Technology and Old People

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.

Okay, so lets compare then. We can’t go back 100 years for computers, but 70 should suffice.

Cost

In 1916 a Model T Ford cost $345 USD (roughly $9,000 in today’s money)
In 2016 a 2.0l Ford Focus costs around $19,000 USD + taxes

In 1946 ENIAC cost $487,000 (about $6,816,000 in today’s money)
In 2016 an ATtiny85 costs less than a dollar.

Energy Efficiency

As you said a Model T got around 16-25mpg and 20bhp.
In 2016 a 2.0l Ford Focus gets around 31mpg and 160bhp

The ENIAC required 150 kW of electricity.
An ATtiny85 requires 0.025 watts.

Speed

Difficult because we obviously don’t have a 0-60 time for the Model T – but lets be generous and say a modern Ford accelerates maybe 50 times faster?

The ENIAC could do around 5,000 operations a second.
An ATtiny85 can do 20,000,000 instructions per second (and they are considerably more complex than the ENIAC operations too).

Weight

Model T = 540kg
Ford Focus = 1,270–1,471 kg

ENAIC = 27,000 kg
ATtiny85 = < 0.001 kg

Conclusion
So yeah, if we are comparing rates of technological change I think electronics/computers (& software) have developed at an absolutely astounding rate compared to more established technologies like cars.

Computers are so cheap now that they can give them away free in schools or as cover gifts on magazines[/url].
They are so efficient that the always-on Garmin activity tracker I’m wearing lasts a year on a tiny coin cell battery.
They are so tiny that they have components reaching atomic limitations where quantum effects become an issue.
And they are so powerful that even your phone will take an HD video and happily identify and swap your face with your cat’s in real time. 😀

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.

The trick is to put aside your preconceptions that it is going to be a difficult experience and go with the flow. Assuming you can get past the first hurdle of turning on a modern smartphone/tablet, it does then walk you through the rest of the steps to set it up. It requires some trust that Apple et al know best and I suspect this is what a lot of people struggle with.*

*on this subject when I first got a Mac I struggle to get on with the iPhoto app, trying to manage photos the “way I was used to”. When I succumbed to/embraced the Apple way it made a world of difference to my enjoyment and productivity.

A clear and concise manual approved by the Plain English Campaign is essential, as are clear pics.

A clear and concise manual approved by the Plain English Campaign is essential, as are clear pics.

It really isn’t. If you need a comprehensive manual to use it then the design has failed.

As stilltortoise says, how many people need a manual for a hammer?

yes, because an ipad is no more complicated than a hammer.

i know it’s possible to do a screengrab with an ipad, but i don’t know how.

i imagine it’s possible to hotlink images to this website using an ipad, i’ve tried but got nowhere.

hammers? no problem.

I can see it now, iPad manual page 2154734: “How to post images on Singletrack” 😀

It really isn’t. If you need a comprehensive manual to use it then the design has failed.

Fair point Graham, should probably have said a manual with the basics and approved by the PEC.

As stilltortoise says, how many people need a manual for a hammer?

That’s just being silly. 😀

The problem with a manual is knowing how to access the information you need to know at the point you need to know it.

Google and natural language query engines are far better at giving access to help than an index in a manual – you don’t even have to use the right terminology to find the answer you need online, with a manual you need to know what the thing you want to do is called before you even look it up.

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

Yak – agree with you re touchscreens, ime they just don’t work properly. Am already bewildered by tech but it’s an age thing. 😉

Fair point Graham, should probably have said a manual with the basics and approved by the PEC.

Okay a Quick Start Guide might be useful for some people – but honestly with something like an iPad, it only has a couple of buttons. Once you figure out which button turns it on it pretty much holds your hand from there.

And if that fails then Apple have free workshops and training sessions to help the technologically-challenged get to grips with these things.

My Samsung tablet came with a quick start guide so that was fine. Though I did get a man in to set up my new PC.

For those who bemoan the lack of a manual with an iPad, do you also bemoan the lack of manuals for all the various bits on your bike?

Where’s the manual that shows me how to change the bearings in my hub? Where’s the manual that shows me how to index my gears? Where’s the manual that shows me how to add a spacer to my shock to improve way the shock ramps up?

