The internet can't really fix your problems if you don't use it in the first place. Or maybe it could, but you will never know better.
I'm 60 years old, and while I'm somewhat unusual in that computers and tech have been part of my life, both personally and professionally, for half my life, I would have to think pretty hard to come up with someone in my circle of friends and relatives in the 50-80 age range who doesn't use the Internet. My 80 year old aunt has a desktop, an iPad and an iPhone. My 81 year old landlady spends an average of 4 hours a day online. Just examples.
We could debate their "expertise" in using the Web or software/apps in general. On the whole, given the kinds of questions I end up fielding from them and others, it isn't particularly high. But then again, that may actually be the fault of the software itself, much of which is difficult for someone for whom tech is not an abiding interest to understand. I spent 10 years reviewing software full-time, and it was often a struggle for me to forget what I knew and judge it from the standpoint of the average Joe.
At any rate, I think it's a canard to say that older adults (or even senior citizens, since I guess I am one now) don't use the Internet. They may not use it the way someone younger does, but that doesn't mean they don't use it.
I suppose SV companies are going to tend to solve young adult problems because they are composed of young adults. It's what they know.
>I suppose SV companies are going to tend to solve young adult problems because they are composed of young adults. It's what they know.
It's not only what they know, it's what they think is cool as well. And that's okay - I think a lot of the software I look at today is cool, too. But is it useful to me? Nope.
I'm no student of business, but it does seem to me that historically an awful lot of companies have been started by young people who saw a market or niche that needed to be filled, and filled it. How hard would it be for a start-up (or existing tech company) to get a couple of panels of 50-80 year olds together and find out what they'd find useful, and then produce it? You can make the argument that 20-somethings have more disposable income, but I doubt a couple dollar smartphone app or ten buck piece of desktop software is going to break any senior citizen's budget.
We are software people, we solve problems with software - not just with the internet, and not just for the mass public.
Today was the launch day of the bike-sharing program in NYC and I've taken a few bikes out for a spin. The whole system is plugged into a (supposedly) impressive backend that will allow the city to gain an unprecedented insight into cycling patterns and drive the future of not only bike sharing but also cycling infrastructure development in general.
Why is it that when we think "startup" we don't think about problems like this, and instead we only think about mass market consumer internet applications used exclusively by young adults?
We solve problems with software. The fact that we've pigeonholed Silicon Valley into strictly solving end-user-young-adult-internet problems is our fault.