Complete refusal to use technology

I was stood in M&S behind someone trying to pay with their phone today, it took an absolute age, not sure if she was perhaps looking for a voucher or maybe sparks card as well as pay. She was probably about 40ish but it would have been a lot quicker to use a paper voucher and pay by card

Exactly. I reckon the train manager checking tickets probably hate all the faff as people find their phone, find the app, find the tickets, find their pass, instead of just pulling them all out. I travel by train every week and the paper tickets are definitely checked faster. Not to mention the problem if your phone dies, I don't just mean the battery as my rather old smart phone decided to die while I was travelling. In the end I had to buy another ticket and when I got home went through a load of hassle to try and get a refund and only got a partial.

You can print your own tickets, or print them for a loved one. Why would the train companies stop that?

Trains are different to attractions, they are a public service.

I’m a long way off old. Have children still
in primary school! And I’m an
avid user of tech, AI etc, particularly at work and enjoy trying new things.

But I find the e-tickets a hassle, especially when dealing with multiple tickets and a railcard for a family journey whilst trying to herd children on a train. I get round it by printing tickets out if I haven’t managed to get a paper ticket though.

@SupposesRoses Yes, the Morrison’s near my Dad offers phone ordering, you don’t have to order much either. Luckily he’s mobile enough to visit a really good Co-Op around the corner from his home and he enjoys poking around in there looking for bargains. All the staff know him. 😂

I feel your pain, OP. I bought my Dad (87) a new phone in the spring, set it up, put credit on it, and showed him how to use it. He hadn’t used it once and isn’t keeping it charged! My Auntie texted me recently and said that she was worried that she wasn’t able to contact him…she’d been leaving messages on his new phone. 😂

It’s frustrating.

More and more organisations are already doing it. Lots of attractions/events are now app-based for advance bookings only and don't accept "walk ins". Some bus companies are app only. Some car parks are app only. There WILL come the point where the train companies won't be able to justify the cost of staffing ticket offices nor the costs of ticket machines - yes, they'll lose "some" customers but there is always a "tipping point" where the extra revenue from potentially lost customers doesn't justify the cost of providing multiple booking options.

I can't see train companies turning away paying customers. That would be crazy.

The point is that there WILL come the time when there are no paper train tickets! So it’s best to get accustomed to e-tickets and the ticketing apps whilst you are young enough to get used to them. Otherwise you may be another who finds it difficult to adapt in years to come.

There are a few who think they are above it all. There was a thread the other day from someone who could sing some highbrow opera but said she „couldn’t“ use the self scanner.

Agree. My father in law has an old style mobile but no internet or computer. However the difference is he is very self sufficient not asking others for constant help. He’s 88.

For many elderly people, the thought of technical things is frightening and overwhelming. We may accept it as an everyday thing, but they cannot see it. I know some elderly people who quite happily use smartphones, but then again, I know some younger people who hate technical things like phones. I know it is frustrating, but it's horses for courses, really. You cannot force your mum to use things if she is not happy doing so. She is probably frightened of pressing the wrong buttons and losing money or destroying the machine. Annoying as it is, I think this is something you are not going to win and forcing your mum is only making her unhappy

I won’t use e-tickets for train travel again. But that’s after getting caught out with delayed journey and battery running very low. Plus it’s a pain switching between e-ticket and showing the railcard on my phone.
It’s easy enough to still get paper tickets though. Not like other functions like banking and paying bills where increasingly everything is online.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your dad and I'm appalled at the sort of intimate care that your mum expected you to do for him. No daughter should have to do what she made you do and her expectations were completely inappropriate. She has tainted your memories of your dad. I would find that impossible to forgive.

I will say that at 56 I’ve seen quite a lot of tech that was supposed to become essential disappear or settle into a niche slot, and I am very definitely not an early adopter as a result. So I can imagine a version of that just extending longer than I expected - time just slips away at this age. An example currently being AI glasses - I have zero interest in adopting these and am just hoping that they won’t become the new smartphone, but some companies are betting hard on them now that the smartphone market is so saturated. For me personally I am also avoiding earbuds as I lose things like other people breathe. At the moment it’s still possible to buy wired headphones but I can imagine sending my poor ds round the shops/eBay trying to find wired headphones for years while I refuse to use earbuds helpfully given to me for Christmas because my old fingers just drop them and I lose them expensively in hospital.

Yes, not just the nhs, back in the 90s my job involved computerisation of various clients bookkeeping, stock control and invoicing etc and we saw a lot of staff leave rather than learn the new systems, not just older staff but middle aged too - there was no reasoning with them, they just wanted to hang on to their old, inefficient, systems. More recently, I’ve had clients who actually gave up self employment and sold/closed businesses when HMRC brought in rules that payroll and vat returns had to be done by computer rather than pen and paper. And the furore from some when they found out they couldn’t pay their tax bills by cheque was unbelievable. Still have a couple of clients, not particularly old, who insist on paying my fees by cheque - a real pain in the arse when everyone else pays electronically having to keep a business bank count that accepts cheques as many modern ones don’t!

I'm in my 60s and I remember people crying and handing in their notice when computers came in in the NHS. It was really embarrassing. It was all women too. We all had extensive training and it was gradual so not difficult. My parents are 85 and manage just fine.

My dad is 72 and refuses a smart phone but fully embraces other tech. Except a dishwasher. Never convinced them there. DM uses WhatsApp etc, but not always perfectly on calls - video calls since COVID to keep up with DS.
However, the idea of just having a train ticket in your phone is also one step too far for DM.

So you do what my MIL did and get it every 2 weeks and include uht milk etc, good use of your freezer

Not knowing the Daily Hate. I think half of their Journos just sit on MN all day,

I wholeheartedly agree too. I also believe there is a type of 'compassion fatigue that starts to creep in'. I adored my late DF, but after 7 yrs of Parkinsons and other degenerative illnesses, I was relieved when he eventually died-he had wanted to 'go' many times. The whole 'experience' was made ten times worse, by DMs insistence on us (me and sibling) performing his caring duties with the same devotion as her (she logged every conversation, time, date, medication (fair enough), sleeps, awakenings, dear God, it was painful. And expected us to hold his penis for a wee and wipe his bum after a poo - lowering him onto the toilet was agony for me with a back problem, but she just spouted the immortal line from that generation "you've just got to get on with it". I have secretly not forgiven her for that, and never will. At the end of the day, he was my dad, not my husband and I didn't want to do those things. Yes, she did a wonderful job (her choice) but my lasting memories are ruined by all of that. There is more.... but I am damned if my own DC are going to be put through it on my behalf. Apologies for taking the thread sideways but this touched a nerve.

i think my dm prefers my company rather than the food delivery people

I think Iceland is a low amount for online delivery

i think dm would struggle

Can he not use the bank website version of the bank accounts on his laptop. I much prefer the big screen iMac version to the iPad app version as it seems to have more on it and easier to look at all the accounts. I don't bother banking on the iPhone at all.