She Learned to Code at 81. And Taught Us What Digital Inclusion Really Means
When she retired, Masako Wakamiya was 60. Like many others, she found herself with empty days, friends drifting away, and the sense that the digital world wasn’t made for her. It was for the young. The fast. The always connected.
But Masako didn’t accept that. She bought a computer, taught herself Excel, and then learned how to code. At 81, she built her first iOS app: Hinadan, designed to help seniors remember the correct arrangement of dolls in a traditional Japanese celebration. The app worked. People loved it.
Apple invited her to speak at the Worldwide Developers Conference. She took the stage and said: “It’s never too late to learn.”
The problem isn’t older people. The problem is a digital world designed as if older people don’t exist. Everything is built for those who scroll fast, see clearly, tap quickly, remember easily. Accessibility is still treated like an extra. A bonus. Not a foundation.
And so here’s the paradox: seniors don’t approach digital tools because digital tools never approach them.
Masako did it. Not because she was a genius, but because no one told her she couldn’t. The real limit isn’t age. It’s the idea we have of age.
And as long as we build a digital world that excludes those who are slower, more tired, more fragile… we’re just designing our own abandonment.
#ArtificialDecisions #MCC #CamisaniCalzolari #MarcoCamisaniCalzolari
Marco Camisani Calzolari
marcocamisanicalzolari.com/biography