In part 1 we explored the use of broadband from childhood through to the twenties, in part 2 we’re looking at the 30’s and beyond, from the generations that knew life before the internet shaped our world into what it is today.

You’ve spent most of your life with an active online connection, but have you ever taken a look back at how your online life has changed? And not just being online, but how your reliance on staying connected has changed? From online classrooms to gaming and dating, scrolling social media, using a sat-nav in your car, staying connected to family across the world, working from home, and, in some cases, life support systems. Is it possible to imagine your world disconnected from the Internet?

 

The 30s-40s – Tired, Exhausted and In need of entertainment, and support!

Generation X, or Generation Y, Mum’s & Dad’s to younger generations, were born in the ’80s, the time of Knight Rider and an emerging tech era that, when looking at video cassettes can hardly be imagined. But just 10 years later, the online era began in earnest. Embracing this world, first trying to code a website, animating objects with clip art and the first Hotmail accounts (sounding ancient in today’s world). Remember renting a new movie and getting fined for not returning it in time? They do, and many still owe some late fee’s. Remember bookstores on every high street corner? This age group does. And this understanding of life before online, and life after, informs many of the ways this generation uses broadband today.

Many of Gen X/Y must juggle both family and work life. Great broadband speeds allow them to do what they need to do, when they want, such as:

 

🌐 Family movie nights – streaming or downloading what they want when they want it, including renting the latest Hollywood or Bollywood blockbuster; no DVDs or Videocassettes here.

🌐 Working from home in ‘the new normal’ from the makeshift home office.

🌐 Streaming sports games on the TV, laptop, phone (anywhere they get a chance in between taking the kids to school and making lunches).

🌐 Online games, quizzes and challenges – this has proven so important during the pandemic and is a staple of any parents break on the iPad.

🌐 Online food shopping without having to move from the sofa at the end of a long day of work and childcare.

🌐 Running a business online from the comfort of their home.

🌐 Trying to eBay 80’s items that they hoarded as young adults and think will sell for a fortune today.

🌐 Spying on their friends great holidays and planning their next escape abroad or at home #staycation.

🌐 Online gaming – Don’t pretend the new Call of Duty, Assassins Creed or Fifa was for the kids.

🌐 Connecting with family and friends at the same time across the world on Zoom, Facetime or Facebook just like the Campbells do. See more from the Campbells below.

 

 

 

50s – 60’s  – The New Middle Age? – Getting Rid of the Kids, Buying Better Food and Home Décor – Getting Online and Out There

Although it is a common stereotype that the middle-aged have far lower rates of technology adoption than millennials and Generation Z, this group is undoubtedly more digitally connected than ever before.

Sometimes referred to as the sandwich generation, the need for great broadband at this stage of life is ever-growing to help handle the squeeze. Trying to cope with demands on time and finances from both children and ageing parents all together can be exhausting. A reliable and robust broadband connection is crucial for:

🌐 Working from home in the makeshift home office and video calling colleagues and them realizing they’re on mute during the meeting (we’ve all been there).

🌐 Streaming movies & TV show boxsets on their own or with family on Netflix, iTunes, Britbox and more.

🌐 Financial planning which is easier than ever online now than ever before.

🌐 Uploading and downloading work files, ranging from CAT files to graphic design files.

🌐 Ordering the weekly Tesco, Ocado, Deliveroo or Just Eat food delivery or how about buying those Christmas presents from your local highstreets shop websites.

🌐 App gaming for tablets and phones.

🌐 Cat Videos on YouTube – Go on, admit it.

🌐 Online video exercise classes to work out at home.

🌐 Dating, as some relationships don’t last forever, provides those with a second, third, fourth or even fifth chance at love. From Plenty of Fish to Match.com or eHarmony, or even dare we say, Ashley Madison?

🌐 DIY videos for the home – then having to find a tradesman to fix what they’ve done.

 

 

The Twilight Years or Time of Your Life?

As we enter the later years of our lives, our requirements for broadband undoubtedly change and perhaps even increase as we have more time to surf the web and less ability to surf the world outside.

With smartphones and tablets making information easily accessible, elderly communities can connect from home, their grandchild’s playground or the beach. Online communities can provide a way to avoid loneliness, find new friends and share hobbies. Digital ‘independence’ allows the elderly to connect with others, beyond physical limitations as one of the best ways they are able to stay in touch with relatives during the pandemic has been online video calls.  Here are just a few ways in which those in their older years rely on broadband:

🌐 Stream or download their favourite shows, old and new, from Only Fools and Horses on Amazon Prime to Selling Sunset on Netflix.

🌐 Online games on their tablets or laptops – Bingo, Backgammon, Sudoku, you name it.

🌐 Christmas, birthdays, Bar Mitzvahs and Weddings (every occasion needs gift shopping online).

🌐 Keeping in contact with friends and family over Zoom, Facetime or Facebook.

🌐 Essential shopping delivered to their home – Tesco, Waitrose, Asda, take your pick.

🌐 Keeping up to date with news and current affairs by getting notifications from news apps and following reports online on their Alexa, Google Home or HomePod.

🌐 Video tutorials proving you can teach old dogs new tricks.

🌐 Cooking lessons and other hobby classes all online.

🌐 Online dating.

🌐 Community involvement –following those all-important local Facebook groups to stay updated with what’s going on in their local town, and making themselves heard.

 

At whatever stage you are in life you rely on staying connected to the internet. It’s a simple fact that a growing number of us are relying on being connected to live our daily lives. With more of us spending the majority of our time at home our broadband connection is even more important than ever at keeping us connected to the people we love, to the work we do and the lives we live: From a movie night to job hunting, from university course research to dating life, from Zoom quizzes to work team calls.

As such we need broadband that’s both reliable, fast and futureproof for what the next few decades bring us. Broadband ready to keep us connected as virtual reality becomes a regular reality, as game consoles require downloading or streaming increasingly bigger game files, as working from home becomes ‘the new normal’ and as life gets even more connected.

Now is the time to connect your home to the broadband network built for your needs now and your needs in the future.

 

If you’d like to discover more about broadband here are some related articles: