Defrag Blog

I’m just off the phone with Buzz Bruggeman of ActiveWords. I’ve known Buzz for some time (he’s one of those ultra-connected guys that always seems to be thinking about edgy things), and I’m very glad to be getting Buzz involved in a discussion topic for Defrag.

A few months back, Buzz approached me with this conundrum: Why is it that technology companies largely ignore marketing to people over the age of 58 (or 60)? These are precisely the people that have the time, capital and desire for learning and adopting new products. And yet, the iPad commercials are all aimed at hip, young, twenty-somethings.

I think it’s a fascinating question. One that plays not only to the consumer angle, but also to the “adoption gap” problem that is so prevalent in the enterprise 2.0 space. After all, our undeniable modern reality is that many people are going to be working into their 70’s. With that in mind - when’s the last time an “enterprise 2.0″ company thought about usability of their product through the lens of a 68 year old employee. I’m betting something like never (okay, hardly ever).

Plus, I can’t think of the last time a tech conference actually addressed technology and age.

So, we’re gonna. Buzz is in charge of organizing the panel (buzz@activewords.com) - so hit him up if you’ve got ideas.