Helping the Greatest Generation (and some Boomers, too) connect

Helping Grandpa Get His Tech On

A few days before my 100-year-old mother’s death this summer, she said she had only one regret: not being able to see her family in California again.

But then I realized that I had my MacBook (with its built-in webcam) in my briefcase. A few phone calls later and my mother was using iChat to speak with and see her great-grandchildren for the first time in years.

There are challenges to older people in using technology, such as visual and auditory issues, but it's quickly becoming essential to the elderly, especially to keep in touch in an era where families are far-flung. I mean think about it...I started as a teenager with an Atari computer, and I'm 42. My parents, who are Baby Boomers, are in their 60s, and both my father and stepfather have programmed for a living. There are a lot of tech savvy people in those generations--maybe not having breathed it from day one like a Gen-Y, but still. But the ones older than that are getting into the technology pool in greater numbers than ever before, and there are websites out there who market aids to help them overcome both expense and declining senses. The article lists some of those. If you have an older person whom you'd like see more connected, check it out.