Google and natural language query engines are far better at giving access to help than an index

My wheels sound a bit rough. What do I need to do?
Why aren’t my gears changing as smoothly as they used to?
Why is my rear suspension blowing through its travel so easily?

Embrace the fact there are better methods than manuals for most of us to learn about what we need to do with technology, be it bikes, iPads or whatever*

*practical example – my dishwasher wasn’t working. A quick Google search told me exactly what I needed to do and I had it fixed in no time. I *could* have wasted time looking for the manual.

As stilltortoise says, how many people need a manual for a hammer?

And how many hammers come with pointless manuals? I bought an Xbox last year and there was more documentation with the controller than there was with the console itself, it was practically a phone book.

We had a new graduate join the group – one day she wondered what is the thing depicted on the “Save” icon.

Kids, eh?

Where’s the manual that shows me how to change the bearings in my hub? Where’s the manual that shows me how to index my gears? Where’s the manual that shows me how to add a spacer to my shock to improve way the shock ramps up?

It’s not really the same thing though, is it? That’s more of a service manual you’re describing. The book that came with my car tells me how to operate every last control down to a mentally challenged level, but doesn’t tell me how to replace the brake pads.

It was more used as an example of how natural language and search engines is a better way of finding the answer to what you’re looking for than a manual Cougar.

As an example of someone starting from scratch. When my mother first got her iPad I had to go explain both the concept of apps and how you used them by clicking on the pictures on the screen.

She had never had any reason to know about these things so how would she be expected to understand that in order to look at the BBC news site or check her bank account she would need to click on a slightly abstracted picture of a compass named Safari.

I understand where that design has come from and just accept that it is what it is (like the floppy disk Save icon) but she couldn’t possibly be expected to make that connection without some form of guidance.

I bought an Xbox last year and there was more documentation with the controller than there was with the console itself, it was practically a phone book.

That’s the other issue – manuals need to provide translations for every retail territory so they end up being massive and need to be reprinted if there are any mistakes or updates.

Whereas a device like a smartphone or tablet can present a step-by-step instructions as you require them, in your chosen language, that exactly match the software you are using, and can be animated or actually do things for you as you go.

The book that came with my car tells me how to operate every last control down to a mentally challenged level

You do have to wonder who exactly is buying a car and then consulting the manual to find out what the big wheel and pedals do. 😆

how would she be expected to understand that in order to look at the BBC news site or check her bank account she would need to click on a slightly abstracted picture of a compass named Safari.

Experimentation?

“I might break it” is a bit of a learned adult fear, especially in technophobes. They always explore interfaces like they are defusing a bomb, worried that pressing any button that they don’t fully understand will cause it to explode.

Give the same unfamiliar device to someone tech-savvy and unknown buttons are invitations to be pressed so they can find out what they do.

Give it to children and they’ll merrily explore everything, right up to the “Are you sure?” screen and beyond 😀

“I might break it” is a bit of a learned adult fear, especially in technophobes.

It’s somewhat justified though, historically at least, you could cock things up to a point where it’s not immediately obvious how to get back to the status quo; accidentally hitting a “hide all menus” command and then not being able to return to normal because the menus are missing, or some such.

Being a serial clicker of dialogue boxes brings its own problems. I had an Uncle who was a tinkerer, he couldn’t leave his bloody computer alone. Regular away I used to get phone calls, “yeah, my printer wasn’t printing blue, so I’ve reinstalled Windows…”

It was more used as an example of how natural language and search engines is a better way of finding the answer to what you’re looking for than a manual Cougar.

Ah, fair enough. In which case, yes, I agree completely.

The only problem really then is as others have said, you need to actually get to that point. With your iPad back there, it arguably might not need a manual but a quick-start card with “this device is pre-charged; here is the ‘on’ button, press it” might have helped those who’ve never seen one before.

