older adults and technology

[perditaplum]

What it is about older adults and technology? When do they change from being able to use technology like setting things up, playing games on things like the playstation and so on to it all being incomprehensible to them and asking younger people to do it for them ? They were younger people once and got asked to do it by older adults then!

DH and I are in our 60s. To answer the OP, I think it could partly be because many older people, once they've retired from paid work, are on a much lower income than they were and are therefore less inclined, due to the costs, to be early adopters of new technology.
That means that it's all too easy for them to get a little bit left behind, technology-wise. We tend to keep things for longer and therefore use older versions for longer. For example, my laptop is 6 years old: the one it replaced was only 3. My mobile is 3.5 years old: the one it replaced was barely 2.

I do try to keep on top of things though. We have an Amazon echo show, a firestick and chromecast and have been doing all banking online (and now in app) for nearly 20 years.

I'm sure that I will gradually become more out of touch with it all, but certainly not there yet.

I think that the potential for technology in the house and about to help older people (and other groups) with things that they find more difficult as our body ages is incredible.

I know that there are monitoring devices to see if someone hasn't got out of bed or moved yet. And they can warn someone or check on someone.

Alexa has a lot of potential for easy reminders.

Fridges that remind you to order stuff.

Technology can make life easier for people who may struggle as they get older.

However....

I do think there can be issues with things such as phones. Arthritis can really affect your fingers and I know some people who really struggle to get to grips with modern phones and just want a phone that is easy to press numbers on and to make calls.

As you get older, it does get harder to remember things. Some settings can be complicated as there are lots of steps to remember and to put into a sequence.

So there are barriers to (some) older people when it comes to technology - probably because many modern systems are designed by younger people who may not be aware of those barriers as they don't have those barriers.

It's generalising though, which is ageist.
I'm nearly 62 and worked out how to put my powerpoints on Teams for lessons and had to show colleagues in their, 20s!
I find it offensive when people assume I am incapable of something because of my age.

All the accusations of ageism, no, it's not

Course it is!
You said 'what's with older people and technology'.
How is that not ageist?

If you had said... 'what is it with my Mother and technology' or 'what is it with all my older relations and technology'
that might be different.
You just lumped as all together as some prehistoric relics who can barely operate a mobile phone

I don't know the answer because my Dad had 3 networked computers and did all his shopping, banking and music listening online at 92. He was a wireless operator in the war, though, and always interested in tech. I think people who say they can't keep up just don't want to which is their choice I suppose.

It's nothing to do with age it's to do with interest.

^^This. With bells on!

I got told by a friend that I was a technophobe. I laughed out loud. I build websites and run global social media campaigns at work; I just have no desire to have an Alexa or Ring doorbell at home thank you.

Not this again. In the early days of home and work computers they weren’t networked and one person could screw up an entire companies or individuals files very easily.

The error messages were incomprehensible and had to be looked up in a book.

These two things contributed to fear and a mental block on reading error or helpful messages.

It has improved from then to networked, backed up, inability to break things, improved pop ups to In the last decade or so everything is both practically bomb proof and gives error messages or help messages in plain English. So for those who have never had anything different it all seems very usable.

Those who experienced the first thing have a completely different view on it unless they had reason to get past the fear and unreadable “help”.

It’s NOT THE SAME EXPERIENCE.

It’s as meaningful as saying why the young are useless because they can’t wire a plug or change a fuse in a plug, because that used to be necessary but hasn’t been for a long time.

Nobody can learn everything so we all have to prioritise. My mother is very reluctant to pick up more than the most basic computer skills, but then again, how much effort have I put into learning to mend clothes perfectly or sew a perfect hem?

She is no more lazy than I am, we just have a different skills set. And as the world is developing, with an added emphasis on recycling and cutting down on waste, who is to say that her skills set is inferior to mine? She is spending her time knitting spare balls of thread into jumpers for refugee children and sewing spare bits of cloths into aprons for use: who says my skill in powerpoints is better or more worthwhile than that?

It does become harder to learn new things as you get older.

The casual agesim tolerated on this site really is shit
Fwiw some of my service users are in their nineties and have severe visual impairments and have learned to use Alexa to run their lives
They shop, speak to family , read and listen to music all with speech commands
I have young service users who utterly refuse to utilise accessibility features on their phone
Mercifully I don't make sweeping generalisations about people based on their ages and work with each individual
Because I'm not a twat

@winterbabythistime - no it isn't harder to learn new things as you get older. It is entirely dependent on the person. Not their age.

When I went to school, there were no computers.

My working life involved working with people - no technology involved.

DH was office based, in management - hence, he had a PA who dealt with the word processing aspects of his work (that was her job, he wasn't opting out).

