[Closed] Technology and Old People

I'm pretty tech savvy. I can't wait to find out what incredible technology we will have that's so advanced it will confuse the hell out of me in 50 years time 🙂

The MIL has problems with right click, Outlook Explorer, Internet Express and the 'bar across the top'

rate of increase of new technology is not linear, it's pretty much an exponential curve so chances are you won't have to wait 50 years...

In many ways I'm glad stuff like internet shopping wasn't around at general level when my dad was compus mentis. He was bad enough at buying tat when it was in shops - think of the horror if he got loose on eBay or Amazon!

Yeah my dad is in his late 60s and can just about manage email, Word, and online poker.

He's blown away when I do pretty mundane things like pause the telly, make a video call, use iplayer, use voice control, or use my phone as a sat nav.

We've tried to get him onto Skype (I bought him a laptop with a built-in camera) but we can't convince him that it won't cost him any money, so he phones instead because he understands the billing 😕

I can't wait to find out what incredible technology we will have that's so advanced it will confuse the hell out of me in 50 years time

I'm hoping some big advances will be in the way technology understands me so I don't need to understand a damn thing as an end user.

My Dad is 71, and uses Facebook, Twitter, email, and has just started redoing his band website in Wordpress instead of writing the raw HTML.

Mum, on the other hand, always double-clicks on web links 😉

Mum, on the other hand, always double-clicks on web links

I had a boss that did that. It was infuriating to watch, especially as he frequently got into issues because the site had already started to respond to his first click.

The worst of it was, we were a software house and he was the Technical Director!

Wait until he finds out there's porn, he'll have a stroke.

Wait until he finds out there's porn, he'll have a stroke.

Several probably.

molgrips - Member
I'm pretty tech savvy. I can't wait to find out what incredible technology we will have that's so advanced it will confuse the hell out of me in 50 years time

'technology' has arrived, yes it'll improve, and change a bit, but in 50 years we'll still be using computers to communicate, work, shop, and entertain ourselves.

there'll be big changes in the way we can interact with the technology, less button clicking, less downloading of drivers, less typing, less off-and-onning, etc.

the most confusing aspect for old giffers like us will be just how *easy" things will be.

i'm trying to get a NAS working at home, it's proving a bit tricky, but i'm enjoying myself, and learning a few things. Will my 6yr old nephew ever have to do this? or his kids? probably not.

dammit, beaten by the rubber buccaneer

Did a thread on this a few years ago. It was prompted by getting my mum to start Skype. She was still talking to me on the phone when it started up and was a bit reluctant about hanging up once we'd got Skype going.

"No, honestly mum, you can actually hang up now...we can still talk." 😀

I've convinced my aunt, who's in her 80's, to persevere with her ipad. The mention of how I can shoe shop by specifying price and free returns saw her eyes light up. 😀

I can't stand touchscreens. I'm going to be very bewildered by tech when I'm old/older.

My parents (nearly 70) are fine with tech. MIL can't use anything though and keeps her mobile turned off in case someone calls. Although somehow, and I suspect with a lot of help, she has a very good website for her artwork.

Some 'old' people are great with tech, just cos one 91 year old had never heard of Google hardly means they all haven't.

Most tech is badly overhyped IMO, see only today the Guardian are slagging off the Apple Watch.

in 50 years we'll still be using computers to communicate, work, shop, and entertain ourselves.

Seems likely - but it will be a lot less obvious that it is "a computer" and "computers" will be in pretty much everything (even more so than they are already).

I remember my old mans reaction when he first saw a satnav,
It talks to satellites in space 😯
It's got all the maps of the U.K and Europe and will work out directions to where you want to go 😯
IT TALKS!!!!! 😯
Only the Enterprise landing on the lawn would have surprised him more,

The worst of it was, we were a software house and he was the Technical Director!

ouch... trying to think if its the same mutual person we have in common. trawling my memory now!

'Scuse me... I've just turned 60 and am perfectly at home with IT. Not all 60 year-olds have closed minds.

A trainer has been recruited at work to train all employees on a new IFS ERP system and I'm actually looking forward to the challenge.

My mother is 87 this year, she emails and texts, does her banking and some shopping online, and generally uses the internet like a normally tech savvy person. Last time I went round she'd used the ipad and the printer to make up some labels for her cake & biscuit tins.

My mum has always been intrigued by technology though. I came home from school one day when i was maybe 12 or 13 and she was sat in front of the telly playing Adventure on the Atari 2600.

