We also need to hear from anybody who has experience with training (or trying to train) seniors to use:

• Computers (PCs & laptops, which are actually different to use!)
• Mobile phones
• GPS devices
• DVD players
• … anything technological!

Please leave your suggestions as a comment to this post, or send me and e-mail via the online contact form of this site. If your suggestion is useful and original I will make sure you receive a free copy of the Big Buttons CD when the development is complete, to say thanks.

Ideally, if everything goes to plan, Big Buttons will not only allow somebody who is totally new to computers to perform basic functions, but will guide the user through the computing experience and allow them to perform increasingly complex tasks, until voila – no more need for Big Buttons at all!

I will let you know how things go, but at the moment the development programme appears to be 6 months long, so there won’t be much if anything to show until August – September 2010.

http://www.seniorsguidetocomputers.com/

… is extremely useful! Have a look!

The phenomenon in the Western World of the “Ageing Population” means that there are more and more retirees requiring pensions and fewer and fewer labourers producing the revenue that will pay for the retirees. The obvious cure (or at least mitigation against) is to allow seniors to produce wealth for longer.

If seniors learn how to use computers, which in most cases is as simple as overcoming fear of the unknown, they become far more appetising to employers. Operating a computer does involve many months of practice, to reach a level where one might consider oneself “competent” or at least “confident”, but the individual tasks involved with computing are quite simple. With time, computing can be mastered by just about anyone.

Consider this: if you were an employer, would you hire a young, untested candidate with proficiency in computing, or would you hire a 65 year old veteran of your industry who is also competent in computing?

In many situations, the latter option is far more appealing (reduced necessity for training, value for money etc) and the main thing that’s stopping this recruitment scenario from being the norm is a lack of understanding of computing by seniors!

If we solve this problem, there are too many benefits to count.

Here are a few:

1. Our economy will reach a new level of efficiency, as wisdom of seniors is injected back into industries
2. Seniors themselves will enjoy the many benefits that remaining in work can bring (with the option of retirement still available, of course)
3. Young people will be forced to learn real skills, as opposed to mere computer proficiency in order to compete for jobs – boosting the overall skill base of the economy
4. Seniors will enjoy the many benefits that IT literacy can bring to their lives

1. Be ashamed

2. Be very ashamed

Of course there are exceptions, but by and large our grandparents have done a very good job seeing to the survival of their children and grandchildren over the past decades. Without them, there wouldn’t be any young’uns at all… and of course, there would be no computers or Internet either!

The benefits of showing nan & pops how to use a computer are immense:

1. You can share photos with them
2. Communicating to others on the Internet can be a great cure for boredom
3. They can save money by not buying the newspaper every single day
4. They don’t have to wait in line in a bank and risk catching swine flu or being caught in a terrorist attack

… and the list goes on.

Think back to how your grandfather showed you how to shoot a gun or your grandmother showed you how to bake a cake. Repay that debt! Sharing is caring!

Get granny online!

This article by Stephanie Miles from http://www.caring.com/articles/elder-protection gives a neat summary:

When it comes to scoping potential victims, experts say con artists tend to look for individuals who are home during the day to answer fraudulent telemarketing calls, retired people who are hoping for one more shot to increase their nest egg, and those who will be too proud to admit they were “had” and report that they were victimized to the authorities.

Sound like anyone you know?

Older adults are widely acknowledged to be frequent targets of financial scammers. According to a recent survey by the Better Business Bureau, nearly 30 percent of all fraud victims are over the age of 65. Don’t feel paranoid if you’re worried that your parents or other family members may fall victim to fraud — you’re just being prudent.

Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to reduce the chances your family will be victims. Here are some of the most prevalent frauds and ways to help protect the people you care about.

Telemarketing fraud

Telemarketing fraud is probably the most common scam of all. Shady marketers may call the older adults in your family to hawk investment schemes, vacation clubs, or sweepstakes plans, and then pressure them to sign up immediately because the offer is only good for a limited time. Often these marketers will demand some kind of up-front investment or fee to participate, which is always a red flag that the caller is not on the up-and-up.

