silver Surfers

silver Surfers

One ofthe Switch guys from above Refresh was today talking about Christmas and howhis 96 year old grandma who lives in Canada extended her wishes on the day viawebcam. Hearing James talk about thismade me wonder what kind of difference the Internet can make in the life ofsomeone who would be considered to be of the ‘older generation’. As you might imagine, I look at the Internetthrough the eyes of a mid-twenty year old man; it’s only when I take a stepback and look from a different perspective that I see the benefits for anelderly person are just as obvious.

Without adoubt, the main obstacle in the way of the majority of older people gainingaccess to the Internet is a working computer knowledge. Unfortunately getting on to the Internet requiresthe use of a PC, but in a generation that wasn’t bought up around computersthis can pose a problem. Fortunatelythere are a number of courses designed specifically for this user demographic -these are usually very cheap to attend and the advice is friendly andunintimidating.

Assumingthat this one obstacle can be overcome, the primary use of the Internet formost elderly people will almost certainly be communications. I’m not speaking from personal experience butI imagine that it would be very easy for an elderly person to become fairlyisolated; I’ve known of people in their seventies, eighties and nineties who don’tsee anybody for days, or even weeks, on end.

TheInternet allows the elderly to set themselves up with free Skype accounts sothat they can hold an audio or video conversation with friends and family whomight live a long distance away. In thecase of James’ gran, for example, she was able to see and talk to her entirefamily in Devon from her armchair in Canada completely free of charge and foras long as she liked; before the Internet this simply wouldn’t have beenpossible. The majority of people who purchasea webcam in our store would be considered elderly and I think it’s fantasticthat a £10 piece of technology can make such a difference.

Sitessuch as Friends Reunited allow the elderly to get back in touch with friendsthat they may have lost contact with decades ago and provides another line ofcommunication to the wider world. In arecent study 35% of older Net users said that the Internet had provided themwith a wider circle of friends after retirement. Of course, e-mail in general is a fantasticcommunications tool and maintaining contact in this fashion is infinitelyquicker and usually easier than writing a letter.

The Internet can also serve to starve off boredom and keep the mind active in the later years of life. Sites such as Wikipedia provide a whole wealth of information that is literally unending;c oupled with billions of websites this window to the world is invaluable. A side point to this is that again, in theaforementioned survey 42% of older people said that as a result of the Internet they were more aware and tolerant to the way that the world is changing.

If yous uffer from mobility issues then online shopping can relieve the burden ofhaving to go in to town or out to a large supermarket to get the weekly shop. Those that rely on someone gettingtheir shopping for them may also like the independence and freedom to choose exactly what they want and get it delivered the same day.

Computer sand the elderly are two words that are not often mentioned in the same sentence however thepotential enrichment that the Internet can bring in to the life of an olderperson is often worth the effort of overcoming the technical challenges.

It’s a relatively long way off yet but I do hope that in retirement I’ll be able to conside rmyself a ‘silver surfer’.