technology usage

Two days ago at 07.00 the UK launched the sale of its 'Pensioner Bonds'. To buy these you had to be 65+.

At 07.20 I tried to log and buy some. The website was overcome by the demand and was showing an 'unable to cope' message.

The new Ofcom Communications Report has been published for the UK.

Pew Internet has just published a report titled - Older adults and technology use: Adoption is increasing but many seniors remain isolated from digital life.

Laurie Orlov has written a blog posting about the research. Her main conclusion is that as much as we would like to think that the older-old are taking to using smartphones and tablets and spending more time online the evidence suggests that isn't really so.

The current generation of toddlers is embracing digital technology at an astounding pace. According to a recent survey from BlogHer/Parenting, nearly 25% of toddlers will have used a smartphone by age 2. Not only that, nearly one-third of toddlers will have used a laptop or digital camera by the time they enter pre-school.

It is fitting that probably the best two US sources of information and comment about older people and how they use technology conclude 2010 with more insights into the way the factors of ageing and technology interrelate and how things might change in the future.

Interesting idea this. Broadly I agree. You can plan and theorise all you want, but it’s not till technology gets into the wild, and in the hands of users, that you can really see what it offers. And it is often the enthusiasts who lead... the ones who experiment, who knock off the rough edges, who show what is possible.

Clive Thompson points to this wonderful essay on computer chess by Garri Kasparov and draws our attention to an intriguing experiment in human chess-machine diplomacy.

Undone by the brute calculative power of IBM's Deep Blue in 1997, Garri came upon a wonderful way to juxtapose the deep calculative method of chess computers with the intuitive and strategic approach of human chess players.

Motorola has just discovered the concept of age neutral behaviour. Better late than never.

The research study (Media Engagement Barometer) found that high percentages of Americans - across multiple generations - are using media and mobile technology. Age no longer dictates new media use. And surprisingly, influencers who drive usage are now found in every group. Well that is not totally true but Motorola has definitely confirmed something that a few of us have been banging on about.

Within the tech world, the explosive growth of Twitter has (literally) been front page news over the past six months, with Twitter appearing on the cover of TIME Magazine and New York Magazine, among others. What's interesting is that Twitter's phenomenal growth hasn't come from where you'd think it would come from -- early adopters in the young teen demographic.

It wasn’t the invention of the printing press per se that caused a revolution; it was when everybody learned to read.

This extract from Antony Mayfield’s excellent WOMMA presentation on social web literacy sums up nicely my thoughts on social media tools.