This week I read “How elders evaluate apps”. The article discusses how elders interact with Information and Communication Technology, or ICTs. The article asserts that age does not directly influence people's evaluation and experiences with apps, but past experiences do influence how elders interact with technology.
The article discusses that there have been steady development and improvement of mobile phones and the internet in recent years. However the increase in access to the internet and cell phones doesn’t mean that everyone uses them in the same way. Not everyone has equal access to cell phones or the internet. There are many factors that could contribute to this, including age, gender, and education level.
The article focuses mostly on elders' usage of mobile phones. While younger people typically use apps on phones and spend more time on social media, elders tend to use phones to keep in contact with family and friends. Elders are typically interested in learning more about cell phones, but it’s made difficult for them because of the price and the ease of access.
My grandparents on my mom's side of the family still only have a landline. They also do not have a computer of any kind. They have never expressed any interest in getting a cell phone. My parents have asked them if they wanted one, but they declined the offer several times. They do, however, call my mom at least once a day. They do have a TV.
This article made me think of my grandparents because in the article, it outlines why some elders chose not to use cell phones. The reasons include ideology, usability and affordance. They are content with their living situation. My guess is that my grandparents choose not to have cell phones because of their ideology and usability. They have no problems with other members of my family using cell phones. My grandparents do struggle with technology, though. They have a DVD player hooked up to one of their TVs, and my dad has to come over to fix it pretty often. I think for my grandparents, the learning curve is too much to justify getting a cell phone. They don’t like inconveniencing others. They’re extremely independent people, and my grandpa still does as much as he can on his own. He still mows the lawn and chops down trees.
The article then goes on to explain how they put together a few focus groups that were asked to download apps onto their cell phones and share their experiences with using the technology. Most elders had no problem powering on the phones, but got locked out a few times because they did not tap on the screen for a while. This was interesting to me because I had not considered the automatic screen lock feature to be something that could give people trouble while using their phones. This really opened my eyes to how many things that I take for granted while using my phone.
I did not grow up with a cell phone, but when I was given one towards the end of middle school, I caught on pretty fast. It came naturally to me because I was taught how to use a cell phone in my formative years.
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