Frazier Allen: The New Disruptors of Old Age
September 8, 2016
Nashville, TN – The traditional wisdom among Silicon Valley’s youthful technorati is to design for what you know—texting your friends in Europe for free (WhatsApp), renting out your bedroom to make extra cash (Airbnb), finding a romantic partner without leaving your house (Tinder). But a handful of entrepreneurs are now looking beyond the millennial market to reach a new demographic with their own needs — baby boomers.
“You’ve got all these 20-something engineering types who are beginning to realize there are older adults who can make use of these products to promote health and well-being,” said Andrew Scharlach, Professor of Aging at the University of California, Berkeley. “What we are beginning to see is the marriage of product developers with the end users that they previously had not been aware of.”
From smart phones to smart homes, emerging technology is changing the way Americans approach aging — and Baby Boomers welcome the advances.
