Over the next 5 -10 years Upside Research projects that the graying baby boomers and growing senior population will have an important impact on technology manufacturers and technology marketing trends. The implications include:
– While the youth market is always hot for technology companies, over the next few years seniors and baby boomers will be an important technology market. Over the years we’ve seen PC and technology gadget colors go from standard black to shiny white. Now we’ll see technologies go gray, along with our growing senior and baby boom population.
– Manufacturers will be releasing mobile devices with larger screens and easier-to-use buttons. The Apple iPhone is a great example of this.
– For years we’ve seen phones and MP3 players get smaller, but as the population ages, there’ll be an increased need to provide larger and more usable products for the older population.
– We’ve already seen youth-oriented services such as Facebook update their service to include professionals and adults. I believe that we’ll see even more extensions of products and services designed to serve and increasingly large senior and baby boom market. For example, social networking sites are great for kids with time to kill in between classes, but they could be a boon to seniors who want to be sociable but can’t just go hang out at the local 7-11.
