If designed and marketed under the right conditions, America's seniors are actually very receptive to technology, in fact, they already have adopted many consumer electronic devices, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
As we have noted before, one of the biggest drivers of mobile healthcare solutions is the aging Baby Boomer generation, which is the group of Americans born between 1946 and 1964. The older members of that group are only two years away from celebrating their 65th birthdays.
''It's that cohort, the 74 million strong, that has been the tipping point,'' says Elinor Ginzler, a senior vice president for AARP. "They want things for their parents and for themselves. The market is simply responding to the demand of sheer volume and spending power.''
Here's a rundown of some of the metrics from the article:
78 percent of 50- to 54-year-olds are online
45 percent of 70- to 75-year-olds are online
More than 7 million Baby Boomers own gaming systems
29 million Baby Boomers own digital video recorders
60+: DVD players, digital still cameras, broadband and mobile phones most popular
Currently 12 percent of the U.S. population is 65-years-old or older
By 2030, 20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65+
By 2030, 31 percent of the U.S population will be 50+
In 2001, those 78 million Americans 50+ controlled 67 percent of the country's wealth
The 50+ crowd also accounted for $2 trillion in total expenditures in 2005
'"Our research shows that they're anxious to participate,'" says Sara Czaja, co-director of the Center on Research and Education for Aging and Technology Enhancement at the University of Miami. "But they're looking for specific things: usefulness and not too complicated features.''
