Leader: Let's make everyone tech-literate

We're a nation suffering from technology overload, unable to control the gadgets we already have and clueless about what the latest ones do.

Amazing though it may seem, video recorders have been a widespread consumer gadget for 27 years now. And yet still a third of us can't manage to programme one, according to a survey commissioned by online payments company PayPal.

As for 'those new-fangled DVD players', they're even more perplexing - three-quarters of us can't set one to record.

Despite the furious race to add more functions to mobile phones, two-thirds of us only use four features on our mobile phone: calls, text messages, alarm clock and camera. And an oblivious two in five don't even know if their mobile phone has a camera function.

'So what?' you may ask. Surely it doesn't really matter if a few people miss out on their favourite show because they haven't read their video recorder manual. Does it really matter if we are a nation of tech-ignoramuses?

Yes, it does. Technology has become part of the fabric of everyday life - and in coming years will be even more so. It might seem charmingly Luddite to claim an inability to programme a DVD player but it's not necessarily something to be proud of.

On top of that, we've got an ageing population - which means more old people and less young people to look after them. And one way we're going to have to tackle that is through the use of more technology.

Already the NHS is floating plans for telehealth systems in the home, which could reduce the pressure on the health service's stretched resources. This means that older people may well have to grapple with technology if they want to receive decent home care and stay independent for longer.

This throws out a challenge to business and consumers alike. Business needs to make sure that gadgets and other forms of tech are as easy to use as possible. Meanwhile consumers need to break out of their gadget-phobia and embrace some of the new technology out there - or find themselves left on the outskirts of society.