AIBU to expect the majority of adults to use technology?

[gdaysport]

The majority of UK households will have had the internet in some form for the last 20 years. We have had smartphones which have been common for at least 15 years.

AIBU to expect most adults to be able to use the internet etc to navigate the world by now?

For example, living in zone 4 London with frequent bus services, at least a few times a week there will be a bewildered adult asking the bus driver where they need to get off, if the bus (with the massive sign on front saying 'Woolwich' goes to Woolwich, or the train station. You can use google maps, TFL app, bus apps, all which tell you which way to go.

Bus drivers of course, rarely give a shiny shit and I normally step in to help and tell people where they need to go, but I just don't understand the frequency in which I need to do this?

I even extend this criticism to my own parents who have such poor technological literacy they panic at the very idea of checking what time a train leaves.

At a recent hospital stay, two women on the ward in their mid 50s with me, both of their families encouraged them to borrow and use ipads so they could watch their soaps etc to pass the time but they batted them away saying they cant use them. They would have been in their 30s when ipads were introduced. So instead they would just sit bored staring at a wall rather than be shown how to use the app.

Technology is only going to become more ingrained in our lives, should we not be encouraging people to become sufficient in using it, rather than being cut off from the world? Stranded at bus stops as they dont know where to go, not knowing how to book a GP appointment online which is quicker etc.

Preparing to be flamed!

I think this does raise some great examples of where technology just isnt needed, e.g parking apps, or where our reliance on it can be detrimental.

My mum is a smart woman, but she was completely overwhelmed at the idea of having to use public transport to visit me in hospital. I just do not want to get to that stage in my life where being afraid of using technology closes off my options from the world. PP is right - I think confidence and not wanting to look silly comes into pay alot.

Some people on this thread complaining that they can't work out what their new car has on offer or how they set up an app...

READ THE MANUAL / INSTUCTIONS!!!!

It's what every other sensible person does.

Bus apps are only of use if they are remotely accurate (side eyes First Great Western 👀).

The danger is also that, having double checked everything on the app you are lulled into a false sense of security and don't, for example, pay attention to station announcements in a foreign language and are so engrossed in bollocking your offspring to notice that everyone else waiting for the express to Munich has suddenly melted away and reappeared 4 platforms over (side eyes Deutsche Bahn👀 ,although it was obviously also my fault for not triple checking the platform screens).

My mum is a smart woman, but she was completely overwhelmed at the idea of having to use public transport to visit me in hospital.

Maybe that the best excuse she could come up with, as it fed into your beliefs.

Absolutely agree, and this is the issue I think when we make everything 'online.' I personally avoid cashless shops because I disagree with them, they alienate and discriminate against those who for a myriad of reasons, do not have access to a bank account.

What would her reasoning be?

At a recent hospital stay, two women on the ward in their mid 50s with me, both of their families encouraged them to borrow and use ipads so they could watch their soaps etc to pass the time but they batted them away saying they cant use them. They would have been in their 30s when ipads were introduced. So instead they would just sit bored staring at a wall rather than be shown how to use the app.

I'm 62 and fully capable of using an iPad to do just about anything. Don't think I'm that unusual. And no they would not have been on their 30s when the first iPad came out in 2010.

I mean that's a mum issue most bus stops and train stations have time tables it wasn't technology letting your mum down it was her confidence having an app won't cure that.

I don't think those people are any more cut off from the world just because more technology has come along.

What you seem to really want isn't "the majority" of adults to use technology, it's every last person to use technology up to a level that meets with your personal approval.

That isn't going to happen. There may be lots of reasons why each of these events happen including people having lost or broken their phone, or they have some other impediment that may not be obvious to a casual observer. A valid reason would also be because they don't want to engage with the technology, or don't want to take a phone everywhere.

They are on line nowadays lol!

To the OP, why should anyone learn anything in regards to tech? its surely up to them, its not (yet) the law.

Parking apps are needed. The ability to add extra time if you’re going to be longer than intended without having to go back to your vehicle is a game changer.

I don't think technology particularly helps with public transport especially if you don't use it very often.

You can use as much IT as you like but I that doesn't stop that feeling of 'am I on the right train' or finding your stop & asking the person already stood there ' does this bus go to'

So I think that's a confidence thing , not an IT thing!

Oh and I love a parking App - what I hate is getting to a car park somewhere & it's a different App!

The majority of UK households will have had the internet in some form for the last 20 years. We have had smartphones which have been common for at least 15 years.

If you're going to sneer at others, you could at least get your own facts right 🤣

I hate the fact local busses do not announce the stops. London busses do. When visiting family I sit with a ball of nerves in my stomach and google maps open tracking my journey. I understand the fear! This is why I always help folks who panic that they are on the wrong bus etc. Its a horrible feeling!

Am not sneering.

It depends on the person. My mum is completely resistant to learning anything at all about the internet. She's only just started to text!

My dad OTOH was a huge fan of tech and gadgets and was the one who set up my internet back when it was cables and aol discs.

It's not an age thing, it's a personality thing.

@hotcandle But do cars still come with a paper manual that's it's easy to refer to or do you now have to resort to trying to find it online and read it on a screen. I know which one I find easier.

I think this does raise some great examples of where technology just isnt needed, e.g parking apps, or where our reliance on it can be detrimental

Another example...public toilets. There's a town near me that only has one public toilet and you now have to pay by contactless debit card. No other option. So no card, no toilet. Card not working, no toilet. System down, no toilet.

Agree not an age thing. A confidence thing I think. Probably very easy for technology to overtake your knowledge level and suddenly feel overwhelming perhaps.

My stepdad is now becoming unemployable because he cant/wont learn how to use a computer which is now required in his field. He briefly considered it, went to the shop and they tried to sell him a Mac! Put him right off.

That is outrageous and a ploy no doubt to stop homeless folks using it.

Don't millions of people not have the internet?

My sister had a friend whose parents refused to get it when she was at college and needed it about 15 years but rural areas often still don't have coverage, and it cost money doesn't it? So some people are priced out.

My sister's flat in London doesn't have internet because it's an attic and not meant to be a dwelling. (It costs £3k a month.)

I'm early 50s modern technology started with us

Steam engines and wax cylinder gramophones were modern technology once.

Google seems to suggest 6% of households do not have the internet at home, but I wonder if that includes also not having a smartphone?

Yanbu it annoys me when my mum says I can't do that without even trying. Which in reality means can you just do it for me which I have to fit around work, kids and a million other things while she's retired and has all the time in the world