An intimate look at what happens when tech evolution outpaces aging adaptability, and how designers can help

I like to think of technology as the fastest-moving train in the world.

Where we sit on this train depends on — just like with real trains — our disposable income and ability. Are we fortunate enough to enjoy the luxuries of dining in first class or are we stuck in the caboose with no AC?

We’re either learning how to board the train, comfortably riding on it, or have temporarily fallen off and are striving to get back on.

At some point, however, for every one of us, the inevitable moment comes late in life when we’re permanently pushed off the train of technology for good. [insert audible gasp]

My husband and I joke that the first thing my daughter saw when she opened her eyes after birth was not me, him, or the doctor. Instead, it was an iPhone. As the nurse placed her into my arms and right before she wondrously gazed up at me, he put the phone in her face to capture the moment.

Her introduction to this crazy world began with the Apple-sponsored train of technology.

Much like my daughter, most of us are also introduced to it from our earliest days. We watch it whizzing by filled with our parents, siblings, and other seemingly smart, fun, and intriguing people around us, each engaged in their own fascinating digital pursuits.

Our youngest years of life are spent learning how to ride the train just like them.

Early stages

Our progress steps as a baby go something like this:

1. Sit
2. Crawl
3. Walk
4. Run fast enough to jump on the train of technology

From toddlerhood to somewhere around retirement, we wake each morning, rushing to catch that same train, riding it until sleep claims us at night. Each sunrise brings new methods of boarding it and new possible destinations. We enthusiastically anticipate discovering what those are.