“I might break it” is a bit of a learned adult fear, especially in technophobes

reminds me of our cleaner when I used to work in Filton.
Rule for cleaners is, clean but don’t touch anything computery.
She’d do the dusting, and extremely carefully leave a 1 inch clearance between duster and anything like keyboard, mouse, mousepad.
One day came running to us concerned she might have broken something or screwed it up when she accidentally nudged a mouse lead or something like nudging the table enough, that triggered the screensaver to deactivate.
Try explaining “no, that’s fine it’s just the screensaver” to someone with that technical knowledge, and there’s a major whoooosh going right over her head.

Feel sorry in a way, since that demographic are going to be stuffed, now that all banking is online, bills online, bus ticket is a piece of magic you keep in your wallet/purse that goes beep when you wave it when you get on the bus…

Ubuntu early editions tried to dumb a lot of things down, and picked one app of each type, and renamed them as such. So you’d have “Internet”, “Word Processor”, “Email”, etc. but the actual apps would be Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.
As mentioned above… how the heck is anyone supposed to know that a blue e or a compass or a multicoloured button or a mythical orange fiery creature equate to “you can go to your online banking or read BBC news here” ?
And if it is experimentation, then potentially that a screenful of apps to try first, where Chrome only has an advantage because it begins with C rather than E, F, O or S.

In work I did the worky stuff on a PC: entering data, doing databases, all that stuff. I don’t work any more. At home a PC is somewhere between a tool and a toy. I’d started with Win 3.11 and used the odd Xxxxxx for Dummies. I can find my way around Win 10 well enough for what I need to do.

My dashcam, both SatNavs, camera and other recent toys have manuals or instructions or whatever you want to call them.

For those who bemoan the lack of a manual with an iPad, do you also bemoan the lack of manuals for all the various bits on your bike?

I’ve been riding and fixing bikes for over fifty years. The knowledge has grown accordingly.

I bought an IPAD early this year, it was a brave but foolish novelty. Some days I feel old and irritable. The poor memory seems permanent. This is part of being older.

@ Cougar – the quick-start card was about the size of a playing card*, with a tiny font printed in a grey ink. My eyes rebelled at reading it. I thought it was possibly someones good idea totally wrecked by marketing or graphics.

*I assumed they made it that size to fit in the posy envelope.

Experimentation?

“I might break it” is a bit of a learned adult fear, especially in technophobes. They always explore interfaces like they are defusing a bomb, worried that pressing any button that they don’t fully understand will cause it to explode.

But we are talking about pensioners who may or may not be technophobes but are certainly not in this instance tech savvy. Saying to them that they need to unlearn their lifetime experiences of technology up to that point and return to a childlike state of experimentation isn’t really a very fair, realistic or understanding approach.

My work colleague’s father would rather die than use a mobile phone. I mean that literally. He’s ill and regularly falls down so my colleague bought him a mobile. He’s utterly terrified of wearing out the batteries or running up a bill. He turns it off the moment no-one is looking and absolutely refuses to use it because of ‘the bill’. This makes no sense, my colleague bought him a house and pays all his bills.

It’s more a fear of the Unknown I think.

I’ve a 90-odd year old grandma, who’s never used tech beyond a TV. My sister’s other half has developed an app which lets us (the family, plus in theory other trusted people – doctors, carers etc) send messages, photos and videos to her via a tablet that she keeps plugged in, and has a v cheap data only sim. She can reply in very simple steps with a voice message.

Basically, while she was in hospital, instead of just staring at a wall, she was swiping pics and videos of her great grandson back and forth, and my parents could keep her in the loop with what was happening with her care, flat and shopping etc. I can quickly send her a pic of what I’m doing most days, instead of (or as well as) calling her on the phone now and again (once a month or so). because we can see when she’s seen a picture/message, we also know she’s (probably) ok.

She bloody loves it – i wish we’d been able to give my other grandparents it before they passed away, as it’s a very easy and nice way to keep in touch with someone who doesn’t have the ability to use regular computers or tablets (for whatever reason)

My sis’s other half is just starting to put it on the market – https://www.mydodl.com/home (yes, this is a mini plug, but i genuinely think its great, and I’d recommend it even if i didn’t know who was behind it!)

Oh, and FWIW, my mum still double clicks on web links and has to restart a web browser if someone else has used it before, for some reason…