Are toddlers really smarter than the elderly?

A friend of mine works in the healthcare industry helping people to quit smoking by providing strategies and incentives to those who are willing and able to quit.

Using a breath sensor that attaches to the iPhone, he is able to remotely monitor a person’s respiration output and even determine if the person is being honest about the amount of smoking that he or she has done in the previous week. 

One of his greatest challenges is with the technology. Many of his clients are elderly, and they  have great difficulty navigating the iPhone’s interface.

I find this astounding. My not-yet two year-old son can take my iPhone, close the app that I am using, swipe to an app three screens away, open the folder with the app, open the app, and begin playing a game more complex than any game that I ever played on the Atari 2600 when I was a kid.

If a two-year old can navigate the technology, why can’t an 80 year-old?

Sincerely. I don’t get it.