Culture Day at the Kimball. We boomers need larger text on our museum placards. We learned that today at the Kimball, half-price day for The Impressionists (on display through November 2, 2008). Four of us made the trek to Fort Worth: The Sociologist, The Chef, Tom Bold, and me. (Chance of i-d-ing Tom Bold is greatest.)
And it wasn't just me. I heard a woman behind me complain softly, "I can't read it." I moved so that she could get closer, but it clearly wasn't close enough. In the best lit spaces, boomers were peering at the placards and then moving back for a better view of the impressionist paintings. There was a lot of shuffling.
The Sociologist agreed: I can always count on this woman to broaden the view. "We're making changes in other places...." She was referring to a frequent subject of ours: boomer-friendly changes in malls and airports. As America ages, there are plenty of lags but marketers and transportation executives are keeping up: they see the behaviors of customers and make the necessary adjustments. (Parking lot and terminal trams are just the obvious wheeled adjustments.) Baby boomers are not the "per unit" best customers but their sheer numbers make them a market segment worth accommodating.
But not yet in all public spaces: The Kimball Art Museum is always worth visiting, of course. The current exhibition of The Impressionists (subtitle: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago) is wonderful regardless of the size of text on the placards. After all, we didn't actually make the trip to read. ~ Lida
© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.
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2 comments:
Variable text size is one of the reasons that I think the Kindle will continue to be a success.
Now, if a boomer-with-strained-eyesight buys a book, the print may be too small (or maybe in a few years it will be too small).
With the Kindle, the text size can be increased quickly and easily, and it can also be reverted back to the original size.
We didn't actually check at 3 am, but the earlier posting is appreciated by one reader. Now we don't have to wait for wisdom.
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