Age need not be barrier to surfing on the web

The worldwide web has revolutionised life as we know it. The vast resources of the entire world are now available instantly to all online at the touch of a few buttons. There's no more trekking to the library or looking up an encyclopedia to check that obscure fact.

E-mail is a communication method more convenient than we could ever have imagined 10 years ago. Whether it's to the other side of the globe or across town, the exchange of words and thoughts is gratifyingly immediate - and so inexpensive.

The magic that was the fax machine now seems slightly twee and dated in comparison. These machines hunch sulkily in the corner of the office and are used only for those particular and increasingly rare items that simply cannot be e-mailed.

Then there are the chatrooms where groups of people can talk live online and in real time to anyone, anywhere.

Who needs real friends when for the price of a log-in you have an instant bunch of people on the web to bond with? Somehow, people from Albuquerque or Essex seem far more interesting than someone from Tirau or Gore.

And, of course, these days you can complete almost any chore or interaction at the click of a mouse. You can pay bills, book holidays and order the groceries without taking off your fluffy pink slippers.

Remember the doomsayers who predicted that we would all end up as virtual people living virtual lives cut off from others? Far from it, the internet has actually freed up time that we previously spent in menial life-administration duties and given us more opportunity to socialise and pursue recreational activities.

It's all so amazingly positive that one of the main drawbacks is the fact that it seems to be inaccessible to one important and growing sector of society.

It's ironic that the very group which would benefit most from this life-altering technology is the same group which would wedge cheese into a rusty trap if you so much as mentioned a mouse to them.

I'm talking about the elderly. Our ageing population is a well-documented trend and it's a pity that the older generation is missing out on the advantages of modern technology.

Elderly people may have lost their life-partner and be facing a solitary existence. Just think of the window to the world a chatroom would open for them.

Day or night, they would never be lonely again. There would always be someone - in some time zone - to talk with online.

This is a group, too, that often faces immobility. Walking may be difficult and perhaps they can no longer drive a car. They are perfect candidates for online banking services and supermarket shopping.

Instead, they struggle down to the local bank branch - at risk of falling or being knocked over - just to check their account balance.

And with e-mail they could stay in touch with that elusive great-grandchild on his or her OE, or even just with their own children, without having to factor the cost of telephone calls into a modest budget. And e-mail is the perfect medium for the hard of hearing.

There are certainly barriers to be overcome to make this technology available to the older generation.

For a start, the elderly need to get over their grave mistrust of anything new. Fear and suspicion, though, are understandable in a sector that probably still considers Alexander Graham Bell to be at the forefront of modern communication.

But the whole development of the technology hasn't exactly been targeted towards the elderly.

The internet-related jargon certainly isn't user-friendly at first glance. Search engines and ISPs sound a lot more daunting before you work out what they actually are.

And terms such as "surfing the web" and "spamming" are guaranteed to turn any self-respecting octogenarian off this internet business.

Sure, adaptations to the standard equipment may be needed for stiff fingers and failing eyesight, and special training programmes would be required to teach people - who may never even have used an automatic teller machine - the fundamentals of computers.

And, of course, the hardware is expensive. But it's also an investment that will last for many years.

It's easy to say that time will slowly remove this issue, but it won't appear overnight.

In fact, it could be easily another 20 or 30 years before most 80-somethings are fully conversant with the technology.

So come on, some budding entrepreneur - be part of the dot.com boom and make the worldwide web appealing to the elderly. Perhaps Meals on Wheels could be supplemented by Computers on Scooters. It has a nice ring to it.

* Shelley Bridgeman is an Auckland writer.