By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY, NSW: Calling all septuagenarians with smartphones, octogenarians with iPads and nonagenarians with netbooks, Telstra is on the hunt for digital natives that remember a time when that phrase meant having fingers and toes.
In a bold move that is sure to lead to grandparents recruiting the little ones for a crash course in computers, Telstra is putting $10,000 on the line for Australia’s most tech savvy senior.
This ‘Retired & Wired’ competition will test our beloved senior citizens in feats of Gen Y strength such as downloading music, blogging and using a Telstra T-Touch Tab. Considering how much trouble some fulltime tech reviewers have had using the Tab for anything productive, anyone born before World War II deserves a knighthood for making use of it.
The official release for this competition says its goal is to “debunk the stereotype that older Australians are more comfortable with a crossword than a smartphone”. Telstra hasn’t always been that committed to debunking stereotypes about senior citizens: just six days ago it launched a new phone targeted at seniors, complete with enormous buttons, large text for easy reading and hearing aid compatibility.
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Here’s Telstra executive director, consumer, Rebekah O’Flaherty talking about the prizes on offer.
“The finalists will each win a Technology Prize Pack consisting of a pre-paid Telstra T-Touch Tab and a pre-paid Telstra Wi-Fi device to help them compete in the finals,” she said.
“And, excitingly, the ultimate winner will walk away with $10,000 in cash and be given a national platform to share their technology tips and tricks.”