Theories of the grey haired population being a bunch of
Luddites were put to rest last week as research showed that the
over 50s are taking up the latest technology in their
droves.
According to an online survey of 750 people over 50 years old by
Millenium, over 90% of
those internet enabled are spending at least 10 hours a week
online.
Embracing technology does not end there either with a total of
20% saying they have listened to a podcast in the last month and
30% own an iPod/MP3 player.
Meanwhile
Web 2.0 technologies and social networking sites are being
harnessed by the older generation, with almost 80% saying they have
visited YouTube and nearly half have visited MySpace and
Facebook.
Sarah Robson, research director, Millennium, said: "Hopefully
our research findings will go a long way to dispel myths that
portray the over 50s as having no handle on technology and even
disregarding it.
"In many cases, such as internet usage, they are actually
outstripping the younger segments of society and with their massive
purchasing power, accounting for 40% and rising of all consumer
spending in the UK, they are going to become an increasingly
important target audience for consumer products in general and new
technologies more specifically," said Robson.