On the role smartphones play in the lives of the aging in contemporary Ireland.

This volume documents a radical change in the experience of aging. Based on two ethnographies in Dublin, Ireland, the book illustrates how smartphones enable old people to focus on crafting a new life in retirement. For some, the smartphone is an intimidating burden linked to being on the wrong side of a new digital divide. But for most, however, it has become integral to a new trajectory towards a more sustainable life, both for themselves and their environment. The smartphone has reunited extended family and old friends, helped resolve intergenerational conflicts though new forms of grandparenting, and has become a health resource. This is a book about acknowledging late middle age in contemporary Ireland and examines how older people in Ireland experience life today.
 

List of figures List of abbreviations Series Foreword Acknowledgements
1. Introduction 2. Age and retirement 3. Everyday life – activities and routines 4. Ageing and social life 5. Smartphones 6. Health and care 7. Downsizing 8. Life purpose 9. Conclusion
Bibliography Index