Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes and they weren't that old either. Early 60s. They just aren't members of CD.
My library offers internet basics classes and they are very popular. Also there were volunteer high school students who signed seniors up for the vaccines.
Some are dependent on cell phones because they are simpler to use than computers, but wouldn't know how to get around a computer and understand the various icons. Someone else would set up their cell phone and they would just use what they were shown. My friend had no idea how to use the photo app to open one of those QR codes that someone else posted about. She kept focusing the phone camera at the code, but she couldn't quite figure out exactly how to get the lines around the code so that the browser would open. Then she couldn't figure out that you had to click on the cell phone browser pop up to see the menu. She had no clue how to do it until I showed her. She also didn't know how to use the front camera to take a selfie or that there was even a front camera. No one showed her. It's hard when you live alone and have no close family or friends to demonstrate how to do these things, plus given the opportunity to practice how to use these apps in front of someone else who does know. Most people won't remember how to do this stuff only one time or after a demonstration.
If you weren't employed in a job that required computer use (and there are still quite a few), you just won't have the experience unless you have a friend or family member to show you.
This is pretty much what I suspect is true in the US also. This article states that many can't even start and log in to the internet, and recommends more "offline" methods to access government services.
Do you know many other seniors who can't get online, or struggle to use Google, etc?
Funny is that I only knew one person who could not get on the internet and that was simply a man who was a Vietnam veteran 70 years old and he didn't even have a smartphone he still had a flip phone. He asked me to print out certain things at the library because he didn't really understand and even though I was willing to more than glad to show him how to do everything he just didn't want to involve himself with it he was happy with his various liquid consumption.
^Do they have to sign up online to take the Internet Basics course or can they sign up for it in person at the library.
They offer classes like that at our local colleges but you have to go online to sign up for them. It's probably mostly adult kids signing their parents up for those classes.
I see it more with smartphones than with computers although there are a lot of people in their 80s and above who can barely use a computer.
Many people used computers in their jobs so they know the basics at least. But smart phones came later, they are personal, and there is no one to show them how. Everything seems to be geared to smart phones lately and it's confusing for people who only know how to use a computer. App for this, app for that.
I think it's gone too far. Digital coupons, make a haircut appointment on your computer instead of talking to someone, pay for parking with your phone, etc. Even if they know how to do these things, it's usually more annoying and time consuming when you have to set up an account with some place just to be able to communicate.
I don't think you can get an Uber or a Lyft without using a smartphone, either.
People have given up pro sports tickets in my area because they do not have smartphones.
The recent Eric Clapton concert was digital ticket only.
Paper tickets are fast becoming a thing of the past.
The younger workers don't remember a time when there weren't cellphones and the internet. When you grow up using the technology that IS your normal and you are going to design the way things work around what is normal to you.
In the meantime, senior citizens grew up in a totally different time before that technology even existed.
Only 10 years ago, I think you could get through life pretty easily without having a smartphone. Now it's becoming a NEED to have one - it is assumed that you not only have one but know how to use it. That's a good assumption when you're 30 but not so much when you're 80+.
It's one of the reasons I want to move to an active, over 55 community where technology is used but there are also likely more workarounds for the older folks.
For those that aren't aware, even restaurant and retail jobs assume that their employees have smartphones. Employees access their schedules through their phone app, ask for time off, swap shifts, pick up extra shifts, communicate via group text, etc.
It's the way of the world now.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