Getting her up and running on the internet/iPad took a little patience and some very slow and structured lessons but there's not been a "tech support" call for well over a year now.

kcal: I may have said too much 😳 (it was a previous employer)

It talks to satellites in space

Nah, it doesn't talk, it just listens. 😀

Pfft. My dad's 91 too. He owns a laptop & uses the internet when he's in the mood, but is too deaf to get the benefit of skype.
I must prompt him again sometime.

Nah, it doesn't talk, it just listens.

I often wonder whether my amazement at how technology has advanced is because it [i]is[/i] advanced or just because I'm no longer the "younger generation" 😆

Some 'old' people are great with tech, just cos one 91 year old had never heard of Google hardly means they all haven't.

'Scuse me... I've just turned 60 and am perfectly at home with IT. Not all 60 year-olds have closed minds.

Woah woah - don't get your jimmies all twisted - I didn't start this thread to slag off old people. It was just a commentary on how fast technology moves and where we might be when we're 91.

Now go get your bovril ready, I think Countryfile is on in a bit. 😉

I was talking about almost the opposite with a colleague yesterday. I've got a couple of teenage Apprentices working under me and it suddenly occurred to me, unless they've got very good memories of early childhood they've never known a non-connected world. The web as always been there for them.

Then I realised, christ, I've turned into my granddad, when I was little he used to reminisce about when they first got a TV and they didn't even have four channels like they do now and I'd be sitting there thinking "bloody hell, you must be ancient."

/stands down/

To be fair there are or were quirks in many colleagues - in general. I worked - in a previous life - with a broad range of folk but on the whole they were very good at their job and idiosyncrasies were tolerated.

Certainly numbered a number of 'special' programmers among my colleagues but they were very very good and what they did. The 3000 line subroutine was a masterpiece - of something. But luckily it worked. Eeek.

Thinking a little more about my comment ^ I do genuinely believe that technology amazes me these days because it is genuinely helpful and accessible to everyday users rather than - not that many years ago - [s]geeks[/s] people with time on their hands to learn it.

As a great example I'm often away with work on a Tuesday night and stay in the more or less the same location. When I get in the car my iPhone tells me how long to get to where I'm going. There's not necessarily anything in my phone calendar for it to know where I'm going or the time I intend to be there; it's just learnt my habits. This is what amazes me and make tech so accessible and useful.

I often wonder whether my amazement at how technology has advanced is because it is advanced or just because I'm no longer the "younger generation"

Well the flip side to all this are the numerous videos of millennials being bewildered and confused by things like fax machines, floppy disks, VCRs, dial up internet etc 😀

just a commentary on how fast technology moves

Does it really though? email has been around for decades, internet browsers for 20 years, search engines similar, mobile phones longer. GPS is nearly 40 years old, and the game changer of letting civilians use it is 20.

There was one of those quizzes on the BBC website a few months back based around "do you know what your kids are doing online". I don't have kids, and I'm not even 30, but I do know what YOLO and ROTFL stand for and know what snapchat and whatsapp are. I think I scored 2 out of 10!

Kids and the next 15-20 years scare me! At least if they were just looking at smut I'd have a clue what was going on!

My parents have used ebay. I haven't.
They even have a blog.

But it did take my dad ages to understand that the tail of a mouse comes out of its nose, not out of its ass.
And at one point, there were exactly 2 icons on the desktop, with post it note with arrows on them stuck to the monitor to explain which one is to read email, and which one starts solitaire.

Does it really though? email has been around for decades, internet browsers for 20 years

Cars have been around for over two hundred years and have barely evolved in that time.

20 years ago computers looked like those videos above - these days people carry phones (or watches) that have several orders of magnitude more power than those computers.

Far from moving fast, I have always thought technological improvements have been way to slow! The lack of any real progress is disappointing

My dad (81) was always into his gadgets. Which is great for me as i get the hand-me- downs when a new gadget comes out. I got him a mac mini a few years back for a bit of surfing. I got dozens of 'call outs' to come round and have a look as it was broken (it never was). Best was a proper emergency. 'Can you come round now son? I think it's on fire - there's smoke coming out of it!' I got him to unplug it and rushed round to see what was wrong [i]this time[/i].

You know the way the mac has a dock? And you can add and remove shortcuts from it? Well he removed (no doubt by accident - just like the time his screen went all blue - he'd accidently created hundreds of untitled folders on the desktop with his elbow - covering the entire) an alias from the dock and a little animated puff of smoke appeared.

