Getting Old Doesn’t Have to Suck

There are some misnomers about aging and technology. They seem to be at war with each other. I’d like to explore this topic and share what I’ve learned. Let me start with a quote from my favorite musician:

“Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

-Bob Dylan, My Back Pages

Like many of his famous quotes, Dylan could have meant hundreds of things by what he said, but the subtle humor and thoughtfulness brings out some ideas on the aging process for me. I’ve been fortunate to interview and spend time with quite a few elderly individuals in my 25 years of life and I believe there is a big problem with the aging process and what we are (not) doing about it. Most people have certain expectations about getting old; many of them are based on their parents, grandparents, elders, bosses, and the guys from Grumpy Old Men. I have mine.

Peter Thiel has a great interview question: “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” I believe that our parents, grandparents, elders, and those often referred to as “seniors” actually love technology. Let me say that again.

I believe that seniors love technology and want to use it.

There are plenty of examples of products designed for one group of people initially that consequently become widely adopted by other seemingly non-related users. For instance, OXO, the brand behind the world’s most comfortable kitchen tools began as a company designing for the inventor’s wife, who was arthritic. Furthermore, the iPad, The Clapper, Facebook are all technologies that are, much like millennials, sometimes even excessively used by the older generations.

Granted, these technologies weren’t FIRST adopted by seniors necessarily. But here we are and they are primary drivers in those markets relatively quickly after their launch. Why can’t we shorten that path to adoption?

Startups and large brands alike have invested time and money into this area. Many of them have a utilitarian mindset about the products they release — cue “Help I’ve Fallen and I can’t Get Up…” — and they have their purpose. The state of affairs today is that our elders want something different. Senior are very aware that wearing a fall detection or panic button pendant makes them look old and they resent them. One of the core tenants of product development is adoption, and since products and services are becoming more democratized this need is more prevalent than ever. It’s not just doctors, nurses, family members, and insurers that make the call on what wins, it’s actually the end user themselves informing the decision.

At Reemo, we designed software that reinvents the senior living experience by enabling people to use wrist watches to control their home electronics just by a simple wave of their arm. Our software transforms technology known as the Internet of Things (Smart watches and Home Automation) into the future of remote monitoring, communication, and control. By providing a quality of life improvement from the moment someone uses our platform all the way up the value chain to the family, provider, and payer, we’re doing our part in making getting old not suck.