But quite honestly, who wants to be old?… To grow old… Perhaps that’s slightly better. In other words, to continue piling on the years, but without having to experience all those things that are generally associated with old age, namely illness, pain and loss. However, just think of the famous painter Marc Chagall who made it all the way to 97 and once said, "People who do not know how to grow old are the same people who did not know how to be young."

A change of scene to an average living room. She spends a couple of hours a day at her little desk. Anne, that’s her name, turned 79 three days ago. When her son went to Australia he advised her to get a computer. To begin with, she was sceptical but then, after an introductory course "for senior citizens", she had not only learned how to stay in touch with her son and his family, she had also familiarized herself with the Internet. First of all, she discovered electronic post, missives that reach the recipient in the blink of an eye, even when the latter is waiting for them on the other side of the world. "Forums" and "weblogs" now offer her a form of self-help. And terms that used to mean nothing to her now come readily because they now mean something concrete; phrases such as "voice over IP", an unbeatably cheap way to make phone calls using the computer. Anne recently discovered "video chats". On the Internet she also stumbled upon the films by "geriatric1927", or Peter from Great Britain. Peter was 79, exactly the same age as Anne, when he started presenting himself on the video platform YouTube. From then on, hundreds of thousands of people saw and listened to Peter, a pensioner, sitting in an armchair in front of patterned wallpaper and talking about his life.

Anne and Peter are not alone in their discoveries. More and more people their age are recognizing the benefits of technical resources. And more and more companies are trying to adapt to the needs of people their age. Some things are being reinterpreted, others developed for the first time. The buzzword here is "eldertronics". What this means is high-tech for the over 50s.