Comments
overlord-ror t1_iuibabt wrote
Spanish flu blankets in the form of the Internet is interesting.
DraziBlack t1_iuja68a wrote
As a Nigerian prince could you pass me along his email, I have a business proposition for him.
JPOIronside t1_iujxdqd wrote
At least he had porn? You don't really find that stuff on accident
MrSnowden t1_iuk16p8 wrote
Have you been on the internet? If you are clueless and clicking on anything that pops up, you will find porn.
JPOIronside t1_iuk2x3e wrote
Maybe if they're looking at stuff similar to. But someone just checking email and reading their news sites or on social media likely aren't going to stumble into porn
MrSnowden t1_iuk4jxi wrote
I mean, he wasn’t a monk.
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bror313 t1_iui3jxy wrote
This clearly shows an unexplored market for instructors and coachs and services for eldery people regarding this subject.
pete1901 t1_iui6oxh wrote
Having been my elderly parents' free tech support for many years; I do not envy the people who end up doing this job!
nillerwafer t1_iuimul0 wrote
You know what though? There are a lot of elderly people out there who are perfectly tech and internet savvy! It isn’t that old people are unable to learn, it’s that a lot of people of all age groups are just fully unwilling to learn. I’ve seen it in younger people I’ve worked with, they’re already set in their ways with the phones they have and anything that’s different or new scares them.
corcyra t1_iujtzqz wrote
I know middle-aged people (usually women) who seem to take some pride in 'I can never figure this thing out' while faffing about with their phone they've had for a couple of years. I mean, if you're going to use something, why not learn how it works? Especially since even children can.
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Dallenforth t1_iui82gf wrote
I literally go to elderly people's homes to facilitate adls and medication dispensing.
You are vastly over-estimating the average elderly ability to learn something new. Most of the ones I see don't remember what they did the previous day and can't see anything under 20-30 point font.
jodido47 t1_iuj4z2i wrote
I'm 75, my friends and family are all around my age, and I don't know a single person who fits this description.
soulhot t1_iui905p wrote
Whilst that may be true to a certain extent, there is considerable reluctance to join the revolution among some of the older generation. My mother in law who sadly lives alone now, is well educated and still very capable both physically and mentally, for an 82 year old.
My wife and myself both have IT degrees and worked in the industry all our lives so she is very aware of technology developments over the years, but we have never managed to persuade her to even get WiFi at home. We have bought her tablets and and mobile phones and offered to get her WiFi but she still doesn’t want or consider using them. She visits our house every week and she regularly sees us FaceTiming with our two children who she is very close to, but still no change.
She has a landline and that’s ‘all she needs’ but we find it very frustrating. Ultimately I think her generation are quite prepared to put up with inconvenience rather than have something that changes how they want to do things, or are a ‘waste of money’
pizzainoven t1_iuidr80 wrote
I actually don't find that weird. It would be nice if she could use a basic cellphone so she could call or text someone if she gets in an emergency outside the home. But stuff like FaceTiming the grandchildren, I get how she sees that as unnecessary. She sees them 1x a week and gets updates from you and your wife, perhaps that is enough for her? Tablets, sure, but from her perspective she already had resources for getting the news, weather, and entertainment from other sources so why add something else?
I kinda get it. Why add more to your life if you're satisfied with what you have.
jodido47 t1_iuj5cew wrote
No sane person would inconvenience themselves rather than continue to do things as they want to do them or waste money. You've totally undercut your own argument. "We"--ie, you and your wife--find it very frustrating. That's not MIL's problem, that's yours.
soulhot t1_iuja3p5 wrote
Firstly and contextually, my comment was engaging with a previous poster saying it was an opportunity for training the elderly and I was pointing out the elderly sometimes do not want change regardless of opportunity or benefits. Your comment on the other hand added nothing to the discussion other than your judgemental preconceptions. If you were genuinely interested you would engage and consider more details, but you rush to judge when you know nothing about our family circumstances.
FYI our frustrations are as a very loving family trying to help our relative with difficult issues. The fact she says she is often lonely and depressed, because many of her friends have passed or are not well and they are unable to meet is a major concern for us. We take her out to meet them regularly but it’s not the same as being able to chat and meet when you want. Some of her friends have embraced technology or live in houses with access to it so her being online would provide opportunities to engage with her friends who are not mobile. Indeed many schemes to help the elderly run locally and they use online facilities engage and provide information and advice, which again would be a boon to her. She also often feels bored but bemoans the lack of interesting things to watch on tv which would be less of an issue if she could stream. There are many other benefits but it is pointless discussing these here now.
A very wise person once said that when you point your finger at someone, take a moment to look at your hand and see just how many fingers are pointing back... perhaps you should try it some time
pizzainoven t1_iuid8mt wrote
The well-to-do will always be OK but there is an increasing number of seniors in the USA who are living in poverty. Fixed income and expenses are rising. They don't have the money to pay an additional fee (internet) and paid coaches.
swirlygates t1_iuifap4 wrote
Public libraries have been doing that for some time. They're relatively popular too.
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patniemeyer t1_iuimzd3 wrote
The old adage that making a device easier to use and accessible is equivalent to just making it better for everyone does not apply at a certain extreme of age. We have to make technology specifically for old people. I have several elderly relatives and just went through this trying to buy a new phone for them recently... We tried getting them to use an iPhone a few years ago - spent weeks practicing with them, but it's too hard. They don't have the fine motor skills, vision, and memory anymore... They get "lost" in the hierarchy. I ended up buying the simplest landline phone with an answering machine that I could find... and even that is *way* too complicated... It has so many features that they don't need and so many stupid useless buttons...
