To find people who refuse to embrace technology irritating?

[Sophiehoney]

I don't mean people who genuinely struggle

I am irritated with people who absolutely refuse to even try.
I am sure a lot of the time they do it on purpose. They use the whole "I don't do technology" thing as a personality trait, to be quirky and "not like all you young people" when simply being a bit older is not a reason in itself, as Mumsnet proves!!

People at my work are moaning like hell because the system of filling in patients notes at the end of the shift in a book with a pen has been replaced by handheld devices (basically phones) that are more secure and can be completed on the go. They are so simple but some people are refusing to learn so others are filling their notes in for them.

A lady at the doctor's today point blank refused to even try to sign herself in on the machine. It was literally just a case of pressing a button and then filling in a form with her name and DOB using a keyboard. She declared proudly "I'm not doing this, I don't do technology, I don't even have a mobile phone!" And made he poor stressed receptionist with a line of people waiting come out and do it for her.

My mum will pop round a million times a week with "something she needs me to on her iPad" and it's usually just something trivial like reading an email and sending a one line reply that I know she is capable of. I've stated getting my 13 year old to do and she pays him £1 every time so every cloud 🤷

But these people do irritate me when they expect others to pick up their slack by refusing to try.

AIBU?

I do feel like the goalposts are ever shifting on this though. Five years ago I didn't know any technology refusers my own age. Now I know lots of conscientious objectors to AI - which right now doesn't limit you too much, but I think will begin to become more and more limiting.

My dear I can assure you that my vocabulary is not limited. There’s no need to write such a vicious response to my contribution to the thread. Jog on.

Have you considered any kind of CBT for your anxiety?

I do agree with you on many points, especially the internet/card payments thing.

A couple of years ago, I was meeting a friend for coffee. I got there first, ordered my coffee, not a cheap one, and a fancy pastry. They told me they were having an issue with their card machine right now so to just sit down and pay later. I offered cash, they said they can't take it because they don't have tills.
I sat down, my friend came in, ordered her coffee and a breakfast, and was told the same thing.
After about half an hour, they came over to us and apologised that they would need to close for the rest of the day as their card machines wouldn't work.
This really didn't seem to make much sense to me as a business model.
Not only did they loose a whole day's business, on a seafront location on a summer morning, but they had to give away several free drinks and food items simply because they couldn't take anyone's money.

I thought that was ridiculous.

My children were brought up with technology and 2 of them absolutely hate it ,so it’s not necessarily an age ‘thing’
There was a recent thread about IT and that answers everything you need to know!
I personally am done with passwords,authentication codes, are you human,5 digit codes etc . It just makes life so bloody complicated!

I am severely disabled.

quite frequently I am in a lot of pain and it can be very tricky to use these systems when you are in a lot of pain.

my gp record is now festooned with flags saying please see this person because if I do automatic e consults I tend to get fobbed off and I lose my speech if I’m in a lot of pain and so when they phone me I answer the phone but don’t speak and they just roll through their script without getting any response and assume it’s ok

eg
“you’ve just got a chest infection try more fluids and rest and then get back to us in a few days” etc when I have a severe autoimmune disease and asthma and it needs dealing with now.

i put in a complaint that they were discriminating against me because I can’t access the tech and the phone calls aren’t a two way conversation and now they do see me.

I couldn’t agree more, OP. I have no issue with someone trying and not being able to grasp it. But to flat out refuse and moan that nothing is accessible to them is woeful.

My husband misses out so much by not even trying to learn. Our DC and their partners and me have a family group.. I love reading the chat between them and all the photos that get sent. My DH gets updates from me but frankly I forget sometimes and he moans that he didn't know something.. He is dyslexic but even though I said he won't be expected to join in at least learn to open up messenger and see all the photos..(one DC in the Navy, one DC was playing cricket in New Zealand and our DD posts photos of the DGC) his loss I'm afraid but very frustrating for me.

Digital exclusion is a real thing but people who won't try on principle, make it harder for those with a genuine problem.
Computers have been in use in the workplace since the 80s /90s
My mother retired in the mid 90s and enrolled herself on a course to learn how to use a computer, she managed fine until she died in her 80s.
DH is 76 and was programming computers in 1970, he does like a rant about phones but he can do it.
OTOH your 80 year old retired manual worker has more of an excuse.

Im 64 and work in the NHS, our dept is all computerised so if I refused to do it Id be sacked. We have no choice.
My parents are late 80s and they have no problems with it either.

