Show HN: Go Go Quincy - Tech Help for Older Adults
6 comments
Just dropping a comment to say congrats for getting something up and running and that it's nice to see somebody doing something for the elderly and those less technically proficient.
Here in the UK the same problems exist regarding general ease-of-use, scams, and ability to navigate tech in general: and we also have a signficiant (and growing) problem where government services and support are all being moved online, with seemingly little support for those who find modern tech difficult to engage with.
Though my gut feeling says you may struggle to build a viable long-term business around this: I really do hope you succeed!
Personally I think governments and institutions need to radically improve things for the non-techies amongst us and those who find it difficult, whether cognitively or physically, to engage with tech in the first place. Right now it seems that the default assumption is that everybody is perfectly fine using a website or app, and if you're not, you're out of luck!
Here in the UK the same problems exist regarding general ease-of-use, scams, and ability to navigate tech in general: and we also have a signficiant (and growing) problem where government services and support are all being moved online, with seemingly little support for those who find modern tech difficult to engage with.
Though my gut feeling says you may struggle to build a viable long-term business around this: I really do hope you succeed!
Personally I think governments and institutions need to radically improve things for the non-techies amongst us and those who find it difficult, whether cognitively or physically, to engage with tech in the first place. Right now it seems that the default assumption is that everybody is perfectly fine using a website or app, and if you're not, you're out of luck!
Just wanted to say: "help seniors have a better, safer experience on the internet" sounds like a great core mission! I imagine there's not too many startups focused on seniors, but my mother (late 60s) struggles a lot with technology already.
I think this a great idea and I could see it as a great solution for my parents who often call with tech-support questions that I cannot effectively help them with as I live too far away.
Awesome to hear you think it'd be helpful! We made sure the first call each month is free, so it's easy to get a sense of whether it would be a good fit.
Can I ask: what do your parents usually need help with? And if you happen to know, where do they usually look for solutions today if you aren't around?
Can I ask: what do your parents usually need help with? And if you happen to know, where do they usually look for solutions today if you aren't around?
Their latest problem is a flaky internet connection that sometimes drops and I’m not sure if it’s the router or their ISP and it’s very difficult to debug.
There are local mom and pop shops that will do computer service, but minimum charge is around $100 so not worth it for anything minor.
The problem with trying to solve anything over the phone is they lack the vocabulary to describe what they are seeing or to follow any kind of directions. I assume you have some kind of screen sharing to solve this?
There are local mom and pop shops that will do computer service, but minimum charge is around $100 so not worth it for anything minor.
The problem with trying to solve anything over the phone is they lack the vocabulary to describe what they are seeing or to follow any kind of directions. I assume you have some kind of screen sharing to solve this?
IM OLD THANK YOU!
We started three years ago, after my grandfather clicked on a phishing link for what he thought was a fraudulent charge on his credit card statement and put in his card info. It cost my family ~$3,000.
This is surprisingly common — over 300,000 Americans were victims of phishing scams last year, and a huge amount of those victims are older adults.
To safely use technology and to avoid scams, older adults typically rely on their children and grandchildren to help support them, as I’m sure many here on HN are familiar with.
Older adults are way more comfortable calling a real person than sifting through help docs, or using fully automated software, but most companies steer their users away from real live phone support as much as possible. For people who aren’t as tech-savvy, it can be really hard to work through those site experiences and get help.
Our mission is to provide that live help for any website, email, or general tech help that older adults need. When a senior enters their phone number on our site, we call them in around 30 seconds to assist.
We’ve helped thousands of older adults already, and some of the most common reasons people call are to check if an email is trustworthy, for help navigating a website, or for assistance with setting up devices like printers. This even extends to shopping, ensuring a website is safe, and understanding telehealth options.
We’re starting to work on building more software here, to automatically address the most common reasons people come to us for help that I mentioned above and get people even faster help, but ultimately we’ll always have the phone support — and make it super easy to call us — to handle the more complex cases.
While I know this isn’t the typical Show HN with a huge focus on impressive software, I hope it still resonates, and I’d really love to hear any ideas, personal experiences, and feedback from the community.