You can warn your older family members to not give out any personal information or credit card numbers, or otherwise buy anything from anyone over the phone. Some older people have a harder time hanging up on obnoxious salespeople because they don’t want to be rude. If this is the case with your loved ones, get them a phone equipped with Caller ID so that they simply don’t have to pick up unless they recognize the number of the caller. Also, make sure their phone number is registered with the national Do Not Call registry, which will significantly cut down — if not eliminate altogether — the number of telemarketers calling their home.

Internet Fraud

Whether it’s a phishing scam — e-mails designed to trick people into revealing personal information, including passwords to banking sites — or the well-worn Nigerian banking frauds, the Internet is rife with scam artists looking for potential victims.

To protect your family members online, make sure they know not to give out personal information to strangers, download e-mail attachments from people they don’t know, or click on links from unsolicited e-mail offers. Check to ensure that their antivirus software is installed and up to date, which will help protect them from inadvertently downloading malicious programs designed to collect personal information from their computers. And set their spam filters and Internet browser security settings to the highest levels possible.

Identity Theft

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the U.S., according to the Federal Trade Commission, so it’s a good idea to be wary about thieves stealing your loved ones’ personal information, such as their Social Security number or their bank or credit card account numbers and passwords. With this information, identity thieves can open new accounts, rack up charges on credit cards, empty bank accounts, and generally wreak havoc on their bank balances and credit ratings.

One way to prevent identity theft is to sign up your parents or other family members for credit monitoring services such as Experian and Identity Guard, which will alert you or them to any suspicious activity in their credit file, including applications for new credit or even suspiciously large spending on any existing accounts (most major credit card companies offer similar plans). These services can catch identity thieves before they do much or any damage.

Fraudulent Investment Schemes

Another scam to look out for involves calls and mailers for so-called “free” investment seminars, where your family members will likely be strong-armed into signing up for some type of investment scheme, regardless of whether it actually makes sense for their personal situation. These seminars — usually lunches and dinners at local hotels — promise advice about retirement investing, estate planning, or some type of dubious investment, and they may require a hefty up-front fee to attend.

If your loved ones work with a financial planner, ask their advisor to explain to them that these seminars are usually a gigantic waste of time and money. Make sure they know not to invest their money in anything without getting independent third-party advice.

Many people are taken in by investment schemes brought to them by friends and neighbors who claim to have already hit it big. That’s why it’s important to pay attention when your loved ones mention new friends who know a lot about money or are great investors. Remind them not to make any investments or estate planning changes without running the numbers by their trusted financial advisors.

Stay on Top of Things

Perhaps the most important way to ward off con artists is to simply remain involved in your family members’ day-to-day lives. If you live nearby, stop by their house often to check in. Take a glance at their mail to see if they’re receiving more than their share of sweepstakes offers, travel and vacation club invitations, and investment solicitations. Check their caller ID logs to find out if they’re being inundated with telemarketing calls.

If there’s an increase in these types of junk mail, e-mail spam, and phone offers, it may mean they’ve already fallen for some type of scheme and have been added to a marketer’s database of potential victims.

Also, if they have any household help, like home health aides, make sure you meet them and are occasionally at the house when they’re working. Because they often have access to sensitive personal data, household workers are occasionally the culprits when older adults are the victims of fraud. When hiring any employees who will have access to personal information, be sure to run a credit check or go through an agency that will run a more thorough background check.

If you’re suspicious of a charity or company hounding someone in your family, check with the Better Business Bureau to see if they have a record of complaints. Likewise, check with your state Attorney General to see if there are any criminal actions or complaints against the firm your loved ones are considering doing business with. The best place to report investment fraud is through the Securities and Exchange Commission. {Or in Australia, ASIC}.