That "Teens React to Windows 95" is kind of odd. Ok, I get dial-up Internet would seem weird to them, but I don't really understand why separate power switches for PC and monitor would be such a mind-blowing concept when modern desktop PCs are exactly the same, or using a cable rather than Wi-Fi. It's basically "Teens who have never used a desktop computer because they have iPads react..." isn't it.

I've been showing my Apprentices some old tech - I bought a ZX Spectrum in a little while back - and it'd have never occurred to me that a PC of that vintage might be in any way unusual to them. And yet, "Windows 95? Like, 1995? That's before I was born!"

'Can you come round now son? I think it's on fire - there's smoke coming out of it!'
...
a little animated puff of smoke appeared.

That reminds me of a similar tale. I once took a Tech Support call from an elderly gent who was angry and panicky. He was demanding that we send someone round RIGHT NOW to collect his new computer before the police arrived to arrest him.

Transpired, it'd crashed with an error "this program has performed an illegal operation"...

but I don't really understand why separate power switches for PC and monitor would be such a mind-blowing concept

Put a modern iMac in front of someone who has never used one before and ask them to find the on button.

Just to emphasise the point a little.

The first general-purpose programmable digital electronic computer was [url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC ]ENIAC[/url], which was first announced in 1946 (when that old boy was 21).

ENIAC cost the equivalent of $6,816,000, weighed 27 tonnes, occupied 167 m² and required 150 kW of electricity to run.

[img] [/img]
{[url= ]source[/url]}

These days you can readily buy an off-the-shelf microprocessor like an ATtiny85, that is the size of my pinkie nail, costs less than a dollar, weighs less than a gram, requires 0.025 watts and can do in a second what the ENIAC would take all day to do.

And that's just basic consumer stuff - not even close to bleeding edge tech.

In the past I have found it the 35-55 age bracket who are least willing to learn, adapt or change to new developments. Often 55+ people have a lot more flexibility and openness to new stuff. I have no idea why. The very worse group of people to train are middle aged teachers and academics, a significant number of whom seem to think teaching other people enables them to legitimately totally close off their own minds. Very puzzling and also sad, as you would expect them to be the most open of all to new educational situations.

My kids would not flinch at most of those things.
Floppy disk might not be recognised in any flavour.

Did have to explain what the BSOD was to one of them a few weeks ago when he was asking about overclocking his PC. He thought it was hilarious.

Does it really though? email has been around for decades, internet browsers for 20 years

Yes, but their usability has been transformed.

How many young people email each other nowadays anyway? I haven't send a social email in years.

I don't really understand why separate power switches for PC and monitor would be such a mind-blowing concept when modern desktop PCs are exactly the same

A lot of teens haven't used a desktop computer though, that's the point. I know adults to whom I can't give CDs because they only have tablets and phones in the house. And a huge number of people use 'laptop' as a synonym for PC.

The very worse group of people to train are middle aged teachers

was always fun at school to see them struggle playing a VCR tape

rofl @ illegal operation

best I've seen was the guy that put a 3.5" floppy in to a (full height) 5.25" drive. totally confused why it dropped inside. fished it out. the TRIED AGAIN! wtf?

or maybe that is bettered by the one that folded a 5.25 floppy in half to put it inside a 3.5" drive?

Definitely recommend a trip to Bletchley Park, with both kids that are half your age, and your dad.

it'd have never occurred to me that a PC of that vintage might be in any way unusual to them. And yet, "Windows 95? Like, 1995? That's before I was born!"

At the last parent's evening her teacher commented that my then five-year-old daughter was the only one who knew how to use a mouse - the others were all prodding at the screen.

I also vividly remember watching her as a baby when she found a glossy magazine and tried to do pinch-zoom and swipe gestures to look through the photos.

Their concept of "a computer" is already very different from ours.

Floppy disk might not be recognised in any flavour

Cars have been around for over two hundred years and have barely evolved in that time

yep mines full of technology but still not people friendly

and Bill Gates is 60

or maybe that is bettered by the one that folded a 5.25 floppy in half to put it inside a 3.5" drive?

Once spoke to a guy who'd bought 72-pin SIMMs when his machine took 30-pin SIMMs. "I've put them in but they don't work" he explained. Wait, what? The 72-pin modules are physically bigger, how have you managed to install them?

Turned out, he'd taken each one in turn and lopped an inch off the end with a hacksaw.

If we're sharing "tech support hell" stories rather than just age-related differences, I've got a million of them. Perhaps there's another thread in that.

