PNN Online: Technology: Internet use by seniors increasing

August 4, 2000

Internet use by seniors increasing

Elderly Americans across the nation continue to embrace computer technology as a way to connect with the outside world, and to help them relieve the stress from their ills and as a link to the outside world. Waiting lists for senior center computer classes continue to grow and Web sites aimed at seniors, such as IGrandparents.com and Seniors.com also are burgeoning, the Los Angeles Times reports.

A study by Pew Research Center’s project on the Internet and American life finds that only 13 percent of people 65 or older have Internet access. This online access rate is less than half the rate of the general population.

However, the study also indicates that those seniors who are online are some of the Internet's most The study also shows seniors who do use the Internet are some of the most active users -- 63 percent of people in this demographic go online every day, a higher usage rate than even people less than 30 years old, the L.A. Times reports.

"Computers started out with this image of being highly technical and too much for older persons. But older people are taking to computers very well," David Peterson, professor of education and aging at the University of Southern California’s Andrus Gerontology Center, told the newspaper. "They seem to learn as rapidly as other adults."

Technology companies such as Compaq and EMachines are beginning to pay attention to this group by marketing inexpensive Internet access machines that allow buyers to do little more than surf the Web and send and receive e-mail, the Times reports.

The Pew Research Center study also finds that e-mail and its ability to communicate with friends and family members any time of day or night are one of the primary draws for online seniors.

"A lot of people who had absolutely no interest in getting up in the morning find value in getting up and learning something here," Joe Schwarz, president of the Laguna Hills, Calif.-based Leisure World PC Users Group, told the Times.