Posted on: Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Microsoft targets older workers

By Allison Linn
Associated Press

SEATTLE — Has the print on your computer screen gotten too small? Is that auto-alert you've set up too faint? Can't find your cursor?

Hey there, Microsoft says, maybe it's not the technology troubling you, but the inevitable signs of aging.

Microsoft has a new campaign aimed at workers the software company says "may be entering the 'awkward age of computing.' "

The technology it's touting, such as text magnification, speech recognition and filter keys, already exist in Microsoft products, and was developed mainly for disabled users. But with the U.S. workforce getting older, Microsoft figures more people are finding their computer has become "awkward."

The technology behemoth has set up a Web site and is hoping to attract baby boomers and their employers with tips, studies and cartoons that poke fun at getting old. The target audience is workers over age 40 — a group that includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who will turn 50 next year.

"Whether it's rock 'n' roll or hot tubs, or now face lifts and Viagra, the boomers have had a strong impact on changing our culture, and so we do believe that they will change the culture as they move later in life," said Madelyn Bryant McIntire, director of the Accessible Technology Group at Microsoft.

Matt Rosoff, an analyst with the independent research firm Directions on Microsoft, said the campaign is also a good way for the company to try to get more use out of products it's already spent money developing.

Rosoff said it makes good business sense to think of ways to appeal to older computer users, but he's not sure accessibility is the biggest issue for that group. Older computer users are more concerned with whether computers are dependable, safe and as easy to use as, say, a television or a radio.