Abstract
Many older people are discovering the Internet, and some are also making good use of electronic commerce and all that goes with it. Others, however, are not adopting these technologies. This paper questions why some older people adopt Internet technologies while others do not, and offers a research framework, based on actor-network theory, for investigating adoption of Internet technologies by older people. In this paper, innovation translation is used to illustrate how specific cases of adoption have occurred. Innovation translation presents a different view of innovation than the better known theory of innovation diffusion, but one that the authors argue is better suited for research in socio-technical situations like this.
Keywords
Electronic commerce, the Internet, older people ,innovation translation, actor-network theory
Introduction: Older People and the Internet
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines older people, for statistical purposes, as those who are fifty-five years of age and over. Figures from the ABS indicate that older people are taking up Internet technology at a rapid rate, but that their use of the Internet for electronic commerce (e-commerce) activities remains quite low, with older people forming just 1% of the total of adult Internet shoppers (ABS, 2000). Individual older people often have particular needs that differ from those of younger people, and it appears that use of the Internet may help with some of these. As people grow older they can become physically less mobile and could benefit if they were able to conduct more of their financial affairs, such as banking and bill paying, from home. In other words, e-commerce has something useful to offer them. The research literature (Williamson, Bow and Wale, 1996; Council on the Ageing, 2000b; Mitchell, 2000; Lloyd, 2001), however, and also data from an Older Person Focus Group in Melbourne (Council on the Ageing, 2000a), reveal significant barriers to the adoption of e-commerce by older people. This paper will outline a research approach, based on actor-network theory, for investigating the adoption of Internet technologies and e-commerce by older people.
E-commerce can be defined as the purchase and sale of information, products and services using any one of the thousands of computer networks that make up the Internet (Lawrence, Corbitt, Tidwell, Fisher and Lawrence, 1998). Typical e-commerce activities include on-line banking, purchase of goods, purchase of services such as insurance, arranging and paying for travel and accommodation, on-line share purchase, soliciting investment advice, and the use of automatic teller machines (ATM).
During the twelve months prior to February 2000 almost half of the adults in Australia connected to the Internet (ABS, 2000), but the highest Internet usage was, as could be expected, among younger adults. Of the older people, only 13% were Internet users, and this group was likely to access the Internet from home, suggesting that most older Australians are currently unlikely to be Internet shoppers.
Older people purchase computers for a variety of reasons. Lewis (2001) suggests that the main drivers when they are deciding whether or not to buy a computer are the on-line services of banking, e-mail and convenience shopping, but that when they actually get the computer their main use is for word processing, e-mail, Internet browsing and games.
簡介：老年人和互聯網
澳大利亞統計局（ABS）的定義老年人，為統計目的，因為這些誰是55年及以上的年齡。從 ABS的數字顯示，年紀較大的人從事互聯網技術的迅速發展，但他們使用互聯網的電子商務（電子商務）的活動仍然相當低，年齡較大的人形成只有1％的成年人總互聯網購物者（ABS的，2000年）。個別年紀較大的人經常有特殊的需要不同於那些年輕的人，似乎是利用因特網可以幫助其中一些。隨著人們年齡的增長，他們可以成為減少身體移動，並可能受益，如果他們能夠進行更多的金融事務，例如銀行和支付帳單，在家。換言之，電子商務為他們提供一些有用的東西。研究文獻（威廉姆森，弓和威爾，1996年;理事會關於老齡問題，2000年b;米切爾，2000年;勞合社，2001），然而，數據也由年齡大的人在墨爾本專題小組（理事會關於老齡化，2000年），揭示重大障礙，通過電子商務的老年人。本文將勾勒出研究方法的基礎上，演員，網絡理論，通過調查互聯網技術和電子商務的老年人。
電子商務可以被定義為購買和銷售信息，產品和服務的使用任何一處的成千上萬的計算機網絡構成的網絡（勞倫斯，科比特，蒂德韋爾，費舍爾和勞倫斯，1998年）。典型的電子商貿活動，包括網上銀行，購買的商品，購買服務，如保險，安排和支付旅行和住宿，網上購股，徵求投資建議，以及使用自動取款機（ATM）的。
在12個月的2000年2月之前，幾乎一半的成年人在澳洲連接到互聯網（ABS的，2000年），但最高的互聯網使用情況，可以預期，在年輕的成年人。在老年人中，只有13％的互聯網用戶，而這一群體有可能從家裡上網，這表明目前大多數老年澳大利亞人不太可能互聯網購物。
老年人購買電腦的各種原因。劉易斯（2001）建議的主要驅動力時，他們決定是否購買一台電腦是網上銀行服務，電子郵件和購物的便利，但實際上，當他們獲得計算機的主要用途是用於 Word處理，電子郵件，互聯網瀏覽和遊戲。
Older People and Their Needs
The US-based Spry Foundation (2000) sees the needs of older people revolving around four interrelated themes:
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financial security,
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physical health and well being,
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mental health and social environment, and
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engaging in intellectual endeavours.
