There has been a steady growth in the global population of elderly people, challenging researchers in the HCI community to
design technologies to help them remain independent and preserve their quality of life. One approach has been to create assistive
technology solutions using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). However, some have questioned whether older people can use
PDAs because of age related problems with dexterity, coordination, and vision. This paper presents an initial usability study
that shows there are no major differences in performance between older and younger users when physically interacting with
PDAs and completing conventional (e.g. pressing buttons, viewing icons, recording messages) and non-conventional tasks (e.g.
scanning bar codes).