{"id":30459,"date":"2012-07-06T19:46:35","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T18:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=30459"},"modified":"2012-07-06T20:04:24","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T19:04:24","slug":"todays-boomers-contributing-savvy-buying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/todays-boomers-contributing-savvy-buying\/","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s Boomers \u2013 Contributing,  Savvy, Buying"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                                                                       google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">The following is by G. A . &#8220;Andy&#8221; Marken, President of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.markencom.com\/index.htm\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.markencom.com\/index.htm', 'Marken Communications']);\" ><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">Marken Communications<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"> Inc. He has kindly given us permission to republish his thought-provoking article. As with everything that we publish at AlienBabelTech, the opinions expressed are solely those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and the <strong>opinions of the rest of the ABT staff.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"> \u2013Mark Poppin,<\/span> <span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">ABT Senior Editor<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Green Boomers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30460\" title=\"Untitled-1\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-11.jpg?resize=410%2C299\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-11.jpg 410w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-11-300x218.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>\u00a0<em>\u201cI was there, I can prove it! When I was a kid, you could buy meat anywhere! Eggs they had, real butter! Not this&#8230; crap!\u201d<\/em> <strong>\u2013 Sol, \u201c<em>Soylent Green<\/em>,\u201d MGM, 1973<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>A few months ago, we read a mouse type news item \u2013 with our glasses on \u2013 that noted we had just passed the seven billion mark of humans on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>We were a little worried, being in the boomer category until we heard Dr. Peter Diamandis, co-founder of SingularityUniversity(check Wikipedia), give a presentation on <strong><em>Abundance.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The truth is, boomers are not only a huge segment of the world population.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re living longer.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re productive longer than previous generations.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re abundantly tech savvy.<\/p>\n<p>Best of all, they\u2019re big spenders &#8212; not just for themselves but for the C generation (i\/sub-Y generation).<\/p>\n<p>True, marketing people often focus on the Gen X, Y markets to sell stuff, while senior managers are looking around and seeing they\u2019re edging toward a skills shortage.<\/p>\n<p>And it isn\u2019t a problem facing just one country; it has global implications because no nation can produce enough creativity, talent, knowledge to meet the marketplace\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n<p>It is true that every country has major unemployment issues; but usually these groups don\u2019t have the training or the skills needed for the challenges that lie ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Professional services company Deloitte noted that while for the past three years, firms were focused on reducing headcount; today, companies are faced with the bleak possibility of not being able to fill key positions with the experience, expertise needed today and tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shortages Remain<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to Deloitte, one-third of US manufacturing companies are suffering from a shortage of <strong>qualified<\/strong> workers (engineers, scientists, designers, senior technicians); 38 per cent of the rest expect shortages.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no quick, easy fix because young people have shied away from education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, that\u2019s not really true globally.<\/p>\n<p>China and India are focused on training the next generations of engineers; but for the rest of the industrial world, it\u2019s still bleak.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than get into a war for talent or accept less than qualified employees, companies are eyeing boomers, not just as potential customers, but also hanging around to develop the next generation(s) of newer, better, more exciting products, services, technologies.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, pre-, early boomers are hanging around the workplace.<\/p>\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 have you seen your 401K lately?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 companies are making it \u201cattractive\u201d to keep all of that expertise, experience from walking out the front door en masse<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 they aren\u2019t old mentally or physically &#8212; according to a Pew Research study nearly half of the 50 plus respondents feel at least 10 years younger than their chronological age<\/p>\n<p>So if you feel younger, want to\/can\/need to contribute to an organization\u2019s growth\/profitability; it\u2019s important to stay abreast of our constantly changing technology.<\/p>\n<p>And\u2026they do!<\/p>\n<p>Our kids don\u2019t like to hear it, but devices have become popular across generations.