Smartphone usage by older adults is up — why?

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Times change, so do phones. One year ago according to the latest from Pew, 18{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of the 65+ had a smartphone – today, 27{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} have them. Why? Well, for one thing, when a phone breaks, smartphones are easy to find in the store as directed by a rep and online, while ‘basic’ phones (Verizon has 6 unique basic phones) are buried under pre-paid plans. AT&T's two unique brands are very difficult to find, with a handful of non-contract Go Phones – found online after wading through a gazillion smartphone choices. Also, 41{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of people aged 65-69 are smartphone owners, perhaps side effects of working longer, greater longevity, families with pics, videos, and chats that must be seen NOW. But still, more than 70{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of the 41 million 65+ still do not have smartphones. This likely isn’t because of the cost of the plans (43{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of smartphone owners pay between $50 and $100) – only 10{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of the 65+ are statistically classified as living in poverty.

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SOURCE: Laurie Orlov’s blog – Read entire story here.

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