One of the problems with computers, particularly for the older people, is they were befuddled by them, and the computers have gotten better. They have gotten easier to use. They have gotten less expensive. The software interfaces have made things a lot more accessible.

Steve Case is pointing to a familiar pattern in consumer technology: early computers demanded specialized knowledge and intimidated many users—especially older adults—yet successive waves of hardware and software improvements reduced that barrier. Cheaper devices, more intuitive interfaces, and better-designed software shift computing from a technical hobby toward an everyday utility. The quote also implies that “access” is not only about owning a machine but about usability—design choices that translate capability into something ordinary people can actually adopt. In that sense, it’s an argument for human-centered design and for judging technological progress by inclusion as much as by raw performance.