There's a familiar joke that older generations often struggle with technology, unable to open a PDF, find Wi-Fi settings, or stop referring to every gaming console as "the Nintendo." This resonates with many families, each having their own story involving a frozen laptop, a stubborn printer, or a password reset that ends up consuming an entire afternoon. The common punchline suggests that older adults simply don't understand technology. However, a more insightful perspective is that many of them know enough to choose to avoid certain aspects.
Much of this avoidance stems from the relentless pace of modern technology. With new apps, logins, scams, subscription rules, and user interfaces constantly emerging, navigating digital life can feel less convenient than it's promised to be. This is relevant in the context of gaming and technology because the same frustrations can be found everywhere, from smart TVs to game launchers. What is often labeled as tech illiteracy may actually be better described as tech exhaustion.
They Use Tech, Just Not Your Tech
The notion that Baby Boomers are primarily offline has long been outdated. According to a report from the Pew Research Center, 95% of U.S. adults use the internet, 90% own a smartphone, and 80% have a high-speed internet subscription at home. While there are still noticeable age gaps in internet usage, the stereotype that older individuals are disconnected from technology is losing its validity.
AARP's 2024 Tech Trends report provides detailed insights into technology use among adults aged 50 and older. It reveals that 89% of individuals in this age group own a smartphone, compared to 90% of those aged 18 to 49. Both groups also reported similar ownership rates for smart TVs and tablets, with 75% owning smart TVs and 59% owning tablets. This data indicates that many older adults are using the same everyday technology as younger generations.
The difference often lies in how different generations use technology. Many Baby Boomers text family members, stream shows, check their bank balances, video call their grandkids, and play a few games without wanting to navigate platforms like Discord, Twitch, cloud saves, or the latest console dashboards. This doesn't mean they are incapable of using technology; rather, they choose to focus on the aspects of the digital world that they find most useful.
Gaming reveals how this stereotype is starting to change. According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2025 report, 49% of Boomers—defined as individuals aged 61 to 79—play video games weekly. The report also found that Boomers and the Silent Generation tend to prefer puzzle and skill-and-chance games, which aligns with the popularity of mobile, word, card, and logic-based games among older audiences.
Modern Tech Is Too Trusting
Some of the resistance to technology stems from legitimate concerns about risk, not laziness. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that consumers aged 60 and older were five times more likely than younger consumers to report losing money to tech support scams in 2024. Older consumers reported losses totaling $159 million due to these scams that year, so their caution regarding pop-ups, links, and remote support is not merely paranoia.
The FBI's 2024 Internet Crime Report highlights growing concerns about online safety for older adults. According to the report, individuals over the age of 60 submitted the highest number of complaints and incurred the most significant financial losses among all age groups, totaling nearly $5 billion. While this doesn't imply that every older person is particularly vulnerable, it does shed light on why some may be cautious about using new apps, responding to payment prompts, dealing with fake support messages, and encountering unfamiliar login screens.
From the outside, this caution may appear to be stubbornness. A younger user might scan a QR code, connect a payment method, and approve a device login without giving it much thought. In contrast, a Baby Boomer may recall a friend who fell victim to clicking the wrong link or calling a fake support number. For some, it's simply a personal security rule.
Older Users Blamed For Bad Design
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Tech companies often describe their products as intuitive, but this usually means they are only familiar to people who already understand the established norms. Elements like a gear icon, a hamburger menu, a swipe gesture, a small close button, or a hidden settings panel may seem obvious to experienced users but can be confusing for others. The W3C notes that age-related changes in vision, hearing, physical mobility, and cognition can significantly affect how older adults navigate the web.
Nielsen Norman Group has documented usability challenges faced by older adults. Their research highlights the barriers present in digital products and emphasizes that older adults are a diverse and growing demographic, rather than a niche audience. This distinction is crucial, especially when websites, apps, and games often use tiny text, vague icons, low contrast, crowded menus, and complex navigation flows.
Games often present various challenges for players. Small subtitles, cluttered heads-up displays (HUDs), overly sensitive menus, difficult-to-remap controls, hidden accessibility settings, and unclear account-linking processes can deter older players before they even experience the game's enjoyable aspects. In contrast, younger players might persist despite these issues because they are more familiar with the genre, hardware, or the platform's culture. Older players, however, may feel that the potential enjoyment isn't worth the hassle.
Asking for Help
There is a social cost associated with asking for help, particularly for many Baby Boomers. They may have experienced less-than-favorable attitudes from younger individuals who mean well but fail to explain anything. After encountering this enough times, admitting that they're bad with technology can become a way for them to avoid embarrassment.
However, this doesn't mean every Boomer is eager to become tech-savvy. Some are stubborn, some are uninterested, and others prefer older tools because they work well enough. The broader trend, though, is more practical than the stereotype suggests. Many Boomers are not rejecting technology outright; rather, they are rejecting confusing designs, constant changes, privacy trade-offs, scam risks, and the feeling that every device comes with added chores.
For gaming and tech companies, this should serve as a valuable lesson. Older users are not outside the target audience, and they are not a lost cause. Improvements such as clearer menus, readable text, honest security prompts, simpler account systems, and more respectful support would benefit everyone, not just Boomers. When technology no longer makes people feel inadequate, much of the perceived tech illiteracy begins to fade.
