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are moaning like hell because the system of filling in patients notes at the end of the shift in a book with a pen has been replaced by handheld devices (basically phones) that are more secure and can be completed on the go.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 find them refreshing.

And a good reminder that systems have to also cope for old people and non tech savvy people.

We will all be old one day. I don't want a robot to take over my banking etc due to systems not coping with my human frailty.

That is absolutely tragic

My mother used to be like this, going way back. We were the last people I know to get a normal washing machine because for some reason she decided it wasn't for her, and she wouldn't contemplate a dishwasher. She wouldn't consider getting anything like a magimix, though she did eventually allow a really basic electric mixer. My father was very computer literate, but one of the first things my mother did after he died was to cancel the wifi contract as she had no intention of ever going on the internet. She was a dreadful driver and gave up in her 60s, much to everyone relief. Even with things like the TV remote, she would stab away at it in a distrustful way and could never remember the numbers of her favourite channels.

I suppose that she was the equivalent of people like the Luddites, and those who didn't trust cars or even the wheel when they they were invented. I thought it was a real pity, because she just made her life more difficult, and with things like the internet she missed out on an awful lot that she would have enjoyed, especially when she was on her own.

Why not ? Because the thing should be clean. And cleaned regularly. They aren’t.

My sister is mid 70s. Embraced technology, was far more savvy than me, I clung on to my "old school" ways as long as I could. She was doing banking via Apps long before me for example.

Unfortunately dementia has set in. She is making mistakes, paying the wrong amounts or paying the wrong people when using the app. It was a while before her DH actually realised what was occurring. It's been difficult to try to transfer her away from technology.

Yes, I feel the same. I'm perfectly capable of using self scan, but I don't want to. Self scan is reducing the number of entry level jobs available. It's not making our shopping cheaper but it saving companies thousands - to improve profits. I personally feel that having cashiers is better and I'll use them because I enjoy interacting with people and don't want my stores run by robots!

I agree, it’s the same with the “cash is king” people who seem suspicious of contactless. I haven’t carried cash around for well over a decade nor a bank card tbh, I don’t even own a purse… My phone has everything I need, it even unlocks my car so I don’t need keys!

My gran is in her 80s and she tried computer courses years ago when she was working as a primary teacher. She really struggled even just to turn them on. Anyway the pandemic forced her to learn, we got her an iPad so she could receive photos from us, video call and also watch synagogue services. She loves it, it’s totally transformed her life.

My mum is like this. She is 80. She was not brought up with technology, she was a teacher and retired in her 50s when computers in early years classrooms were not a thing. She has an old style flip mobile phone for "emergencies" which stays switched off, in the drawer. She has an ancient old ipad which used to belong to one of the kids, we can send her photos to look at on it but she would never use it for anything else. My dad, when he was alive, was more interested in tech and had a laptop and would use social media and email.

Mum has me and my brother to help her with things that have to be done online and this is getting more and more. Getting insurance quotes, booking a visit to the local rubbish tip, even signing up for a tesco clubcard requires an email address. She can't have the Lidl plus app as she doesn't have a phone.

She has always been reluctant, when I was a child she refused to use the ATM and went into the bank with a cheque made out to cash. She has this weird superior attitude that tech is not for people like HER, and it's all pornography and scams anyway.

There’s a great Netflix series called Love Death + Robots and one of the robot vacuums tries to murder the woman and her dog.

“Technology is all pornography and scams anyway.” Well, both have exponentially increased with technology.

But I gather that a late ancestor of mine did the old porn trick of cutting out the head of a member of the royal family, and sticking it on a naked body in a porn mag: long before computers. Imagine what he would be doing with tech!

With technology, I decide if and when I embrace it. I will not allow my phone to replace my bank cards: a phone is easily lost or stolen, and without it, you are screwed. Also, I always allow new tech to become established before I invest in it. Some things disappear, and are never seen again, and many others have built-in obsolescence. Remember the Psion organisers? Someone gifted me some phone speakers a few years ago, now completely useless, because they changed the iPhone socket connection.

I'm with you in some ways, my Dad was like that, just wouldn't even try. However I work in computer tech and I'll have to say the online portal interface (at least the mobile UI) for getting a GP appointment at our local healthcentre is not particularly user friendly or well signposted.

