Jupiter: Seniors and Mobile Services

Julie Ask posts at the Jupiter Analyst Weblogs about her real world experiences using SMS and other mobile services while accompanied by her 85 year old grandmother. Ask finds that her grandparents are probably not the prime target audience for consuming mobile data and services. She concludes that:

Our consumer surveys test up to the age group, 55 years or older. Among those in this age group, 14 percent have used SMS. This is also an online survey so excludes those who may own cell phones, but are not online. My grandmother is 85. She's not online, but my grandfather was a regular user of WebTV until recently. They have a VCR, digital cable and cell phone which probably makes them tech-savvier than most in their late eighties.