It would seem that in the technological age “all-at-once” isn’t sufficient. Go read the headlines. You thought Google had it all? Now there is a search engine that understands “plain English” instead of just keywords. And in case you’re still not getting “all news all the time”, know that the New York Times just stopped charging for online access to articles for as far back as 1851. But the greatest surprise is for you older folks.
I was mildly amused when my girlfriend, Sarah, told me her mom had set up a Facebook account to keep tabs on Sarah’s brothers. I didn’t think the older generation were up to date with online social networking. Apparently I was wrong. According to a recent article in the New York Times, “the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34.” And they want to “Facebook”, too.
Though investors realize that this new audience is “harder to attract”, the older generation is proven to be “more durable and sticky over time.” Even if social networking sites aimed at baby boomers don’t turn out to be the greatest investment, it is nevertheless uncharted territory; the world of technology is yet to prove itself capable of leaving any rock unturned when it comes to entrepreneurship. And though it seems silly, such appears to be the case.
Already tens of millions of dollars are “going into the space” and yet doubt still exists as to whether the interest exists on the part of the “graying computer users” to justify such an investment. Don’t misinterpret my hesitation to grant my parent’s generation their share of “internet fun”; I would love to see them evermore socially connected. But it goes to show that technological exploration is ruthlessly filling every niche it can find, even before we can decide if we want it or need it. It hardly seems that we use judgement anymore to make these decisions; the programmers have become the programmed.
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