Microsoft aims campaign at older workers

Microsoft will on Monday unveil a marketing campaign aimed at workers the software company says "may be entering the 'awkward age of computing."

Has the print on your computer screen become too small? Is that auto-alert you've set up too faint? Can't find your cursor?

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Hey there, Microsoft says, maybe it's not the technology troubling you, but the inevitable signs of ageing.

Microsoft will on Monday unveil a marketing campaign aimed at workers the software company says "may be entering the 'awkward age of computing."

The technology it's touting, such as text magnification, speech recognition and filter keys, already exist in Microsoft products, and was developed mainly for disabled users, but with the US work force getting older, Microsoft figures more people are finding their computer has become "awkward."

The technology behemoth has set up a Website and is hoping to attract baby boomers and their employers with tips, studies and cartoons that poke fun at getting old. The target audience is workers over the age 40 - a group that includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who will turn 50 next year.

"Whether it's rock 'n' roll or hot tubs, or now face lifts and viagra, the boomers have had a strong impact on changing our culture, and so we do believe that they will change the culture as they move later in life," said Madelyn Bryant McIntire, director of the Accessible Technology Group at Microsoft.

Matt Rosoff, an analyst with the independent research firm Directions on Microsoft, said the campaign is also a good way for the company to try to get more use out of products it's already spent money developing.