Financial security is seen as particularly important by older people who, in retirement, need to be assured of adequate income to maintain their lifestyle. Many older people in Australia, as well as in Europe and North America, must arrange their own retirement finances and in doing so seek appropriate investment information (Cutler, 1997; Manchester, 1997).
The Australian Government has recently released a number of issues papers examining the older person’s ability to remain active and independent (Bishop, 2000). A key feature of these is an emphasis on communication technology, particularly the Internet, that enables older people to use e-mail to communicate with family and friends, to access information, and to engage in e-commerce activities such as bill paying, the purchase of goods and services, and electronic banking (Coulson, 2000; Fozard, Rietsma, Bouma and Graafmans, 2000). The low uptake of Internet shopping, mentioned above, may have some serious implications in future for government policies aimed at increasing the independence of disabled older people.
老年人和他們的需要
總部設在美國的Spry基金會（2000）認為老年人的需要圍繞四個相互關聯的主題：
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金融安全，
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身體健康和幸福，
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心理健康和社會環境，
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從事學術工作。
金融安全被視為特別重要的老人們誰，在退休時，要保證足夠的收入來維持他們的生活方式。許多老一輩的人在澳大利亞，以及在歐洲和北美，必須安排自己的退休資金和尋求這樣做適當的投資信息（卡特勒，1997年英國曼徹斯特，1997年）。
澳大利亞政府最近發布了一個數字的問題，老年人的研究論文的能力保持積極和獨立的（主教，2000年）。其中一個重要特點是側重於通信技術，特別是互聯網，它使老年人使用電子郵件與家人和朋友溝通，獲取信息，並進行電子商務活動，如帳單支付，該購買商品和服務，電子銀行（庫爾森，2000年; Fozard，Rietsma，鮑馬和Graafmans，2000年）。低攝取網上購物，如上所述，可能有一些嚴重的影響在未來政府的政策旨在提高殘疾人的獨立性老年人。
Barriers to the Use of Electronic Commerce by Older People
For those older people without their own computers, limited access to Internet technology through public libraries and community centres is seen as a problem. For those who have set up their own Internet facilities at home, capital costs, running costs and maintenance become important issues (Williamson, Bow et al, 1996; Council on the Ageing, 2000a; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2000). Lloyd (2001) suggests that the costs associated with buying a computer and getting it on-line are an obstacle to almost 35% of the 55-plus age group. Knowing how to make use of the technology presents a problem and there is a need for appropriate training at various levels in both basic information technology and in information handling skills (Echt and Roger, 1998; Cody, Dunn, Hoppin and Wendt, 1999; Hollis-Sawyer and Sterns, 1999; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2000). Many older people also have difficulty in searching for the information they require as some Web-sites contained complex information that is hard to understand.
Usability issues are seen as a potential barrier with the interface, information structures, and navigation being important contributors. Research reported by Noonan (2001) stresses the link between disability and aging, and Scott (2001) points out that the ‘self-service model’ of electronic banking and automated phone services cannot be expected to suit all users, particularly older ones. For those older people with visual or motor disabilities, the absence of interfaces and services that allow for these disabilities is a very significant barrier (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2000; Mitchell, 2000). Security and privacy are also important considerations, and Lloyd (2001) notes that older people are very concerned about these issues, particularly regarding credit card transactions. A similar response came from discussions with the Focus Group (Council on the Ageing, 2000a).
