The study reported in this paper investigated the usefulness of different instructions for guiding inexperienced older adults through interactive systems. It was designed to compare different media in relation to their social as well as their motivational impact on the elderly during the learning process. Precisely, the video was compared with textual help and the impact of model age (young versus old) on knowledge acquisition was explored. As a research object, a simulated ticket-vending machine was used. Results show that video-supported knowledge acquisition is better than text, but in relation to model age, no significant differences were found. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)