Viewing 31 posts - 1 through 31 (of 31 total)
  • What is it with old people and PCs?
  • Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    My dad killed his PC. So I gave him another.

    Two hours later and he’s killed that one too.

    Apparently he “downloaded some software and deleted some things”. 🙄

    I have another spare machine. He doesn’t know this. Please don’t anyone tell him.

    crikey
    Free Member

    He’s your Dad.

    You will turn into him.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    Get him an ipad.

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    Houns
    Full Member

    Yup, tablets are old people proof, well as long as they don’t use them as a tray for their tea and biscuits

    cloudnine
    Free Member

    Put some parental controls on the next one

    mudshark
    Free Member

    My Mum’s pretty much banned me from talking to my Dad about his laptop as I get so frustrated with him. Before the last time I went we’d agreed that I’d look at his slow laptop but by the time I’d got there he’d taken it to a shop to get a new hard disk as that would make it faster he thought. Didn’t work, seems he got memory and hard disk space mixed up.

    Wozza
    Free Member

    jam bo – Member
    Get him an ipad.

    This… except you’ll still get calls just less often. My 76 year old Nan loves hers, especially the fact that the buttons/menus appear and disappear when they’re necessary.

    Last weeks support call “So i pressed Skype and it wobbled and asked if I wanted to delete it” “then what?” “I clicked yes, whats happened to it? I can’t talk to our Scott in Australia” 🙄

    duntstick
    Free Member

    That’s what Teamviewer is for….

    Teamviewer

    Take over his pc whenever you like and put things right

    mikey74
    Free Member

    Urgh!! Don’t get me started. There’s people at work, intelligent people, who use computers all day, every day, and still don’t know basic computer operation and maintenance. It’s a bit like a chef not knowing how to operate a cooker.

    I think some people are deliberately obtuse when it comes to computers.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    my folks were having problems seeing people online on Skype on their ipad, I suggested logging out and back in again as that sometimes helps… no idea what the password was.
    When successful skype happens they answer with an argument about how to turn the camera on…

    Software is not fool proof

    PiknMix
    Free Member

    My mother in law is amazing at screwing up her PC, if I charged the going rate I could easily afford to live off of her PC ineptness!

    I know she’s got anew phone for Christmas, I also know I will be fixing it after Christmas dinner.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Urgh!! Don’t get me started. There’s people at work, intelligent people, who use computers all day, every day, and still don’t know basic computer operation and maintenance. It’s a bit like a chef not knowing how to operate a cooker.

    I think some people are deliberately obtuse when it comes to computers.

    Worked with people who call everything by the first brand name that it was associated with portable hard drives were a “blah brand” the very large and expensive box under the desk had nothing to do with the stuff that happened on the screen… in some ways I would still rather deal with the ignorant than the small bit of knowledge and a desire to fix everything – my graphics look funny, hmm you seem to have the latest beta release of the driver how did that appear on there.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Every time I go to my Mum’s for tea, I spend an hour sorting simple issues out on their laptop, mostly it’s updates that just alter stuff slightly. The smallest changes completely throw them. Whenever I’ve had to sort things out for them over the phone, it’s like talking to a chimp that never saw a computer before, yet they’ve had it for years.

    fallsoffalot
    Free Member

    never mind old people.i’m mid 40’s and first mobile phone i laid eyes on was a proper old finger dial type phone and a car battery in a bag slung over the shoulder,and you wonder why old people have trouble with technology

    slackalice
    Free Member

    Tsk!

    Old people eh?!

    What do they know?! 🙄

    Tsk, tsk, tsk.

    One word: Wisdom 8)

    Have another: Respect 💡

    Have some more: Because they have learnt to tolerate the impatience of those who haven’t been breathing as long as they have. It will be you one day.

    And furthermore, it’s Christmas, so to give just a little bit of unconditional love – especially for your parents – would be lovely. 🙂

    Edric64
    Free Member

    Nearly 50 here dont know how to do photos or spreadsheets or much at all .I use mine for email and looking at stuff on the net .I cant be bothered to learn about the rest of what it does .Basically i`m lazy.

    MaryHinge
    Free Member

    My mum is in her mid 70s and although I do have to fix the odd issue, she sounds pretty sorted compared to some of the above.

    I do get phone calls at 11pm sometimes though,

    mikey74
    Free Member

    Tsk!