One way these barriers are being addressed is in the growth of seniors computer clubs. Describing her experiences in organising these clubs, Bosler (2001) notes that often, when older people arrive at a club, they confess that a son or daughter has just bought a new computer and given them the old one. They then add that said son or daughter was very busy and had no time to teach them to use it. Another reason that people join these clubs is that they have had some workplace experience with computers but want to learn to use a computer for their own purposes. When questioned on why they wanted to use computers, answers included: booking a holiday, buying/selling shares, genealogy, information on cancer drugs, paying bills and using e-mail (Lepa, 2002; Bosler, 2001). Many people said they wanted to be able to keep in touch with family and friends while some said they wanted to shop or research. Bosler tells of one older woman who bought a computer, with word processing software and e-mail access, specifically so she could write her memoirs.
障礙使用電子商務的老年人
對於那些年紀較大的人沒有自己的電腦，互聯網技術的機會有限，通過公共圖書館和社區中心被視為一個問題。對於那些已經建立了自己的互聯網設施在家裡，資本成本，運行成本和維護成為重要問題（威廉姆森，弓等，1996;會老齡化，2000年a，人權與平等機會委員會，2000）。勞埃德（2001）認為，相關的成本以購買一台電腦和得到它在網上幾乎是一個障礙，35％的55歲以上年齡組。知道如何利用該技術提出了一個問題，有必要進行適當的培訓，各級都基本信息技術和信息處理能力（埃赫特和Roger，1998;科迪，鄧恩，霍和溫特，1999;霍利斯，索耶和斯滕斯，1999年，人權與平等機會委員會，2000）。許多老年人也有困難，查找他們所需的資料如一些網絡站點中複雜的信息是很難理解的。
可用性問題被視為一個潛在的障礙與接口，信息結構和導航是重要貢獻者。努南的研究報告（2001）強調殘疾和老齡化之間的聯繫，和斯科特（2001）指出，自我服務模式對電子銀行和自動電話服務，不能指望以滿足所有用戶，特別是舊的。對於那些年紀較大的人有視力或肢體殘疾，缺席的接口和服務，讓這些殘疾人是一個非常重要的屏障（人權與平等機會委員會，2000年;米切爾，2000年）。安全和隱私也很重要的考慮因素，而勞合社（2001）指出，老人們非常關心這些問題，特別是關於信用卡交易。類似的反應是從討論與專題小組（理事會關於老齡化，2000年）。
這些障礙的方法之一是目前正在處理中老年人電腦的增長俱樂部。描述她的經歷在組織這些俱樂部，博斯勒（2001）指出，通常，當老人們到達一個俱樂部，他們坦白地說，一個兒子或女兒剛剛買了一台新電腦，同時也賦予了舊的。然後，他們補充說，兒子或女兒說是非常繁忙，沒有時間教他們使用它。另一個原因是這些人加入俱樂部的是，他們已經取得了一些工作經驗，電腦，但要學會用電腦為自己的目的。當被問及為什麼他們要使用電腦，答案包括：預訂度假，購買 /出售股票，家譜，抗癌藥物的資料，支付賬單和使用電子郵件（萊帕，2002年;博斯勒，2001年）。很多人說，他們希望能夠保持聯繫，而與家人和朋友說，他們希望一些商店或研究。博斯勒講述了一個老女人誰買了電腦，文字處理軟件和電子郵件訪問，特別是讓她可以寫她的回憶錄。
A Framework for Modelling Older People’s Adoption of the Internet
Many older people are quite innovative and entrepreneurial, and are prepared to consider the advantages offered by using e-commerce. Conversely, others are happy to continue to do things in the same way they always have and see no need to investigate use of this technology. How and why people differ in this way, and why some adopt some technologies and not others will be considered now. Rogers (1995 :11) defines an innovation as “... an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual …”, and we will argue that the adoption of e-commerce by an older person should be seen as an innovation and considered through the lens of innovation theory. The most widely accepted theory of how technological innovation takes place is provided by innovation diffusion (Rogers, 1995), but most of the research based on this model involves studies of large organisations like General Electric, Xerox Park and the British Navy, or societal groups such as bottle-fed babies, adopters of mobile phones and organic farmers (Rogers, 1995). This paper argues that another approach, that of innovation translation, has more to offer when considering details of the adoption of e-commerce by older people.
The innovation translation approach draws on the sociology of translations, more commonly known as actor-network theory (ANT). The core of this approach is translation (Law, 1992), which can be defined as: “... the means by which one entity gives a role to others.” (Singleton and Michael, 1993 :229). In considering how the adoption of e-commerce by older people occurs it is necessary to examine their interactions with a number of other people. It is also important not to ignore the influence of the many non-human actors that are involved, including computers, modems, Web browsers, Internet service providers, e-mail documents and Web pages. In trying to understand this adoption it is useful to see these interactions in terms of negotiations, not just between humans but also involving non-humans.
