Microsoft: Ignoring Baby Boomers a Serious Mistake

Baby boomers have a few indisputable aces up their sleeves that make them an indispensable consumer segment for any technology vendors to focus on. In fact, ignoring people over 50 would be a serious mistake for companies designing and producing the devices, software and services of tomorrow, Microsoft warned, citing the conclusions from a series of focus group-like discussions it sponsored together with AARP. According to the Redmond company, the sheer numbers of baby boomers, along with the buying power they represent, and in concert with their tangibly high interest in technology, are the characteristics that recommend them as a determinant factor to drive the evolution of technology products and services.

The “Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation” report which was produced as a result of the discussions Microsoft and AARP sponsored with baby boomers in San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and New York in May 2009, indicates that the population over 50 is simply enthusiastic about adopting new technology, even though various devices/software/services were invented before they came of age. The Redmond giant managed to stress the fact that while baby boomers are quick to warm up to technology, they require it to be simple and to inherently enrich their lives.

“Baby boomers are savvy consumers who expect technology to be safe, easy to use and flexible enough to adapt to their individual needs,” explained Rob Sinclair, director of Accessibility at Microsoft. “When new technology products enter the market — products that are well-designed and can help create the life baby boomers want — they are enthusiastic early adopters who help lead the way.”

One critical aspect that separates baby boomers from millennials—people now in their teens and 20s, is that while the latter group if formed of adepts of always-on, always-connected technology, people over 50 have a different perspective, requiring devices, software and services to be less intrusive in their day-to-day lives.

“Baby boomers see technology as a gift, not a given, so they are less likely than younger consumers to take it for granted. At the same time, baby boomers aren’t dazzled by every new gadget that comes along. Yet by embracing innovative new services and devices, and using them in unexpected ways to enhance their lifestyles and values, baby boomers are having a tremendous influence on emerging technologies,” said author and futurist Michael Rogers, who led the sessions sponsored by Microsoft and AARP.

To put into simple terms, it all comes down to money. Current estimates indicate that next year, no less than one-third of the U.S. population will be in the over-50 age group. Rogers notes that over 100 million Americans will literally have 50% of the country’s discretionary spending at their fingertips. In this context, it is critical for technology companies to start tailoring products to a consumer segment which is poised to outspend younger adults by $1 trillion in 2010.

The conclusions of the study clearly point out that baby boomers represent not only an immense business opportunity for technology companies, but that they are also capable of driving the evolution of devices, software and services in accordance to their needs. And while simplicity is a core concept, technology vendors should steer clear of oversimplifying products, as if they were addressing technology challenged individuals. Rogers emphasized that the baby boomers of 2010 are people that witnessed the development of the PC from the get go, but that are in no way strangers to technology.