I find it hard to navigate, so can't imagine how difficult it is for an octogenarian who may be having some cognitive and visual decline. (I highly suspect they give up if they don't have help)

Also patients of any age who have a fear of technology or tech anxiety shouldn't have that as a barrier to receive care.

I'm with BT and, as a global telecommunications company, it's app is grim. As for contacting anybody? Unless you pretend you want an upgrade then don't bother. If the search/help options don't offer you what you want, what are you meant to do?

But surely she'd also make similar mistakes if she was writing cheques etc??

My MIL never did any "tech" and did everything by cheque, getting cash out by handing a cheque over the counter, etc., but when dementia set in, she couldn't even remember how to write a cheque in the end, and before that started writing wrong amounts, sending cheques to the wrong firm, etc.

I think when it comes to dementia, the sufferer will soon find themselves unable to do most things without help, whether "tech" or not.

You can get socket converters on amazon or ebay for literally a couple of quid.

You can say the same about all the other things you touch, i.e. door handles, hand rails, buttons to open train doors or lifts, etc etc. Anyone bothered about "touching" things needs to carry hand gel or wash their hands more. It's unavoidable.

Very well observed.
I do expect a place where ill people go; a doctors surgery to be a bit cleaner.

I “do “ technology but find it difficult to navigate around new things even within certain apps etc
Its the expectation that people can “pick it up as you go along “ If you only do certain tech things occasionally it can be difficult ,
Those who use it all the time and work with it might like to remember that they have developed skills over the years
My skills have been developed over years in a different field and I dont expect anyone to just know it as we are sometimes expected to in tech. Speaking from a medical perspective of Jyst being expected to be able to take on all the tech as it comes on board as well as keeping professional skills up .

Agree to an extent, mistakes will happen regardless, but easier to spot with paper statements etc.

Rightly or wrongly, my sister had always done the banking and budgeting throught their marriage. My BIL spent a number of years in various children's homes growing up and is very good at practical things, but not very literate, so he was happy to trust her to do it.

It's been a struggle to get my sister to confirm passwords etc. - some she was locked out of because of so many incorrect attempts on her part, and some accounts aren't joint so he can't just go to the branch and request statements etc. It was a stupid situation to get into and it's been a wake-up call for me and DH.

I agree with this. Technology is a good thing if integrated in a manageable way. A stressful or emergency situation is not an appropriate moment to expect people to be fucking about with apps etc.

I do volunteering, and we have a computer system that we use to register who is there and what they have done. One of the people refuses to use it, and has their own spreadsheet. They then have to send that to someone else for them to put it on the system. So complicated, and they don't sent it weekly either, the rest of us update weekly, he does it monthly, which means it's not up to date.

The irony is that they are apparently an IT trainer in their job. Yet they consistently fail at that and using basic stuff like whatsapp.

Printers are indeed the devil's work. Even my teenage son can't get ours to work properly since we changed our WiFi hub.

My aunt doesn't have a mobile phone or Internet access. She's 98 though, so I'll let her off!😁

Agree- people don’t acknowledge that what they consider “non tech” was very clearly introduced at some point and would have been viewed as “new technology”. They aren’t opting out of tech but just simply having a cut off for what they consider acceptable tech

They are convenient in other ways though.
I use scan as you shop. I like the way that it is not only much quicker than putting everything in a trolley, loading it all onto a conveyor belt, and then bag it all up - I can bag as I go.
I also like that it tallies things up so I know the exact amount I am spending - no surprises at the checkout.
It's all about convenience these days sadly - everyone is stressed, everyone is in a rush.

Don't you usually have the option for both? My phone opens by my face, but if it's dark or whatever it asks me for a pin

One bad experience though is enough to put people off.
I’ve used scan and shop once in Tesco as husband was there and wanted to. It didn’t seem convenient to me having to remember to scan before putting in trolley (2 steps not one) plus I sometimes put things back if I see a better offer or if one ingredient out of stock meaning now don’t need rest of recipe ingredients.
We went to pay and were flagged for a manual check. Waited ages for a staff member to help. Who then took ages going through everything with an attitude like we were criminals nicking stuff.
Took far longer and more hassle than if I’d queued to pay as usual. I’d never willingly use again.