Age-Appropriate Digital Channels by Alireza Darvishy & Hans-Peter Hutter & Alexander Seifert

Author:Alireza Darvishy & Hans-Peter Hutter & Alexander Seifert
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783658384463
Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Hans-Peter Hutter

Email: [email protected]

Alexander Seifert

Email: [email protected]

3.1 Background

In today’s world, electronic devices play an important part in almost every area of our day-to-day lives, be it the alarm clock waking us in the morning, our mobile phone connecting us to family and friends, or the computer we use to surf the internet. The youth of today live in a digitalised world with computers and smartphones. However, it is a different story when it comes to older people who did not grow up with these technologies and therefore have less experience with them. They often lack the necessary technical skills or see no benefit in using the new devices, and therefore avoid them.

Having not grown up with computers, let alone with smartphones or tablets, today’s older generation only started using these devices at a later age, very often out of necessity. A recent study1 collected data about the use of technology and media by people aged 65 and above. This involved surveying over 1,000 people across the whole of Switzerland. The results of the study show that 40% of the survey participants are very interested in new technology, while 39% slightly or fully agreed with the statement: “I have difficulties using modern technical devices.” However, 57% of respondents could not imagine their lives without these technical devices.

In the following section, the term “computer” is used to refer to PCs and laptops, while the term “mobile devices” covers both smartphones and tablets. Smartwatches and other wearables were not taken into account for the purposes of this book. In the last few years, the importance of mobile devices has increased significantly. They not only enable us to keep in touch when out and about, but they can also be used to surf the internet while on the move, for example. In Switzerland, currently 77% of people aged 65–79 years as well as 36% of those aged 80 and above already own a smartphone (Seifert, Ackermann and Schelling, 2020). Meanwhile, 49% of people aged 65–79 and as much as 23% of the over 80 s own a tablet.

Older people who use a mobile device also use it to access the mobile internet – usually every day. While 74% of the respondents aged 65 and above already use the internet today, only 68% of them use the mobile internet (ibid.). There are also differences within the generation of people aged 65 and above: young seniors between the ages of 65 and 69 years (81%) are more likely to also use mobile internet in comparison to those aged 85 and above (42%) (ibid.).

Comparing these forms of usage (computer or mobile device) shows that all applications investigated are accessed more frequently on a computer, while mobile devices tend to be used in a supplementary way. Survey participants also tend to use mobile devices to access general applications to call or chat with people, check e-mails, search for information, retrieve timetables (e.g. for trains) and get directions. Nevertheless, 36% of respondents also read newspapers and magazines on their mobile device (ibid.

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