Some of the most engaged of customers at user testing sessions are retired folk: they have all the time, and explore all the options. Seem more conscientious than younger folk, too.

Also, half the design team is itself pushing 50, so …

ah... the "Hey, look! Someone's 3D printed the Save Icon"

That's telling in itself; I'd bet that there's a lot of people who will know it as the save icon [i]without any idea why it looks like it does.[/i]

Struck me as equally strange my kids going 'choo choo' when being trains.

And what do these mysterious white bananas have to do with answering a call?

[img] [/img]

My Grandad (aged 92) is a bit of a mix.

He got a iPad and started using the internet at 91, FaceTime's us, uploads pics, bought a wifi printer and prints them out for us when we visit. Amazing!

But then he said he was printing off his old emails and putting them in folders (actual physical folders) organised by date/sender so he could find them again.

At the other end of the scale, the teenage kids my girlfriend teaches use social media all the time, but don't know how to send an e-mail.

My mum has started using emojis in her texts. She's still not grasped that you don't need to type the word out as well. Funny 🙂

Lol.. those kids watching that 90s instructional video.. Their reaction to the shit video is funniest. What they don't realise is that was a really popular way of disseminating information in those days, we had to watch loads of that kind of shit. Their immunity is so low you can watch their skin crawl with embarrassment 🙂

Much more than technology has advanced over the years.

It's easy to take stuff for granted. My mum found it hard work navigating around on her digital TV. She had never used a keyboard to move something around on a screen before, so the concept of moving the cursor around to select things using the remote was hard to explain.

Mr. Floppy Bender, above, was a PhD student. History, iirc.
I don't think it's just "technology and old people", but "technology and non-technical people", or even "topic of choice and people that have no interest in that topic of choice".
It's certainly not a function of cleverness or intelligence.

I still remember the first time my Mum used Skype. She was very please with herself getting it to work initiating the call and chatted for ages. We said goodbye and watched as she squinted at the screen and muttered and tutted for about 10 minutes trying to switch it off. Was comedy gold till one of the kids let slip.

I have not yet got my Atari ST out of the loft to show the kids. I have a feeling they'll love the games.. Buggy Boy will be a hit.

My Mum has told herself that she can't use a smartphone or a tablet. It's a bit frustrating because she uses more complicated stuff at work all the time without a second thought.

Cars have been around for over two hundred years and have barely evolved in that time

You can't honestly believe that? Just think of the improvements in safety, suspension, gearboxes, efficiency, power etc. Here are the basic specs from a Ford Model T from ~100 years ago; engine produced 20 hp giving a top speed of 40–45 mph and 16-25 mpg.

My mum found it hard work navigating around on her digital TV.

That's not tech per se simply what you are used to. I can't navigate easily on games consoles or Mac's as I rarely use them, but it wouldn't take me long to sort it if I had too.

But then he said he was printing off his old emails and putting them in folders (actual physical folders) organised by date/sender so he could find them again.

I have to archive (another word for lose never to see again) my email so often that I wonder if this is a better idea 😕

I bought an IPAD.

I only wanted to check emails and weather while I was on holiday, so if I could load Firefox I'd have all my favourites. It came with a case because I perceived it was built to be light and slim, not robust.

I opened the box, thought it probably needed charging. The power lead was too short to reach a wall socket behind me. I got upset by this, had to use the wander lead I have for power tools. I looked for a manual in the box. There wasn't one. There wasn't even a [i]get you started[/i] booklet. How does one use a new piece of kit without a manual? There was a dinky little card, printed in a tiny font in grey ink. No use to my tired old eyes.

I taught it my thumbprint, then it nagged about a password. I was not a happy bunny by this point. It wouldn't accept something easy as a temporary measure, until I'd gone on my hols and had time to persevere. I put in something contorted, like it wanted. It seemed relevant at the time.

I got so annoyed that I thought I'd leave it until I came back. And then I'd forgotten the stupid password.

So I've put it all in the **** it bucket.

A 500 quid lesson on being too old, or is it technology not suited to older people? I've read plenty of manuals. One can stick post-it notes, use highlighters, mark pages, scribble in margins, flick backwards and forwards, read and re-read.

I would expect they stopped printing them because no-one was reading them. I don't read them - most stuff doesn't need it any more.

or is it technology not suited to older people?

A lot of technology is not suited to people who grumble about creating passwords, I'll grant you that. As for manuals, the whole beauty of so much modern technology is how - and there will always be exceptions - it is usable and accessible without resorting to reading a "how to" guide.

