Not all on the same page: e-book adoption and technology exploration by seniors

Introduction. This paper aims to understand the adoption of e-books and ereaders by persons aged sixty and above. This includes an investigation into where seniors are in the stages of e-book adoption. Method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in a midsize city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Analysis. Interviews were transcribed, and coded using grounded theory. Rogers's model of the innovation-decision process was used to inform the data analysis process. Results. The results show three key factors affecting adoption: longing for materiality, technology confidence, and technology exploration. While seniors are interested in e-books and e-readers, see many benefits to their use, and are curious about how they function, the majority perceive this technology as being primarily appropriate for younger generations. Conclusion. The findings have implications for our understanding of the diffusion of innovations amongst the senior population and the development of services geared toward them. E-books and e-readers are technologies that could prove beneficial, aiding with issues related to both portability and convenience. However, e-books do not allow for the sharing of books that this population is accustomed to, and many of them are still on the fence about fully adopting this tool into their reading practices.