Linden Ponds Residents Keep Up With Technology

Don’t tell resident Nalora Steele that she’s too old for new, up-to-date technology.  The 79-year-old resident knows how to email on her laptop and she recently bought an iPad for reading.

“I’m not the only one at Linden Ponds,” Steele said.  “More and more people are getting on to the computer here.”

Linden Ponds is a residential community for people ages 62 and older. Although it may seem unimaginable for some to believe elders above the age of 60 can use a Blackberry, iPad, and Facebook,  this is a common scene at the Hingham living area.

Laurel Morris, age 67, can be spotted calling her children on her Android or Facebooking other Linden Ponds residents using her laptop.  She was introduced to the new technology by her son, who bought her a cell phone and taught her how to use Facebook.

“He keeps me up to date because he thinks it’s cool, and I agree with him,” Morris said.  “It’s fun.”

At Linden Ponds, younger employees teach the residents how to use a computer and residents who are computer-savvy are now running computer help sessions.   Steele said most Linden Ponds residents are willing to learn how to use a computer so they can connect to their grandchildren by using Facebook.

“You have to realize these people were not raised with this technology,” Steele said of the residents.  “It’s so much easier to deal with technology that was there when you were a small child and that you were raised on.  Our generation has done very well using an automobile but my father had to learn how to live in a world using an automobile.”

Steele is still on faculty at Berklee College of Music and when she’s not teaching, she produces shows at Linden Ponds.   In June, Steele will produce a show at the Linden Ponds theatre using new technology for the first time and she couldn’t be more excited.

“There will be three projectors and they are connected to the computer backstage that can project scenery across 44 feet of stage wall,” Steele said.

While more and more residents are catching on, and learning how to surf the web, still most want nothing to do with it.

“A lot of them don’t think they are capable of using a computer but a lot of them really are,” Morris said.  “It all depends on the person.”

Time will tell if Morris can convert her friends and other Linden Ponds residents to 21st century electronics.