Tech Firms Court Aging Boomers

Technology companies are beginning to target the over-50 audience, as was on display at the 2007 AARP convention last month, where Microsoft, Google, and for the first time, Nintendo all pitched products to the retiree crowd. "This is the first tech-savvy retirement generation...they have been living with it for the past 15 years," an industry researcher told cNet.

Indeed, a majority of 70+ people now commonly own cell phones and use the Internet.  Products like Nintendo's Wii-fit, which uses the motion control hardware to guide users in yoga and stretching, are tailored to an older audience. But this group generally shuns excessively dumbed-down "geezerware," so companies are also expanding the accessibility of products designed for all ages. (More AARP stories.)