You're a lot younger than I, molgrips.

I hope I'm this excited by new technology when I'm her age. I'd hate to think there's nothing new to see any

The old chap who founded our company in 1967 was quite "hands on" and one day he looked at the sequence of numbers for the new formulations created and worked out that we should be buying a load of box files for storage. Somebody told him: "Ah, we don't need box files any more Mr D, everything is on the new computer". "Yes, but where do you put the formulations?" he replied. "They're stored on the computer Mr D!" "Yes, but where do you actually put the [i]formulations[/i]?"

He got on the phone to the supplier and ordered a dozen new box files, which got quietly sent back once he'd forgotten about them.

You're a lot younger than I, molgrips.

True, but I wonder what practical difference does that make? Perhaps because I've had more exposure to tech than you? Maybe it was part of my life at some kind of formative stage? Interesting question.

It will be interesting to see if my generation ends up like the current lot of 80 year olds when we ourselves are 80. Or if our skills will continue to be transferrable.

thought it probably needed charging

Did it? My experience of iDevices is that they don't usually need charging out-of-the-box and before setup, but I suppose some may come with flat batteries.

How does one use a new piece of kit without a manual?

Ever bought a claw hammer with a manual? Ever wondered how many people don't know what the claw is for? People have been making tools without manuals for decades. It's not unique to modern tech and the fact you did manage to turn it on and follow the instructions is some testament to the efficacy of the manual-free approach. Is it not?

Reading your post, it does sound a bit like you wanted the experience to be a bad one. Am I right? 🙂

A 500 quid lesson on being too old, or is it technology not suited to older people? I've read plenty of manuals. One can stick post-it notes, use highlighters, mark pages, scribble in margins, flick backwards and forwards, read and re-read.

My Gran is 90 and struggles to change a lightbulb, and even she managed to get an iPad up and running.

And my dad (who likes sailing boats, narrow boats, and 1950's Russian motorbikes for technology savy context) manages to use an Android tablet.

You might be older than one, but you're not older than my nan!

He got on the phone to the supplier and ordered a dozen new box files, which got quietly sent back once he'd forgotten about them.

Gods help you if you don't have backups and the hard drive crashed, mind.

I have not yet got my Atari ST out of the loft to show the kids. I have a feeling they'll love the games.. Buggy Boy will be a hit.

Don't be so soft. Start 'em on Rick Dangerous.

My Mum has told herself that she can't use a smartphone or a tablet. It's a bit frustrating because she uses more complicated stuff at work all the time without a second thought.
...
True, but I wonder what practical difference does that make? Perhaps because I've had more exposure to tech than you? Maybe it was part of my life at some kind of formative stage? Interesting question.

I think perhaps it is a mindset thing. Some people fear change perhaps, and see this as some sort of New World Order. And some just like to wear their lack of skills like a badge of pride, I've had people proudly tell me "I don't understand any of this computer shit" (whilst working in Finance).

[i]I looked for a manual in the box. There wasn't one. There wasn't even a get you started booklet. How does one use a new piece of kit without a manual? [/i]

the manuals are on the internet!

http://help.apple.com/ipad/9/#/

People used to technology seem to forget that we've had decades to learn the terminology and techniques and as most new products are a small evolutionary step onwards the lack of a manual probably isn't a big deal. For someone starting from little or no experience it's a much bigger problem.

Even in that video the guy explaining stuff to his grandfather is using terms that probably mean nothing to old fella and even if they do the information is coming at such a rate that he's little chance of retaining much of it.

and some just like to wear their lack of skills like a badge of pride

At least they're advertising it plainly, it's quite helpful, a bit like a sign, saves time in finding out what they're like. Etc.

the manuals are on the internet!

Reminds me of an old episode of Cheers where Woody had bought a VCR. "Are you sure you know how to set that up Woody?" they asked, "they're pretty complicated things."

"Oh, it's fine," he replies, "it comes with an instructional video."

I got so annoyed that I thought I'd leave it until I came back. And then I'd forgotten the stupid password.

slowoldgit - you're not alone! I took my Samsung tablet back to the high street retailer whom I'd bought it from and told them I'd forgotten my password. Once they realised they were dealing with a halfwit (did have my receipt though) they sorted me out quickly, clearly to get me out of the shop pronto. 😳 Very helpful so no complaints.

At least they're advertising it plainly, it's quite helpful, a bit like a sign, saves time in finding out what they're like. Etc.

Good point. As in Bill Engvall's "here's your sign" sketch.