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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Teresa F. Lindeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nov. 13--Garnet Hoffman, 60, retired recently from her job as an auditor and tried to retire from the ranks of cell phone users, as well. She said didn't need the fancy calling plan and the expense that came with it.

But barely a month later, the North Huntingdon resident was re-entering the cellular world, this time with a plan from Cricket Communications that was much more to her liking -- a stripped-down phone with large keys, no camera and flat monthly rates.

In the past, older Americans may have been slow to adapt the latest technologies -- whether ATMs, cell phones, computers or the Internet -- but that's no longer the case.

Ms. Hoffman, who admits to being the last auditor in her office to submit to computer training years ago, said she was so comfortable with computers now that she couldn't imagine not having one to use at home -- just as she discovered she missed the convenience of that cell phone.

The change hasn't gone unnoticed. Companies see the 76 million baby boomers who are just beginning to enter this era of their lives and are rushing to cash in by designing products and services to accommodate both their aging bodies and their lively interest in everything from travel to health care to staying in touch with the grandkids.

Some 22 percent of Americans 65 and older are using the Internet, compared with 58 percent of those 50 to 64, the Washington, D.C.-based research organization Pew said last year. A recent U.S. Census report found that more than one-third of households with a member over 65 had computers in 2003, and that the number grew to two-thirds in households with members between 55 and 64 years old.

"I think, as a group, the seniors are really starting to catch up," said Norm Mast, program coordinator for LSS SeniorNet, a support service that is part of a national network but is sponsored locally by Lutheran Service Society in Bellevue.

Marketers and designers apparently share his opinion.

At the second annual Aging by Design conference held recently at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., participants talked about everything from cars to cell phones, said Mark Carpenter, general manager of Web strategy and operations for AARP, the senior advocacy organization that sponsored the meeting.

One speaker was from a company that helped develop an easy-to-use cell phone sold by Vodafone Group in Europe. The phone, which is not yet being sold in the United States, uses words to remind users to recharge the batteries and uses a flashing light to indicate when there's a message waiting.

More than 300 people signed up for an AARP session in Washington, D.C., this month to discuss the future of the Internet and Web design. The gathering featured the results of workshops held to consider what life might be like in 2011 and to anticipate how older adults would be adapting online.

The futuristic approach raised some immediate concerns.

In one research project, two test subjects -- older adults with varying Internet experience levels -- were sent off to surf the Web. The less knowledgeable of the two ran into dead ends or gave up in frustration an average of 3.5 times per site. Even the more experienced tester got stuck an average of once per site used.

They visited health sites, travel information pages and financial sites as they attempted to perform such tasks as planning a trip and researching information provided by a doctor. Only three sites -- Amazon.com, eToys.com and LLBean.com, all shopping sites -- provided completely smooth sailing for the two seniors.

"Most designers are young," Mr. Carpenter said, and may not need reading glasses or be sensitized to a new online user's concerns about either breaking the computer or ending up in the wrong online place.

AARP, which defines seniors as anyone older than 50, has been advising Web designers to use contrasting backgrounds and simple layouts and navigation. But it's not just for the sake of seniors who are new to computers.

"If you can make it accessible to the 65-year-old, everybody's going to benefit," said Mr. Carpenter, saying Fidelity Investments had worked to make its Internet site more senior-friendly.

It's not hard for Mr. Mast of LSS SeniorNet to see how far seniors have come in the five years since the service to aid seniors online started.

"When we first started, it was, 'This is the mouse and this is the keyboard," " Mr. Mast said. Now, those first senior adopters are doing things such as running digital photography clubs, cleaning off hard drives for resale and teaching classes to other seniors who may just be starting out learning about the mouse and the keyboard.

Proving that the older generations are getting out and about online, Internet market research service comScore Media Metrix found the more popular Web sites for those over 65 in the last year included AARP's site, of course, but also MedcoHealth.com, Schwab.com and VacationsToGo.com.

Personal interest plays a role in a senior's technological expertise, but so does age. Those over 65 are less likely to have as much computer experience through work, while those in their 50s can hardly avoid it.

While nobody appreciates being made to feel stupid or frustrated -- an experience common to those of any age who can't program the DVD player or figure out how to retrieve voice mail from their cellular phone -- even seniors who'd rather not cope soon may find even more reasons to stick with the latest technology.

Cell phones, as Ms. Hoffman found, are a convenience and often a safety measure. There's also useful information to be found online without ever leaving the house. The LSS SeniorNet organization is now developing a workshop on the new Medicare prescription drug program and how to navigate the government's Web site explaining it.

Helen Prostko, 75, a Kennedy resident who was researching the new Cricket phone offer at a Mall at Robinson event two weeks ago that also lured Ms. Hoffman, is quite comfortable with technology.

She surfs the Net, plays solitaire on the computer and even burns CDs. She is working on her digital photography skills.

She said she would like to see more seniors testing out unfamiliar technology, even if it's just to play games on the computer when there's nothing else to do.

In developing the senior test project for Pittsburgh, the Cricket team decided it had to make the pitch both friendly and nonconfusing. The staff chose two relatively basic phones with simple keys, and is offering a hearing-aid compatible handset for $70.

The marketing plans call for setting up training sessions at senior centers and various gathering places over the next several weeks. Cricket, for its purposes, has defined seniors as those 60 and older.

"We're hoping to take that fear out of the cell phone," said Daniel Stainer, Cricket marketing manager.

For the kickoff, they drew the target audience to the Robinson mall with a noisy, but apparently popular, mix of attractions -- a blackjack table, a bridge expert giving advice, slot machines, free pizza, the Frank Sinatra Band and flu shots.

Not everyone who came needed or wanted a cell phone.

One tech-savvy woman -- she'd had her cell phone for years and had been using her computer for four or five years -- was there for the slots.

Another conceded she knew "nothing about computers." She simply came for the flu shot.

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