I visited my Dad today. He's in his mid-80s now, still generally healthy, but some things are getting harder, particularly eyesight. When I visit I usually end up fixing something or other on his computer. Today it was website push notifications that he'd probably accidentally allowed and were pretending to be antivirus software producing scary messages. Also Thunderbird had moved a bunch of its UI around and confused him to the point where he'd felt the only thing to do was to reinstall it.
The push notifications were from some malicious bottom-feeder, but the UI that confused him into allowing them was from a normal consumer web browser (Edge in this case, I think - he uses a few different browsers fairly indiscriminately). And Thunderbird is obviously consumer software.
Both of these - and let's be honest, the software industry in general - need to do a lot better at dealing with users who aren't great at handling change, whether due to deteriorating eyesight or anything else.
After fixing the immediate problems, I bumped up his system font size and pointed him at accessibility options so he can play around until it's more comfortable for him, since I can't see out of his eyes. Hopefully this will help a bit.
I'm very angry at the predatory notifications people, since I bet they do sucker people who have less baseline computer competence or who are less in command of their faculties, and they fucking know it and don't care. None of them follow me though so I'm probably just screaming into the void. But we, the legitimate industry, can do better at not giving these bastards a way in.
@cjwatson (People only ever talk about 'conversion rates' and whatnot, and any attempt at discussing ethics is quickly passed over by finding a flimsy excuse and then getting angry if you question them on it)