◎黃裕美輯譯

Here is what you have to look for-ward to as you enter your 60s and 70s: deciphering conversations at cocktail parties becomes difficult; you cannot remember where you put your keys; and your grandchildren think you are a computer klutz. Fortunately, tech-nologies are appearing that can reme-dy some of these shortcomings, help-ing those in their 60s maintain their youthful self-images.

當你六、七十歲時，要有心理準備：要聽懂雞尾酒會的對話愈來愈難；不記得鑰匙放在哪裡；孫子孫女認為你是電腦白痴。幸好，科技推陳出新，已經足以彌補一些不足，幫那些耳順之年的老者，維持年輕的自我形象。

"The new market is old age," said Joseph F. Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at M.I.T. "Baby boomers provide a perpetually youthful market." They are, says Coughlin, himself a spry 47, "looking for technology to stay independent, engaged, well and vital."

「新市場鎖定老年人」麻省理工學院老年實驗室主任柯夫林說。「嬰兒潮世代提供一個永遠年輕的市場。」本身仍身手敏捷、47歲的柯夫林表示，他們「正在找一種能維持獨立自主，和人往來接觸，健康又充滿活力的科技。」

As most of them have finished rearing their children and paying for their education, they also have a lot of money, said Coughlin, and they are looking to spend it on technology. The companies that are successfully marketing new technologies to older people are not those that have created high-tech ways for seniors to open jars. Rather, they are the ones that have learned to create products that span generations, providing style and utility to a range of age groups.

當他們大半把孩子撫養長大，並付錢讓他們完成學業時，手頭還有很多錢，柯夫林說，他們希望把錢花在科技上。但成功推銷科技給老年人的企業，並非那些發明讓老年人可以用高科技方法打開瓶子的公司；而是那些學會創造可以橫跨好幾個世代，提供適合不同年齡層族群風格和用途的企業。

An obvious success story is Apple; its iPod line is easy to use and stylish, and its appeal crosses generations. Apple retail stores are clean, sleek and inviting. Older people enjoy en-tering them because "The Apple stores make you feel smart," Coughlin said.

顯然最成功的首推蘋果，它的i-Pod系列產品好用又時髦、流行、漂亮，可以投不同世代的喜好。蘋果零售店面乾淨、雅致、時髦，很吸引人。年長的人喜歡上門，因為「蘋果的店面讓你覺得很有智慧，」柯夫林說。

Similar trends are happening in the auto industry. In the 1990s, the in-side joke at Ford was that the Lin-coln Town Car appealed to people whose next car would be a hearse. Automobile manufacturers have moved from creating cars for older people to creating cars that can cross generations.

汽車業也出現類似的趨勢。1990年代，福特汽車流傳一則圈內人的笑話：看上林肯豪華加長禮賓車的車主，他們下一輛車就是靈車。汽車製造商已經從為老年人打造汽車，轉而推出跨世代汽車。

An important future trend, said Eero Laansoo, a human factors en-gineer for Ford, will be the person-alized car, which gives drivers the ability to change instrument fonts and colors to make gauges and dials easier to read. The rash of accident avoid-ance technologies — like blind spot detection, lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control (which slows your vehicle down if you get too close to another car) — cross age boundaries in their appeal. Teenage drivers can use them, and they can also give confidence to aging drivers with declining motor skills.

福特人因工程師朗索指出，未來一項重大的趨勢將是個性化汽車，駕駛人可以隨心所欲更換儀表字體大小和顏色，以便於看清儀表和刻度盤。一連串避免交通意外事故的科技，像偵測到車輛等視力以外的盲區、車道偏離預警系統及適應性定速巡航系統（當你的車未和其他車輛保持安全距離時會自動減速），這些都是跨越不同年齡障礙的訴求。十來歲的駕駛人可以使用這些功能，上了年紀的族群因開車技術退化也可以提高信心。

Here are some current technology products created for aging consumers:

以下是當前一些針對老年消費者所設計的產品：

CELLPHONES: As growth in the mobile phone market slows because most people have bought one, carriers are looking to expand it by focusing on the specific needs of older con-sumers. The Jitterbug clamshell phone made by Samsung ($147, not includ-ing a service plan), does not reveal it-self as a phone for older people until it is opened, displaying oversize buttons and large type on the screen. One-touch buttons enable easy dial-ing of 911 and other emergency numbers. The carrier markets the phone to the elderly with ads that ex-plain that consumers can either dial numbers or ask a Jitterbug operator to do it for them. The company says 30 percent chose an operator's help. Full text-messaging will be available next year.

手機：手機市場由於大部分人已經買了一支手機而成長減緩，業者希望針對年長消費者的特殊需求再將餅做大。Jitterbug貝殼手機由三星電子製造（147美元，不包括消費者服務方案），要打開才看得出針對老年人的設計，它按鈕特大，螢幕字體也放大。另有一鍵按鈕，可以輕鬆接通911及其他緊急電話。業者在推銷這款手機給老年人時還打廣告，解釋消費者可以自己撥號或請Jitterbug接線生代勞，三星說，有三成選擇由接線生幫忙。明年並將提供完整的文字簡訊服務。

Robots: IRobot, the company that made a name for itself with its Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, has created the Looj, a robotic gutter cleaner. The device, which sells for $100 to $170 depending on features, saves a person the trouble of climbing a ladder repeatedly. Later this year, iRobot will market the ConnectR, its "virtual visiting robot," which will al-low people to remotely view and speak to others. With its activities managed from a Web site at a remote location, the robot can be told to travel around a house to make sure that its occupants are safe, to read a story to a child or to make sure the Roomba is busy cleaning floors.

機器人：因製造機器人真空吸塵器Roomba而聲名大噪的IRobot公司又創造另一款機器人Looj，一種清溝槽的機器手臂，視特性不同，售價在100到170美元之間，可以使人不用老是爬樓梯。今年底，iRobot將主打ConnectR，一種「虛擬訪問機器人」，讓人可以遠距看見別人並和對方談話。由於這種機器人的活動是由位於遠處的一個網站管理，機器人會聽命在屋裡到處走動，確定住戶都很安全，也會讀故事給孩子聽，或看好Roomba清理地板。

Another problem of aging is for-getfulness. A number of automated pill dispensers that verbally alert users when to take their medication are available. From Timex, the Daily Medication Manager holds medica-tion and can alert a user to take dosages up to four times a day.

老化另一個問題是健忘。市面上有幾種自動置藥盒，會口頭提醒使用者何時服藥。天美時的「每天服藥管家」主管藥物治療，一天最多可提醒使用者服藥四次。

For those who misplace items, the Loc8tor, starting at about $100, can find up to seven items.

對那些忘了東西放在哪裡的人，100美元起跳的Loc8tor，至少可以找到七種物件。