Their short-term memory persistence is not what it once was. For example, they recently converted from DirecTV to Chromecast with Google TV (...with YouTube TV

Their short-term memory persistence is not what it once was. For example, they recently converted from DirecTV to Chromecast with Google TV (...with YouTube TV), and they use it every day, and my mom still has trouble using the d-pad to navigate menus in four directions. She was entirely used to DirecTV's menus, which (mostly) just scroll up and down using the channel rocker button. It's been a year and despite saving probably 50%+ on their monthly TV bill, it's all my mom can say -- "When are we going back to DirecTV? It was so much easier. Google makes me feel stupid." Windows/Xerox PARC put running applications in a dedicated spot on the screen so they're always visible and there's no guesswork for a reason. If multitasking on phones is to improve, it can't be hidden away and invisible. (And it wasn't, Android's multitasking button was at least how my dad got comfortable with the concept.) We have decades of UX research telling us not to hide critical functions, but we keep doing it anyways because fashion/art/trends/etc.