Actor-network theory (Callon, 1986; Law, 1992; Latour, 1996) attempts impartiality between all actors, whether human or non-human, and makes no distinction in approach between the social, the natural and the technological. Using an actor-network approach all the factors (both human and non-human) influencing e-commerce adoption are seen as actors, and the combination of all of these in terms of networks. It is a feature of actor-network theory that the extent of a network is determined by actors that are able to make their presence individually felt (Law, 1987) by other actors.
Research in technological innovation is often approached by focusing on the technical aspects of an innovation and treating ‘the social’ as the context in which its adoption takes place: assuming that outcomes of technological change can be attributed to the ‘technological’ rather than the ‘social’ (Grint and Woolgar, 1997). On the other hand social determinism holds that social categories can be used to explain change. It concentrates on investigation of social interactions, relegating the technology to context. Bromley (1997) argues that as long as ‘technology’ is seen as a distinct type of entity which is separate from ‘society’ the question will always need to be asked ‘does technology affect society or not?’ One answer to this question is that it does, but this leads us to the technological determinist position of viewing technology as autonomous and as having some essential attributes (Tatnall and Gilding, 1999) that act externally to society. The other answer: that it does not, means that technology must be neutral and that individual humans must assign it their own values and decide on their own account how to use it. This view is close to a social determinist position. Bromley maintains that neither answer provides a useful interpretation of how technological innovation operates, and argues against an either/or stance like this. He argues that we should abandon the idea that technology is separate from society.
Rather than recognising in advance the essences of humans and of social organisations and distinguishing their actions from the inanimate behaviour of technological and natural objects, ANT adopts an anti-essentialist position in which it rejects there being some difference in essence between humans and non-humans (Latour, 1986). To address the need to treat both human and non-human actors fairly and in the same way, ANT is based upon three principles: agnosticism, generalised symmetry and free association (Callon, 1986). The first of these, agnosticism, means that analytical impartiality is demanded towards all the actors involved in the project under consideration, whether they be human or non-human. Generalised symmetry offers to explain the conflicting viewpoints of different actors in the same terms by use of an abstract and neutral vocabulary that works the same way for human and non-human actors. Neither the social nor the technical elements in these ‘heterogeneous networks’ (Law, 1987) should then be given any special explanatory status. Finally, the principle of free association requires the elimination and abandonment of all a priori distinctions between the technological or natural, and the social (Callon, 1986; Singleton and Michael, 1993). As Callon (1986 :200) puts it: “The rule which we must respect is not to change registers when we move from the technical to the social aspects of the problem studied.”
Actor-network theory has been used to investigate the success of a number of technological innovations and, in particular, to describe a number of heroic failures, several of which are listed below. Grint and Woolgar (1997) have used ANT to explain the Luddite movement in England last century. McMaster et al. (1997) have applied it to the adoption of a particular approach to systems analysis by a local council in the UK, and Vidgen and McMaster (1996) to car parking systems. Latour has used innovation translation to describe the life and death of the revolutionary Parisian public transportation system known as Aramis (Latour, 1996). An innovation translation model has also been used in several studies of curriculum innovation including those of Nespor (1994), Gilding (1997), Bigum (1998b; 1998a), Busch (1997) and Tatnall (2000).
