Review of Ageing and Technology: Perspectives from the Social Sciences

Within the context of a booming increase in the senior population the authors assert that until recently technology and technological advances have largely ignored the ‘human factor’, with the ageing individual viewed as a malfunctioning machine whose diagnosed deficiencies and limitations must be overcome with the support of technological devices. While technological advances have undoubtedly contributed to an improvement in the lives of the elderly, posited within the subjective needs and fears of human beings, this publication approaches the development and use of technology from the human perspective. Through the adoption of this approach the authors seek to sensitise us to the ambivalences involved in the interaction between humans and technology. As the title suggests, this is a book that serves to explore technology within the context of ‘ageing’.