Ageing and Fear of Technology! (70+, 6 year old, adults, grandpa)
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I'll turn 70 this year and just finished building my first computer. A few weeks ago I de-bugged my grandson's computer; he a college sophomore.
I built the computer from scratch. Learned what I could on the internet, and just went from there.
I own an iphone, Kindle Fire, Bluetooth speakers, and an old laptop that I found in a pawnshop and updated so I could run Win7 on it. Got my own disc.
I gave my brother in law a shopping list because he wanted build a computer like mine. He'll be over next week end to use my shop and get some advice while he's building it. He's a high school chemistry teacher.
In the meantime I maintain my cars myself, and next week I will help my buddy replace the fuel pump for the diesel on his sailboat. Fuel pressure is too low.
I was a salesman and then a truck driver in my working life. I trade the stock market now that I'm retired.
My fear of high tech gadgetry is I'll have to try and accommodate another not-needed addiction to my lifestyle! And there's no room for that right now!
My fear of high tech gadgetry is I'll have to try and accommodate another not-needed addiction to my lifestyle! And there's no room for that right now!
And to be sure, AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile et al want you to get addicted. They particularly want you to be so addicted to using data that you use it whether or not you are on Wi-Fi.
Well, I see the OP's attitude as just another "my way is the better way so everyone fall in." And the entrepreneurs make a pretty penny off people like that especially when it comes to electronics. There are people who genuinely like the latest and the greatest and have fun with them. Then there are those who use them for the snob value. Those are the ones who look down their noses at others who choose not to use them because either they don't need them or are not interested.
As for me, I use technology as I need it. When I was working, I needed it a lot so I am pretty techno-savvy but in my personal life and as a retiree on a limited budget, I use what I need and what I can afford. It's that simple. So my ancient flip phone, land line, computer and analog TV are just fine because they work for me and I have no quarrel with them. When they die they will be replaced with whatever is in my budget and suits my needs for the purpose.
I used to pay all my bills online and order everything online. I still order some things online things but no more bill paying. I pay bills by check now. I also order fewer things. Why? Well, Anthem Insurance, Target, Sony to name a few. Not so safe anymore is it? While I do some banking online I also get hard copy statements as a backup. The bank is just two blocks away. It's a pleasant walk and when I am finished I can go to the Starbucks across the street and talk with my favorite server or stroll along the area and visit the shops.
One electronic device you will have to pry out of my cold dead hands is my Kindle. I saves room for books for which I don't have space and it allows me to read anything I want because I have a problem with line spacing in many print books due to the way my tired old eyes focus on it. Without my Kindle my reading would be very limited.
So there you go. Electronics should be used by people but I think sometimes the Market has manipulated these clever devices into using people instead.
And to be sure, AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile et al want you to get addicted. They particularly want you to be so addicted to using data that you use it whether or not you are on Wi-Fi.
CHA ... CHING!!!!!!
I have Facebook friends who can't believe it that I don't play any number of Internet games, like Candy Crush. Don't get me started on that!!! Addiction prone, there would go my nightly highly enjoyable walks with my ferret in my neighborhood, and my love of time-consuming cooking might go down the drain, and I'll resort to eating Banquet TV dinners!
My foot will remain on the brake pedal when it comes to succumbing to the temptation of delving into that!
I made a very long DVD showing how to do certain things on your phone, using my phone as the working model for it. That DVD was, no kidding, 3 hours long. ....
She has yet to watch the DVD, a full month later.
Three hours?! On how to use a phone? Geez, I don't think I'd watch either. And if the phone is that complicated I probably wouldn't use it much either.
TBH there are a lot of things I wouldn't use a phone for, mostly because the keypads are too small to use easily and the screen is hard to read, so for most things It's the computer with a nice big screen, lol.
I'm not really a technophobe, my dad was programmer in the seventies and I think we've had computers since the first Tandy my dad brought home, but I do think that sometimes the 'old ways' are better. I enjoy the feel and smell of books, I like handling records, pictures taken on 35mm film, etc.
I guess this thread is about what technology we oldsters have adopted. DH and I got Iphones in 2012, right before we moved, and we use them instead of the landline we were forced by our internet carrier to buy in a package. The little handset we bought rings sometimes, but we never answer. We do use the number for an occasional FAX, though.
We had a PC that died from overuse, I think. And now we rely on a big ol' desktop that we got late in 2011, because the old desktop indicated it was dying. I asked DH what he would do in tax season of the desktop crashed, and he bought a new PC shortly after that. It has a big screen, and I am typing at it now.
We bought an Ipad, but I am the only user. I have talked DH into agreeing that I need to upgrade the Ipad this year, especially since the laptop is useless now. I think we need two computers in the house; of course our Iphones are also computers!
DH loves his Iphone; I love my Ipad. I have a Kindle, but I have found that I would rather read a softbound book than anything else.
My biggest technological complaint is with our TV remote, which I find hopelessly difficult. Our TV is going bad, and we will have to replace it, and when we do I hope DH finds a simpler universal remote. And I also have to say that Netflix has been a disappointment. Most of the movies they offer are dreck. We have watched a number of TV shows, but we've had lots of technical problems. We finally got the cable company to put us on a "line" that resists interference. (I know I am not explaining that correctly.) So, now we at least get a reliable signal. So tonight, I tried to bring up Netflix to watch the new series that Tina Fey has done, and it wanted me to key in a password! Like we haven't already done this? And putting in the password is so cumbersome. I hate it! So I guess my netflix experience has been basically a disappointment.
We now take a lot of pics on our phones, and I text a lot now, and occasionally I make calls on it! I think smartphones are amazing.
Fear of technology is common in many people. Scare stories abound about identity theft, using a smart phone makes you a target for muggers and losing all your data on your computer. If you want to help someone get used to new technology introduce one function at a time concentrating on little steps. If your bus company has a gps schedule program (and many do) show him how to use it so he can see when a bus is coming instead of just sitting there waiting and wondering. If you show him in small ways how technology can ease his day he will be more accepting of it.
FYI - my 91 year old mother loves to Skype with her great grandkids. We also scanned many of the family photos onto the computer - she does electronic scrapbooking. She also uses Dragon to record stories about the scrapbook pages.
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