40% of over 75s do not use the internet

[antelopevalley]

I have just read this statistic in a report and it has left me wondering about the other 60%. Life will become increasingly difficult for them. And if they are not using it now, they are unlikely to be using it in a few years time.

My parents are both in the 75-80 age bracket. Dad has dementia. Before he was unwell he was quite interested in technology and had a tablet which he used to email, book holidays etc. That has all stopped.

Mum is very very resistant to technology. She was a primary school teacher before taking early retirement around 25 years ago, just around the time schools were introducing computers in a big way. She never goes online. Everything is done the way it was done in the 80s. She has a very basic mobile phone but would no sooner be able to send me a text than fly to the moon. The phone is switched off and left in drawers for emergencies. We gave them an old ipad so they could facetime with the kids - not interested.

To be honest I have given up trying. She is not interested and there's almost a sneering attitude about the internet and how everyone is glued to devices and reliant on the internet and how it's all pornography and hackers anyway - why would she ever want to be online?

You might have a different social circle? Generally anyone who has done office work or professional jobs used computers at work. I know people in their fifties, sixties and seventies who have never once used a computer at work. One a factory worker, a self-employed plumber - you can even now still do paper tax returns, and a cleaner. The idea everyone uses a computer at work is a very class-based idea.

I think a lot of people on this thread are forgetting this.
I'm not retired, I am at work, and in my job, I use a laptop and spreadsheets and e-mails but some of the people I work with struggle with even that level. I know many, many people who work in jobs that don't involve using computers at all. Am amazed that people on this thread think that because you are 'working age' then you use computers all the time.

Can they sort it so it understands a strong Scottish accent please?

It's a big problem when a large percentage if the population get dementia. Having helped a relative as they lost their capacity to keep up with tech changes I can't imagine how older people without that support will cope. Stuff like get a GP appointment (phone never answered, needs app) and banking, premium bonds, attendance allowance has become almost impossible.

Stuff like get a GP appointment (phone never answered, needs app) and banking, premium bonds, attendance allowance has become almost impossible.

Ok, but would a person with dementia have capacity to deal with these things in person? Probably not. Arguably it's easier to support a person with dementia with these things online than on the phone.

My parents are in their 70's. DM used a computer at work for 20 years (teacher). DF didn't really other than a very job specific application (think green screen type thing). Both are reasonably tech savvy now (DM more so although DF was an early adopter to online banking). The iPad has been revolutionary vs iMac as just so user friendly plus apps more secure than using browsers for everything. Dm uses whatsapp a lot as do most of her friends. DF less so but has converted his badminton league to WhatsApp vs painful phone calls to arrange/ rearrange matches between equally deaf and introverted retired men . They both use taxi apps and book train tickets/ holidays online. Use news and audio book apps. Neither spends a lot of time mindlessly scrolling and neither uses SM - they use it exclusively for practical tasks or substitute for hard copy traditional media, but it does definitely make their lives easier.

I'm not sure if its right that the next generation will be more text savvy because tech is constantly evolving and there are 50 year old luddites who refuse to get smartphones/ use two factor authentication now. Basically, late adopters will always exist.

My 85 year old DM used to be a senior nurse: a professional job but very much more people than tech oriented. Her screen contact at work was limited to the occasional filling in of patient details and clerical staff did the rest. I suspect she has always been mildly dyslexic but in addition she struggles to use her phone because arthritic fingers make touch screen use, quite literally, hit and miss (the pens we’ve tried are even more rubbish).

Also, how do you handle the conundrum of passwords for multiple sites from different devices for things you only use two or three times a year? I can’t even handle that and I’m only in my mid 50s!