We have no children.

We have no young relatives who live nearby to keep us up to date with new stuff - from music, fashion to technology.

Some of us never had it in the first place - we haven't lost it.

Not everyones life circumstances are the same OP. - you'll learn this as you get older😉

[quote Maireas]**@winterbabythistime* - no it isn't harder to learn new things as you get older. It is entirely dependent on the person. Not* their age.[/quote]
In general, your cognitive skills decline as you get older.
Which does mean that (in general) new skills do become harder to learn as we get older.

That doesn't mean that older people can't learn new things. But it is harder to learn new skills.

Yes, chomalugma, it's a generalisation.
So not always the case.

Yes, chomalugma, it's a generalisation.
So not always the case.

for the vast majority of people it becomes harder to learn new things as you get older.

Better?

I'm 71, and I'm perfectly competent, thank you. I fix my own stuff when it goes wrong, and I can use all the technology I need. Don't stereotype, please.

@winterbabytgustime..no need for the snark.

@Nanny0gg

God, I'm sick of threads like this.

Change older to 'blonde' can we? That offensive at all?

Thank you.

I was tired of using the analogy of Racism to counter Ageism and Disablism, both theoretically unlawful but widely practiced. 'Blonde' is a welcome alternative.

(Currently I'm railing about the use of 'The' as in The Disabled, The Elderly. If you don't say 'The Blacks' and wouldn't say 'The gingers', what tiny brain would permit itself the grouping of an obviously disparate group, and the sub-humanising implied in that tell-tale 'The' ?)

Yes, ageism is the one prejudice you can count on MN for.

Thing is, I know 20 year olds who are hopeless with technology, and 70 year olds who are experts. And vice versa.

Categorising all "older adults" as useless with technology is just thoughtless.

@perditaplum

but then my dad had to set up my Commodore 64 in the 80s

I was the opposite, I set them up for my Dad.

For all the older adults who claim not to be able to use technology there are obviously many who claim they can't - I know some. Not just ordinary, everyday computer stuff but things they used to be able to do but can't. For example, a friend the other day was complaining that she couldn't do the F1 game on the playstation with her son because the car always went the wrong way and the remote control or the game were rubbish. We used to play Mario Kart together and she was great at it so what's changed? Her attitude now is that she can't do it.

All the accusations of ageism, no, it's not. It's something I see often with peers and with my mother in particular.

Oh well, if it's your mother then it must apply to the rest of us

Well I’m 52 and have a masters degree in computing. I’ve smart plugged/lit my whole house, set up Alexas into functional groups, and use apps like PowerBI every day. You AIBU.

New technology like what, OP? There was no internet when I was growing up. I wonder what age you deem as 'Old?'
Setting up gadgets etc, DCs do it. They like all that. I'm not bothered, at this age and stage in life if I don't want to do something then I just don't.

I work, I use my laptop, in fact not bad at using tech. At my ripe old age of 57. DP is older than me and is a real gadget head.

Even if elders are lazy about technology, so what anyway? All very well being a know-it-all but there's stuff they will have done and been able to do, that you can't.

OP I worked in IT in the eighties and was able to programme software. I worked with the first major media network computers at the same time, and had one of the first mobiles. Also learnt to use a camera and edit. So late sixties I'm still competent but there's a lot I choose not to use (online gaming etc). My mother (who would be in her nineties by now) moved from typing to word processing to laptops. Her husband and mine always had secretarial staff to deal with IT so came to it late when they retired and found it very difficult.

I suppose everyone's point is - don't generalise. Also recognize that some people because of changing eyesight or neurological problems will have difficulty with technology at any age but especially when older, even if they managed well before.

This is an ageist OP because of the generalisation and stereotyping. However I think that if someone has had very little exposure to technology before age 60 it is probably more difficult to learn (similar to language where there is a critical period where the mind is absorbent and later it becomes more difficult). I am around 70. Until I was 55 I had never used a computer. I worked for the NHS and my notes were handwritten, there was a typist for formal reports, from a dictaphone or handwritten. A computer was placed on my desk one day and I was told we were going paperless , would be e-rostering etc.. I was given no training and a kind young colleague showed me a few things for about 15 minutes. I managed. I am online quite a lot these days. I manage to learn things when there is a big pay off for me. Setting up anything new is a big PITA for me and makes me bad tempered but I do perservere. If someone is around to do it for me that is brilliant but I try not to pester anyone. I have not found technology easy but I would be bored without Zoom etc in the lockdown. My husband is a bit older than me and less healthy. He used technology much earlier than me but now finds it hard to get to grips with anything new. There is a lot of variation, some older people love technology, some cba and some find it very difficult.