Old People and Technology

[stunthard]

Why is it that people make excuses for people over 40 not being able to grasp technology well? Wouldn't it make sense that if they've been around forlonger, they would be able to have a broader knowledge of how technology changes rapidly over time, and adjust to keep up with it? I'm not listening tothose old people excuses anymore. I look forward to the day when we'll have to order groceries online individually, so anyone not computer literate wouldstarve. I'm sorry, i just spent 30 minutes trying to explain to this 54 year old dude how to dial *228 on his new blackberry, and i'm thinking,"why the hell do you have a blackberry, captain stupid?" /rant

 

[proper english]

stubborn.

 

[starzinoureyes]

StuntHard wrote:

---

Why is it that people make excuses for people over 40 not being able to grasp technology well? Wouldn't it make sense that if they've been around for longer, they would be able to have a broader knowledge of how technology changes rapidly over time, and adjust to keep up with it? I'm not listening to those old people excuses anymore. I look forward to the day when we'll have to order groceries online individually, so anyone not computer literate would starve. I'm sorry, i just spent 30 minutes trying to explain to this 54 year old dude how to dial *228 on his new blackberry, and i'm thinking, "why the hell do you have a blackberry, captain stupid?" /rant
+@%%!%+ AWESOME.

 

[servechilled81]

well for younger people its something that kinda grew with us.
I think a lot of the changes in the technology that is most used today happened very fast.
I don't see it as some slow progression over a long period of time.
Not to mention the decrease in brain plasticity as you get older.

 

[chicityk7]

Originally Posted by proper english

stubborn.

SUMS IT UP PERFECTLY

 

[SumElegance]

if you dont understand how something works you shouldn't have it .
every time i have to explain some new @#$% to a oldie =

 

[cidman911]

I think the reason why HammacherSchlemmer makes sOooOOOooO much money is because they make it easy for older people to understand and use their private label merchandise.

You can get a 16gb iTouch for like $200-300. Whatever. With endless apps, wi-fi...all that.

But they sell their own private label 4gb media players for the same price because of the way they market and make it simple for older people to understand.And all it does is play the movies and songs. For the same damn price of $200-$300. Nuts!!!

My pops has ordered countless stuff off the catalog even though I can find the same things he gets outta there for like half the price and with bettercapabilities, but he never believes me.

He bought this thing that takes the negatives from old pictures and uploads them to his laptop for like $80. I was trying to explain Wal-Mart can do the samefor like .10 cents a picture and all I have to do was scan them, but he basically told me to get the hell away from him with my magic voodoo talk. Son of a#*$&$#...

Like dude said above....

Old people are just stubborn.

 

[jayt206]

^^Haha working in IT I explain stuff like that to older people and they are always hesitant. Some of the older people at my office are so lost with the easiesttasks.

 

[proper english]

Originally Posted by jayt206

^^Haha working in IT I explain stuff like that to older people and they are always hesitant. Some of the older people at my office are so lost with the easiest tasks.

word.. trying to explain how Windows 7 works to my mom is frustrating as hell (she's been a long time XP user).. it's basically the same thing, but shesays otherwise SMH.

 

[stunthard]

Originally Posted by ServeChilled81

well for younger people its something that kinda grew with us.
I think a lot of the changes in the technology that is most used today happened very fast.
I don't see it as some slow progression over a long period of time.
Not to mention the decrease in brain plasticity as you get older.

that's another excuse, "it kinda grew with us".
since they're older than us, shouldn't it have grown with them too?
it'd be a bright idea to have internet and social networking classes for seniors, and charge them an arm and a leg, but you have to have the patience of aspecial education teacher, which I don't have.

 

[jayhood23]

Originally Posted by CIDMAN911


He bought this thing that takes the negatives from old pictures and uploads them to his laptop for like $80. I was trying to explain Wal-Mart can do the same for like .10 cents a picture and all I have to do was scan them, but he basically told me to get the hell away from him with my magic voodoo talk. Son of a #*$&$#...

