Task - ICT and pensioners in rural England.

• Do you feel digital technologies have made a genuine impact on the couple's lives?

It has because they are now able to do things that they wouldn't have dreamed about doing a years ago. It has allowed them to keep in contact with relatives they wouldn't have been able to otherwise and has made it easier for them to get things to themselves as their old bones can have a rest.

• Would their lives be poorer if they did not have access to ICT at home?

They certainly would not be able to talk to their relatives or catch up with old friends if they did not have the internet or a computer. Also they are able to store more photos and lose less money processing them because all they have to do is print them off after editing or send them to their relatives in Pakistan and Aus.

• The couple were able to afford their own computer. Would ccess in the community centre three miles away be as useful.

It would for other people who do not have access to the internet however, for them the only major benefit would be to get them out of the house so they could go and talk to their friends down at the community hall with a cup of tea and a computer.