Why does it have to affect only 89 year old people? This crap happens to me all the time and I'm 29. A page is loading slowly and I click what I think is the actual content, right as an add is being rendered.
Even worse is when an add overlays the entire page and I can't click around it. It's infuriating.
It peeves me somewhat just how consistently people talking about design for people who are not tech savvy invoke older people and more often women than men. "So easy your grandma/mom could use it" does convey a lot of information but only because I know about the cultural sexism and ageism that is being employed to make the point.
And in this article I think their ageism lead to a logical failure: they say the number of old people is growing, as if people are losing their abilities as they age (which is of course true but not really relevant to "have you chosen to learn to use computers"). Amusingly, they similtaensously make this logical error and acknowledge it by saying eventually all old people will be digital natives... But in the meantime the population is growing.
I'm the same age, and I have this problem too. Beautifully illustrated by the Guardian's website (sorry for Vine, it was the easiest\quickest way to share this with a friend when i made it): https://vine.co/v/hKOBYhVB2mH
True, though sometimes I do feel that a lot of people in there don't realize what they're really doing. It's a kind of a reality distortion field I see around marketers; some of them really seem to think that what they're doing is valuable for the consumer.
Well, it's their job to make those numbers go up. Which, yes, is in direct conflict with the best interest of their users. But when metrics are set and their livelihood depends on making people click ads more... there you go. The reality distortion field allows them to remain relevant in the eyes of management, as well as feeling a sense of purpose in their role.
Even worse is when an add overlays the entire page and I can't click around it. It's infuriating.