模型的框架老年人的通過互聯網
許多老一輩的人，極有創意和創業精神，並願意考慮提供的優勢利用電子商務。相反，另一些則樂意繼續做事情，他們總是以同樣的方式，看看有沒有必要使用這種技術的探討。如何以及為什麼不同的人以這種方式，以及為什麼一些採取一些技術，而不是其他人將被立即考慮。羅傑斯（1995：11）定義了一個創新為“...一個想法，做法，或對象被視為新的由個人 ...“，我們會認為，通過電子商務年齡大的人應該被看作是一個創新，並審議通過鏡頭的創新理論。最廣泛接受的理論是如何發生的技術創新提供了創新擴散（羅傑斯，1995），但大多數研究的基礎上研究了該模型涉及大型企業如通用電氣，施樂公園和英國海軍，或社會團體如用奶瓶餵養的嬰兒，採用了移動電話和有機農民（羅傑斯，1995）。本文認為，另一種方法，創新的翻譯，可提供更多的細節時，考慮通過電子商務的老年人。
創新的翻譯方法借鑒了社會學的翻譯，通常稱為行動者網絡理論（ANT）的。這種方法的核心是翻譯（法律，1992年），它可以被定義為：“...的手段，一個實體的作用，給出了一個人。“（辛格爾頓和邁克爾，1993：229）。在考慮如何通過電子商務老年人發生，有必要重新審視自己的互動與一些其他人。同樣重要的是不能忽視的影響的許多非人類的行為者參與，包括計算機，調製解調器，Web瀏覽器，互聯網服務提供商，電子郵件文件和網頁。在試圖理解這一點通過它是有用的，看看這些相互作用在以下方面的談判，不只是人與人之間，也涉及非人類。
演員網絡理論（卡倫，1986年，法律，1992年;拉圖爾，1996年）的所有行動者之間的公正性的企圖，無論是人類還是非人類，並且完全沒有區別的方法之間的社會，自然和技術。使用一個演員網的做法的所有因素（包括人類和非人類）影響電子商務的通過被認為是行為主體，結合所有這些方面的網絡。它是一種功能的演員網絡理論，對網絡的程度取決於行為者能夠單獨地感受到他們的存在使（法律，1987年）由其他演員。
研究技術創新，往往側重於接觸的技術方面的創新和治療'社會'的背景，是其通過發生：假設技術變化的結果可以歸因於'技術'而不是'社會'（格林特和伍爾加，1997年）。另一方面社會決定論認為，社會類別可以用來解釋的變化。它集中於調查的社會互動，走入的技術背景。布羅姆利（1997）認為，只要'技術'被看作是一個獨特類型的實體，是分開的'社會'的問題將始終需要問'不影響社會的技術或不呢？'一個回答這個問題可以，但是這使我們的技術決定論的立場看科技的自主性，具有一些基本屬性（塔特納爾和燙金，1999年）該行為外部社會。其他答案：它並不意味著技術必須是中立的，個別人必須把它自己的價值觀，決定他們自己的帳戶如何使用它。這種看法是接近的社會決定論的立場。布羅姆利認為沒有答案提供了有益的解釋是如何運作的技術創新，並認為對一個非此即彼/或類似的立場。他認為，我們應該放棄這個想法，技術是獨立於社會。
而不是承認在人類進步的本質和社會組織和鑑別他們的行動沒有生命的行為，從技術和自然物體，螞蟻採用反本質主義的立場，其中一些被拒絕有本質的區別人類與非人類（拉圖爾，1986年）。為了解決需要治療人類和非人類演員公平和以同樣的方式，螞蟻是基於三項原則：不可知論，廣義對稱性和自由協會（卡倫，1986年）。在第一項，不可知論，這意味著分析的公正性要求對所有的參與者參與該項目正在考慮中，無論是人類還是非人類。廣義對稱性提供解釋的矛盾觀點的不同行為者在同等條件的使用抽象和中立的詞彙，以同樣的方式對人類和非人類的角色。無論是社會，也不是技術要素在這些'異構網絡的（法律，1987年），應給予任何特殊說明的地位。最後，結社自由的原則，需要消除和放棄所有先天的技術之間的區別或自然，社會（卡倫，1986;辛格爾頓和邁克爾，1993年）。由於卡倫（1986：200）所說的那樣：“我們必須尊重規則，是不是要改變選民登記冊時，我們從技術到社會的各方面問題的研究。”
演員網絡理論已被用於研究成功數字技術的革新，尤其是一個數字來描述失敗的英雄，其中一些如下。格林特和伍爾加（1997）用Ant來解釋勒德分子運動在英國上個世紀。麥克馬斯特等。 （1997年）已申請到通過一種特殊的方法來分析系統由地方議會在英國，和麥克馬斯特和維金（1996）汽車泊車系統。拉圖爾利用創新的翻譯描述的生命和死亡的革命巴黎的公共交通系統被稱為阿拉米斯（拉圖爾，1996年）。一個創新翻譯模式也被用在一些研究課程的創新，包括那些Nespor（1994年），仿金（1997），Bigum（1998年b，1998年a），布希（1997年）和塔特納爾（2000年）。
