New PC to encourage Older Users

A new computer aimed at people aged over 60 who are unfamiliar with PCs and the internet has been unveiled.

The simplified desktop - called SimplicITy - has just six buttons directing users to basic tasks such as e-mail and chat. The computer comes pre-loaded with 17 video tutorials from television presenter Valerie Singleton. More than 6 million people over the age of 65 have never used the internet, according to government figures.

'Social benefit'
Each made-to-order computer takes two weeks from request to delivery and can be ordered by post. The computer has been developed in partnership with Wessex Computers and a website aimed at older people called discount-age, set up by Ms Singleton. She said she was shocked by the number of older people who do not have computers - a survey by the Office for National Statistics in August 2009 revealed that 6.4 million people over 65 have never used the internet.

"I think people just don't understand them," she told BBC News. "I've been using a computer for quite some time and I don't understand everything. Every time I learn a new thing to do on my computer I have to write it down so that I can remember it."

Associated Link: More: New PC to encourage Older Users

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