<\/p>\n<p>A majority of adults now own cell phones, laptops, tablets, desktop computers.<\/p>\n<p>True, younger adults are leaders when it comes to mobile technology, preferring laptops to desktops, smartphones for practically everything &#8212; internet, email, music, games video \u2013 and increasingly, tablets (iPad) for well just more of the same thing.<strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30461\" title=\"Untitled-2\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-2.jpg?resize=478%2C357\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-2.jpg 478w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-2-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>On-the-Go \u2013 <\/strong><em>Home and mobile technology is increasingly blind to age differences.\u00a0 The devices are easier to use and becoming indispensible to the way people work, play and entertain.\u00a0 Especially since young people look and feel more than their age and boomers plus feel younger than their chronological age.<\/em>\u00a0 <strong>Source \u2013 Pew Research<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Among the findings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cell phones (increasingly, smartphones) are the most \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 popular device among adults (85 percent own at least one) who prefer \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 non-voice (pictures \u2013 76%, texting \u2013 72%) to calls<\/li>\n<li>Far from dead, desktop computers are still the most \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 popular with adults ages 35-65 &#8211;\u00a0 69% \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of Gen X, 65% of Younger Boomers, 64% of Older Boomers<\/li>\n<li>Millennials, C Geners are more likely to own a laptop or \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tablet (70% laptop, 57% desktop, 10% tablet.<\/li>\n<li>Tablets are rapidly increasing in popularity with \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 adults 65 and younger usually as their third screen device<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In it Together<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to being extremely comfortable with today\u2019s constantly changing mobile technologies, the youngest and oldest generations are online and active.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30462\" title=\"Untitled-3\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-3.jpg?resize=550%2C308\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-3.jpg 550w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-3-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Socially Involved <em>\u2013 <\/em><\/strong><em>With major and niche social media sites constantly adding services and capabilities, they\u2019re becoming a great way for people to stay in touch \u2013 friends, family, former business associates, professionals, school buddies. Almost any segment you want to connect with is on the web.<\/em>\u00a0 <strong>Source \u2013 Anderson Analytics<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The online activates are pretty similar across all age groups:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Email<\/li>\n<li>Search engine use<\/li>\n<li>Seeking health information<\/li>\n<li>Getting news<\/li>\n<li>Buying products<\/li>\n<li>Making travel reservations or purchases<\/li>\n<li>Doing online banking<\/li>\n<li>Looking for religious information<\/li>\n<li>Rating products, services, or people<\/li>\n<li>Making online charitable donations<\/li>\n<li>Downloading podcasts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even in areas dominated by the younger generations, the tested generations are making gains in such areas as online communication\/entertainment activities&#8211;especially in using social media sites.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30463\" title=\"Untitled-4\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-4.jpg?resize=318%2C465\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-4.jpg 318w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-4-205x300.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>\u00a0Source \u2013PewResearch Center\u2019s Internet &amp; American Life Project<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>They Know You \u2013 <\/strong><em>The one fact that we can all agree with when it comes to the Internet and social sites is that the organizations can very precisely identify you by your key information \u2013 sex, age, race, income, education, you name it.\u00a0 This enables people with like interests to associate on the Web right along with interested advertisers.<\/em>\u00a0 <strong>Source \u2013 Pew Research<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In addition to staying current with today\u2019s mobile world and staying in touch, the growing boomer population also uses its purchasing power to buy environmentally safe brands, according to research conducted by Focalyst.<\/p>\n<p>Sorta\u2019 figures if you\u2019re going to hang around longer, you probably need to pay a little closer attention to your environment.<\/p>\n<p>This large, green boomer population is often more demanding of quality in the products and services they buy (and they decidedly understand the differences in quality).<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30464\" title=\"Untitled-5\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-5.jpg?resize=385%2C354\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-5.jpg 385w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-5-300x275.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">\u00a0<strong>Environmental Concern \u2013 <\/strong><em>Regardless of the generation, men and women are interested in carrying out activities that will protect our environment and improve their individual quality of life.