    Old people eh?!

    What do they know?!

    Tsk, tsk, tsk.

    One word: Wisdom

    Have another: Respect

    Have some more: Because they have learnt to tolerate the impatience of those who haven’t been breathing as long as they have. It will be you one day.

    And furthermore, it’s Christmas, so to give just a little bit of unconditional love – especially for your parents – would be lovely.

    Oh, get off your high horse. This is a small, unimportant annoyance and has nothing to do with not having respect for the elderly. As it happens, my Dad is over 70 and one of the most tech savvy people I know.

    FeeFoo
    Free Member

    The problem isn’t really because they’re old, it’s because PCs and laptops are generally not robust enough and don’t work the same way every time you turn them on.

    As above, tablets, esp. ipads work so easily in comparison – open the lid and it’s on; touch the internet icon and you’re on the internet; touch the email icon and you see your email. Close the lid and it’s off; open and it’s on.

    mattsccm
    Free Member

    You have to bear in mind that they were not indoctrinated when young. I didn’t touch a computer until I was 30 and then it was something running Windows 3.1. Apart from being shown how to use a Smartboard I have never had any training. that’s why I am useless. Oldies don’t want to learn really. Can’t say I blame them.
    Of curse the older generation is less compliant to brainwashing than the younger ones. My dad wants to know why the PC doesn’t do things that he wants, not him having to do what the bloody magic lantern wants. I do agree there.

    slackalice
    Free Member

    Sorry mikey74, didn’t realise you were content police!! 😉 🙂

    TBH, I’m coming at it from the perspective of the OP having at the very least one parent to love and respect. Do it, show it while you may. That is all. 😀

    torsoinalake
    Free Member

    My girlfriend got fraped the other day. Friend got hold of her phone and changed status to something along the lines of ‘I’m a man’.

    Apparently, speaking to them tonight, it has caused a lot of consternation in my parents household. My mother “didn’t know what to do”.

    aracer
    Free Member

    Mine does. I don’t even actively do any maintenance on it, just let the automatic stuff do it’s work. The issue reported by the OP (and probablyt the issues most others are reporting) is actively killing the computer, not the computer breaking itself – the advantage of a tablet is that it’s more locked down and harder to kill (though as pointed out, far from impossible).

    unknown
    Free Member

    fraped

    A really, really horrible term.

    slowoldgit
    Free Member

    I peaked about DOS 5.2 and Win 3.11. Just about all of that is now irrelevant, and the pace of change shows no sign of slowing. I sometimes have to ask a younger person. Your turns will come

    samuri
    Free Member

    Computers are very complex. The mistake we (geeks) made was making them appear to be simple.

    slowoldgit
    Free Member

    According to my memory, they used to be simple. Then the nerds wanted to use DB4 instead of FW3 and the rot set in. The poseurs had to replace 95 with 98 and we’ve reached the point where we can add pics to our emails. Every time the machines speed up there’s new ways of slowing them down.

    spacemonkey
    Full Member

    Trust me, it’s not just old folk. I’ve mentioned one particular story before and I’ll divulge it again …

    An IT Training Manager of an NHS Trust client once asked me how to update a browser plugin on their training room PCs. I said “Download it and install it”, to which she replied “So do I just download it to the RAM? And then click it?”

    😯

    bearnecessities
    Full Member

    Computers are very complex. The mistake MS made was making them appear to be complex for the end user

    …surely?

    samuri
    Free Member

    Computers only ever appear simple because someone has put the effort in to make them that way to the end user. Even the most basic operating system was designed to help ahem…people who struggle with IT, able to use it.

    The more complex a system gets (and all systems get more complex as time goes on to meet demands), the more effort has to go in to making it appear simple to normal people. It’s a bizarre and pointless exercise. Either leave it to the geeks or stop complaining and get an expert in when it doesn’t work.

    As I say. That’s our fault. We should never have made computers appear simple enough that every man and his dog felt they have the knowledge to sort them out.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    Last weeks support call “So i pressed Skype and it wobbled and asked if I wanted to delete it” “then what?” “I clicked yes, whats happened to it? I can’t talk to our Scott in Australia”

    Next time you get a chance:

    Settings -> General -> Restrictions

    And restrict her from deleting things. You might want to restrict In-App purchases as well.
    Goes a long way to making my iPad three-year-old-proof so should work for pensioners too 😀

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