It’s hard to tell what is being bloody awkward and what is a front and other issues.
Eg lady in your gp example hasn’t got her glasses and too proud to say I can’t see. Or worried about being told lump might be cancer and just can’t face dealing with new system and worried she’s clicking it right on top of that and would prefer reassurance of a human saying take a seat dr will call you soon.

this is such a kindly thoughtful post

They are probably the same people who proudly announce that they are no good at maths as if being good at maths is beneath them. (never hear anyone proud of not being good at English)

I worked in a GP surgery. When we moved onto computerised notes in 2004 we had a real struggle getting one of the partners to go to computerised appointments! He wanted to use an appointment book and the computer. I told him "no" as that could be disastrous if someone forgot to input it in both systems.
20 years later he was still asking me how to do things. He was only 7 years older than me.

Not ridiculous at all. I'd hazard a guess that they had no insurance for cash, so had they been burgled/robbed or had the owner/manager been robbed on the way to the bank, they'd not have been covered, not just for the cash stolen, but for damage/injuries too. Handling cash makes a business "higher risk" for insurance and so comes with a hike in premiums.

I agree. First "affordable" home computer was 1980. I started work in 1983 and we all had Commodore PETS on our desks. Cash machines were in widespread use in the 80s. Telephone banking was the 90s, internet banking/shopping was the noughties. Email mid to late 90s, as were mobile phones. Smart phones roughly 2010? I know some people who still won't/can't use a cash dispenser and still insist on withdrawing cash over the counter at the bank/post office!

It's this refusal to move with the times that causes the problems. We can all cope with small/marginal changes to how things are done, so if we keep up, then usually, we're fine. But when people won't and get left behind, the "leap" required becomes huge and unmanageable.

Take apps for car parks. It's only recently that they've become "app only" car parks - for a few years, people have had the choice of apps, cash or credit card at machines. Had they tried the apps when first available, they'd be accustomed to them now, perhaps trying out when the car park was quiet or they weren't in a rush. Of course it's going to be harder when they've never tried before, can't find a car park with a machine to accept cash/card, getting late for an appointment, and then get stressed downloading the app and trying to work out how to use it.

Having worked in this area for a long time, I would say that 'refusers' are usually people who genuinely struggle. They tend to cover it up and make out it's a choice as a way of protecting their ego, which I think is totally understandable. It's very hard to admit that their brain simply won't get to grips with a screen.

As another poster mentioned, some people are functionally illiterate, so having to read everything instead of talking to people is a total disaster for them. Then there are others who are good at reading and can easily leaf through a written form, but when they are faced with an app, they get very lost and confused and can't conceptualise how the screens follow on from each other. This isn't a faked thing - I've seen very competent people almost in tears trying to navigate something because they don't quite understand how the whole structure fits together (bad design is often to blame for this). Having enough negative experiences - losing money, missing appointments, cancelling things by mistake - puts people off and makes them reject tech entirely.

Incidentally my 13 year old daughter mentioned today that they have to do a media assignment for english involving a poster. She's arty so she was excited about hand-drawing it and had it planned when the teacher said they had to do it on the computer and they could use AI. As she said - What's the point in that? She said she's going to hand draw it, take a picture and get AI to make it look AI generated! What a waste of her time and talent.

To add - I'm very tech savvy but the first time I used a sign-in screen in a GP's office, I didn't know what to expect, so I went through the screens, assumed it was all fine and sat down. An hour later I went to the desk to find out what was going on and the receptionist told me I wasn't checked in. I had no idea what went wrong. Since then I've been very nervous about check in screens - they tend to change quickly and I always worry I've missed some error message or something has gone wrong before it goes back to the home screen. I can imagine as an older person that experience would have put me off permanently.

" Email mid to late 90s, as were mobile phones. Smart phones roughly 2010? "

Yes, but not everyone has access straight away. I got my first mobile in 2000 and my first smart phone quite a bit after 2010, although I do remember them starting to appear in 2010. I wasn't rebelling, just not willing to spend the money until I saw there was no other choice. I would be without a social life now if I didn't have a smart phone. I do know people my age who still don't have them, but I'm not in much contact with them because they can't have whatsapp.

I've got a computer science degree and I hate the way it's forced on us in certain situations now.

"Having worked in this area for a long time, I would say that 'refusers' are usually people who genuinely struggle. "

Not always. I know a couple of people who just prefer paper calendars, for example. I know someone else who won't 'give his data to companies', but it's somehow fine for me to download the app/scan the QR code if something has to be done!

I'm late 60s and manage fine now with it all but I do worry about how I shall manage in my 80s if I get old and doddery and lose my faculties a bit.

I work in a school. You’ll be amazed at how many are incompetent in using app. I’ve had them in the office showing them what to do, one even admitted not reading his emails 🙄

Exactly. It’s just a normal descriptive word!

We use a paper calendar, I write my stuff on it and DH writes his stuff, we both just can look at it if we want to book to go away and when is free and stuff like that.