wearables – with the same disinterest in smart home technologies. The cynical among us might say that some tech change (like the 3G to 5G cutover) forced smartphone adoption.  And so the growth in smartphone ownership is led by older adults And it’s pretty tough to buy a ‘dumb TV’ these days even if you wanted one, though it’s feasible.  

Growth is not the same as adoption.  Tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs are the only tech offerings with greater than 50% adoption among older adults (ages grouped into 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ age bands.)  Wearables, smart home tech, and home assistants (assume that means voice offerings) have not crossed the halfway mark in adoption.  For those with smartphones and wearables, daily use is prevalent. But that does not mean that their experience is a happy one…

Ownership does not imply comfort level.  Smart home technology (still after 5 years of survey questions) still does not appeal – only a third have any and most of the rest are aware but not interested. Has someone written the report “The Best Smart Home Offerings for Solo Agers”? Not yet.  New worries about tech in the home have emerged over the past few years – especially concerns about personal data and privacy.

 Discussions of AI makes older adults skeptical. And despite machine learning, predictive analytics and generative AI capabilities increasingly being part of nearly all newer software product versions (for example, see  AI in search or healthcare), older adults seem uncertain as to how AI will impact them. This is a media-fueled concern that will diminish as awareness grows.

Will someone please just show me? The comments about tech design and usability are bleakly similar to previous surveys – tech is not designed with older adults in mind. “Too complicated, too many steps to set up devices, tech seems have been created for younger people, not user friendly, complicated processes for accessing websites, terms are not defined, jargon and symbols can be confusing, too many assumptions, users must teach themselves about platform changes.” And the unfilled need for training and instruction continues.