discussion keeps the world turning this is roundtable We get our parents or grandparents smart speakers,
health trackers, delivery apps, hoping age-friendly tech will make their lives easier.
But after a while, they stop using them.
Not because they don't care, but because the tech feels too fast, too tiny, too confusing.
With parts of the world rapidly turning gray,
maybe it's time we stop talking or asking the elderly to catch up and start designing tech that actually keeps up.
Coming to you live from Beijing, this is Roundtable.
I'm He Young.
For today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherley and Ding Heng in the studio.
First on today's show.
We buy smart gadgets, set them up,
and feel like we've future-proofed our parents' or grandparents' lives.
But give it three months, and most of those devices are quietly collecting dust.
According to 2023 data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,
57% of age-friendly smart products in China go unused.
A more recent survey by 36KR puts that number even higher at around 83%.
Why?
Because many tech designs still assume everyone has the eyesight of a hawk and the reflexes of a gamer.
Comedian Ronnie Chung captured this perfectly.
He once joked that providing tech support for your mom over the phone is the most excruciating form of torture.