 

[ravagebx]

My mama still act like a rere when it comes to using the remote control

 

[falcon4567]

Originally Posted by StuntHard

Originally Posted by ServeChilled81

well for younger people its something that kinda grew with us.
I think a lot of the changes in the technology that is most used today happened very fast.
I don't see it as some slow progression over a long period of time.
Not to mention the decrease in brain plasticity as you get older.

that's another excuse, "it kinda grew with us".
since they're older than us, shouldn't it have grown with them too?
it'd be a bright idea to have internet and social networking classes for seniors, and charge them an arm and a leg, but you have to have the patience of a special education teacher, which I don't have.

No, since really its only been the last 16 or so years that the internet has taken off and only the last five or so that social networking hasdone the same. There've been so many developments in that time that unless you're someone who was already invested into learning about these thingsthere's no way you could've kept up especially with it being not very cost effective at the outset and seen as a rather frivolous trend until just ashort while ago.

 

[extraordinary swag]

My neighbor is just like this. She's is so damn clueless when it comes to computers and cable tv. I had to fix her internet problems with her Mac, my GODit was a pain in the a*s. She don't understand anything I try to tell her. So instead of following my directions she just dumped her mac and got a PC. Butof course she can't work that either. She doesn't even know the simple things like creating a password or choosing a wireless network, the sh*tain't that hard to do. Should have never given her my cell phone number

, but luckily she pays me sometimes. Older people just don't like to work tofix things, they want things that are ready right out of the box.

Some people in general, regardless of age don't use Google to its full potential. Anytime I have a problem with anything, I go straight to the search tosee if someone else had the same issue.

 

[stunthard]

Originally Posted by ExtRaOrDinaRy SwAg

Some people in general, regardless of age don't use Google to its full potential. Anytime I have a problem with anything, I go straight to the search to see if someone else had the same issue.

i do this too, but for some reason, older people act like it's too difficult to search google, they would rather ask somebody, who may give them incorrectinformation. NO, I WILL NOT PUT SONGS ON YOUR IPOD, GOOGLE THAT $$** AND LEARN HOW TO DO IT YOUR $@*##$ SELF, YOU OLD $+++*

 

[nnarum]

I wouldn't say it's stubborness, it's that they probably feel that they've lived this long without it that they don't need it.

I don't understand Twitter, nor the need for it... And I'm not that old...

 

[stunthard]

Originally Posted by nnarum

I wouldn't say it's stubborness, it's that they probably feel that they've lived this long without it that they don't need it.

I don't understand Twitter, nor the need for it... And I'm not that old...

I don't need porn, and i made it 14 years of my life without it, but i'm glad i embraced it.

 

[big j 33]

Originally Posted by StuntHard

Originally Posted by ServeChilled81

well for younger people its something that kinda grew with us.
I think a lot of the changes in the technology that is most used today happened very fast.
I don't see it as some slow progression over a long period of time.
Not to mention the decrease in brain plasticity as you get older.

that's another excuse, "it kinda grew with us".
since they're older than us, shouldn't it have grown with them too?

Not at all. They were certainly around for the same advancements the younger generation was, but we're immersed in technology at such anearly age and it's much more critical to our life than it was for them.

Adults 35+, and some even younger, never could use the internet while in school, meanwhile the younger generation has been forced to use the internet andcomputers at a very early age so it's what we're used to, and what we've dedicated huge portions of our time too. That's why simple thingscome second nature for us, but for an older person it takes more reasoning and thought to understand what they have to do.

You also have less and less time to keep up with the changes in technology when you get older. A parent with 4 kids and a full time job, may not have a lot oftime to read tech blogs or keep up with the latest macbook to come out. So when it comes time to actually need this technology, it's so foreign to thembecause it's not what they grew up on or have been exposed to since childhood.

 

[chickhien]

it's called the digital divide. i'm almost 30 years old, prolly twice the age of some of yall in here. in no way am i better or smarter than yall, buti grew up right in the middle of that digital divide. my first email address was freshmen year in college. my first computer was junior year in college. i betmost of yall were already in chat rooms in middle school. in middle school i copped my first snoop dogg album on cassette! had the lyrics inside the littlelabel that folded out to almost a foot long.

just consider yourself lucky you grew up before that divide. i worked with people in their 40's and 50's and they think i'm a genius because i knowhow to use a computer. don't look down on the old folks because the mindset of their generation is "working hard to earn an honest living". ourgeneration is "work the least for the most money". computers have enabled us to think like this. cut them some slack.