\u00a0 <\/em><strong>Source \u2013 Pew Research<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The good news is they also have a greater brand loyalty.<\/p>\n<p>A number of researchers speculate that buying environmentally safe brands correlates with age, and mature consumers are more aware of their legacy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Green, Flush<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Other key Focalyst findings include:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211;\u00a0 Green boomers watch less television, spend more time online.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; \u00a0Boomers are increasingly watching\/posting videos, playing video games, connecting across generations on social sites.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; \u00a0Surprisingly, boomers with annual incomes of less than $50,000 are more \u201cgreen\u201d than boomers with incomes of over $150,000 (57% vs. 50%).<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30465\" title=\"Untitled-6\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-6.jpg?resize=550%2C292\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-6.jpg 550w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-6-300x159.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>No Rocking Chair \u2013 <\/strong><em>Boomers have traded their TV time for surfing time on their devices and the Internet.\u00a0 The ability to thoroughly research products\/services before they make a purchase for themselves or their family has become an important tool that they use regularly.\u00a0 In addition, they continue to have an interest in learning more about the world around them.<\/em>\u00a0 <strong>Source \u2013 Focalyst<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The number of consumers ages 50 and over will increase from 94 million in 2008 to about 119 million in 2020 &#8212; a 26-percent increase.<\/p>\n<p>In theU.S., they represent 31 percent of theU.S.population.<\/p>\n<p>By 2020, they will increase to 35 percent.<\/p>\n<p>There a lot of times you question it; but as Dr. Diamandis and McKinsey note, the older population is sizable both in numbers and income.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, they\u2019re an important market segment for consumer technologies.<\/p>\n<p>The CEA noted in their \u201cGreying Gadgets\u201d study that Americans over 50 are comfortable shopping for\/using\/working with consumer electronics.<\/p>\n<p>Our kids never knew a world without DVRs, Internet, cellphones, mobile everything\u2026we can\u2019t imagine a world without them.<\/p>\n<p>While they start from a lower user base, boomers are embracing technology 20 times faster than the younger generation, according to Accenture:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; 67 percent increase in reading blogs, listening to potcasts compared to one percent increase for Gen Yers<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; 59 percent increase in social net connections compared to two percent increase<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; 52 percent increase in playing video games on their mobile device compared to two percent<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; 49 percent increase in listening to music on iPod or portable player compared to 12 percent increase<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8211; 35 percent increase in watching\/posting videos compared to two percent increase<\/p>\n<p>Since 1990, the number of boomers has held pretty steady in theU.S., but it will start rising again this year as the country\u2019s first true baby boomers turn 65.\u00a0 According to Pew Research projections, one-in-five Americans will be over age 65 by 2050.<\/p>\n<p>This will put theU.S.in roughly the same positionJapan,ItalyandGermany\u2013the three \u201coldest\u201d large countries in the world\u2013are in today. And with a global population over seven billion that puts a strain on everyone to be as overly productive as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, we have a few years before we hit that mark; but it\u2019s still great see boomers will continue to make contributions and hear Dr. Diamandis explain we\u2019ll solve the challenges that lie ahead.<\/p>\n<p>It has to because as Det. Thorn pointed out, <em>\u201cYou know, there are 20 million guys out of work in Manhattan alone just waiting for my job.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30466\" title=\"Untitled-7\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-7.jpg?resize=312%2C267\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-7.jpg 312w, https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-7-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 312px) 100vw, 312px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>\u00a0He also knew the main ingredients in Soylent Green.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re a vegetarian!<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"># # #<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>by: G.A. &#8220;Andy&#8221; Marken<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong> President<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong> Marken Communications Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong> <a href=\"mailto:Andy@markencom.com\">Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following is by G. A . &#8220;Andy&#8221; Marken, President of Marken Communications Inc. He has kindly given us permission to republish his thought-provoking article. As with everything that we publish at AlienBabelTech, the&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":30466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533],"tags":[3365,5313,5314],"class_list":["post-30459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","tag-baby-boomers","tag-mobile-technology","tag-social-network-environmental-concerns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}