There is a regional divide in the number of over-65s who use the Internet.
That is according to research carried out by Age UK, which found that more than double the number of over-65s use online services in Surrey than in Tyne and Wear.
The charity also launched ITea and Biscuit Week, urging older people who have not used technology, such as the Internet and smartphones, to try it out.
But is one week enough to ensure that older people won’t be left behind? I don’t think so, for the reason that just as older people forever need help with shopping bags and walking down the stairs, constant support, not just a week, is also required with computers.
My granny’s attempts to become computer literate have been difficult, frustrating and even comical at times. It’s taken a year for my family to teach her to use the simplest of phones and she’s still trying to master sending a text message.
Although she may never get to grips with the technicalities, she can recite countless poems learnt by heart from her youth, explain first-hand social history, quote lots of Dickens and Shakespeare as well as cook and bake any cuisine from scratch, she’ll never use Google no matter how many times we show her.
