By Dave Warner

Andrew Achenbaum, 64, is a professor with a distinguished career and a half dozen published books – but he’s not shy about making funny faces on Skype for his 1-year-old granddaughter.

He feels pretty comfortable with the technology, a factor that he thinks is at least partially responsible for what researchers believe is an increase in use by Baby Boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – of modern-day electronics.

Some of it, too, is that using modern technology, such as iPads, flat-screen TV sets, GPS units and more is just something that older adults want, or need to do.

“The technology is not all that difficult,” said Achenbaum, a professor at the University of Houston who specializes in aging issues. “All you really have to be able to do is to push buttons.”

Using Skype, he explained, is necessary for him because he’s in Houston, and his grand-daughter is in Charlotte, and he wants to see her.

The professor is in what is becoming the main stream of older Americans in adapting to newer technologies. Or in some cases, it’s the main stream of new technologies adapting to those over 50 by making their devices more user friendly, as Achenbaum observed.

The increased usage is borne out by a 2009 study by a marketing and analytical company called Compete, which showed that older Americans are embracing newer technologies.

“The study reveals that the age segments of 50-something, 60-somethings and 70+ use many technologies at or near comparable rates as younger age segments,” the company said.

Chris Collins, director of technology and entertainment for Compete, said recently that while a newer comparable study has not been done, he believes that if anything the conclusions of the 2009 survey are even truer today.

He points to one device, video cameras, that are gaining in popularity because they have been simplified. “A lot of it is simple design,” he said.

One consequence of changes on many products is that sales “are doing very well,” he said.

Studies by the Pew Internet & American Life Project also suggest increased interest and use of new electronic equipment by seniors.

A 2010 survey by Pew showed that social networking by those 50 and older had doubled in the preceding year. The author of that study, Mary Madden, a senior research specialist, said she had every reason to believe that the numbers have increased more in the last year among those 50 and older.

“They have been slower to adapt, and now the gap is closing,” she said. “It’s sort of a no-brainer – it helps them keep up with friends, family and co-workers.”

That can all come at a time of big life changes for older Americans – retirement, perhaps starting a new career and health issues.

“Reconnecting with people from the past is a big part of it,” she said.

The 2010 study says that social networking among internet users – Facebook is one example – doubled in the year preceding the survey, from 22 percent to 42 percent among those age 50 and older.

In addition, the survey of internet users showed 11 percent of adults between 50 and 64 are using Twitter, and 5 percent of those over 65 are doing the same.
Email use has been falling out of favor with the young, but not so much with older adults. The survey of internet users showed 93 percent from ages 50-64 use email, and 89 percent of those over 65 use email.

Pew has also released a survey on Twitter use, and found that 13 percent of online adults use it. That includes 8 percent of those 50-64, and 6 percent over 65.

In yet another survey, Pew found 19 percent of internet users from 50-64 use Skype or Skype-like services, and 18 percent of those over 65 do likewise.

Among those tech-savvy seniors is Jerry Eskenazi, 74, of New York City, who prides himself on his know-how and history with technical devices.

And, like Achenbaum, of Houston, Eskenazi keeps in touch with grandchildren through Skype. He has four, two in London, and two in Florida.

“We talk to them all the time that way,” he said, although he says that the Skype image isn’t exactly like his grandchildren are in the room. It looks more like they are in outer space, he said. Still, he’s pleased that it allows him to see his grandchildren growing up.

The fact that the service is free is an added bonus.

Eskenazi, a former New York Times sport writer, is also proud of the fact that he and his wife Rosalind, 72, both own iPhones, both have new MAC computers, and that they tweet and text with their grandchildren as well.

His background includes a memorable moment for him when, he said, he became the first Times reporter to transmit a story by computer, in 1974. He remembered that he had to lug a 25-pound box that was state-of-the-art portable computing at the time out to a football training camp on Long Island. The first attempts to transmit failed, he said, until they discovered that the noise of a jackhammer outside was interfering with the telephone hook-up.

Now, he is surrounded by technical devices, including his wireless internet link, his flat-screen TV, and an iPod.

That’s all a long way from an observation of older adults by Achenbaum: “The stereotype is that we are all Luddites, that we’re stupid.”

Not anymore.

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