What I'd really like is a combination of some simple physical controls like an old-school cradle phone with one large "answering machine" button... and then a large format touch tablet locked into a sort of kiosk mode with no hierarchy... just "video call this person" or "look at pictures",etc... the ability to push stuff to it... a stand that charges wirelessly... and it reminds you to put it back on the stand after a while...
I am considering just building these things myself... If anyone is aware of a project working on this kind of thing already please let me know.
EDIT: I should note that getting a voice assistant (e.g. Alexa) was helpful but doesn't solve all of the problems.
pizzainoven t1_iuj68kw wrote
patniemeyer t1_iuj7gxx wrote
That looks very interesting... Although there's no reason it would need to be a subscription service. (I guess they are leaning into the "on call help" aspect). I'd also be concerned that the photo app they are showing is full screen... which means that they have to remember a gesture to get out of that... Overall looks very much like what I'm thinking though... thanks.
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AmountFinal3928 t1_iuigjyq wrote
Yes yes yes yes yes.
They were our caregivers and in return have the hardest time.
Joining another place in life is a tough transition. The time we spend together is irreplaceable.
Time is never replaced. Money comes and goes.
When I was a child I would spend time just once a week with an elderly man. I don’t remember how it began. But I remember how much it meant to him, and improved his week even for a short time.
JPOIronside t1_iujxmwm wrote
But you don't do it still?
AmountFinal3928 t1_iuk6i1z wrote
The previous elderly I visited was many years ago. He passed away from natural causes.
I’m a full time caregiver to my husband at the moment. He is a disabled veteran whom is wheelchair bound.
corialis t1_iuiisum wrote
Wait wait, the UK is ending landline service in 2025? Crazy. But I guess it's small enough to do, I'm in a sparsely populated part of Canada so there's way too much land to hardwire, they'd have to go with a cellular network instead of broadband.
atwegotsidetrekked t1_iuimte9 wrote
Weird, after my mom’s husband died last year, Instacart, Uber and food delivery is the only reason she is an independent living person and not in any old folks home.
She can’t drive, so her smartphone and ride/deliver apps keep her in her home.
Minnewildsota t1_iuj42wm wrote
I would like to feel bad for them, but with all the bitching they do about millennials…
Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps.
ConsiderationGlad443 t1_iuie67l wrote
I feel sorry for them. I have family who apply to this. It’s tough to see but at the same time, ppl who refuse to learn, grow, and welcome change into old age do this to themselves. I understand ur ability to learn decreases as you age. We know the biology phrase “ if you don’t use it, you lose it” I see too many old ppl just give up on new things. They kind of “make their own bed”
HaElfParagon t1_iujgshc wrote
I don't. They've had decades to learn even basic communication via the net, and actively chose not to
Maleficent-Twist-308 t1_iujs11m wrote
Most older people refuse to try to learn technology. I work for an ISP and most older people are very resistant to learning anything. They say “you fix it” and rage when they don’t get things fixed for them immediately over and over. There are exceptions, but most have no desire to learn. They just say “I don’t do this tech stuff.”
pembquist t1_iuio3vu wrote
I recall something like an "empathy suit" being used to clue in some cohort like young designers to the problems of disabled or elderly people. It essentially was a suit designed to make it hard to do ordinary things from a physical stand point. I'm not sure how you could create the equivalent for "tech" but judging by a lot of the comments here I'd make sure everyone had to wear it for a week.
littleMAS t1_iuin4fs wrote
It is amazing how modern civilization mirrors the jungle, how the weak are preyed upon, how the strongest and smartest survive and thrive, how everything eventually succumbs. Both wondrous and deeply saddening.
krazyjakee t1_iuiuvwn wrote
How the monkeys at the top of the tree look down and see busy working monkeys and the monkeys down below look up and see assholes.
Meme_Titans t1_iuk39fe wrote
This is why I try my best to understand new platforms & technologies as they emerge. I see how older generations get left behind because of their unwillingness to learn and resistance to change. I do not want to fall victim to that cycle.
HaElfParagon t1_iuja4ef wrote
I mean, this isn't quite correct. It's been 3 decades since the inception of the internet. Older people have had every opportunity to learn about and how to use it as the rest of us. They chose not to. This isn't some failure of the system, it's a generation of entitled people thinking the world owes them everything.
soulhot t1_iujbs06 wrote
Or maybe they lived in areas with no connection... or are too poor to afford the costs..
HaElfParagon t1_iujizk3 wrote
Right, but those would be a small number of people, not an entire generation as this article implies
farang t1_iujto6r wrote
Even those familiar with computers can experience vision and hearing problems, then memory gaps may start to kick in.
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n3w4cc01_1nt t1_iuilqon wrote
They know how to use netflix and youtube apps on smart tv's. the issue is fake news
bdesign7 t1_iuk0dor wrote
Well, I’ll never be able to buy a house because of them, so I guess we’re even.
foggybrainedmutt t1_iuka69z wrote
Computers and the internet have been as good as it is now for about 20 years. They’ve had time. If you can’t learn it’s time to die grandma.
bakedtaino t1_iuib211 wrote
How? They literally rule the entire world? Maybe since they don’t pay taxes the politicians don’t care since they can’t make money off of them?
pembquist t1_iuipkhs wrote
Who is they?
BlkSunshineRdriguez t1_iui2adc wrote
Bring back public phone booths!
jeffinRTP t1_iui5x46 wrote
Is that why crime has increased recently? No public phone booths for superman to change?
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Substantial_Boiler t1_iuiid85 wrote
How is this relevant
BlkSunshineRdriguez t1_iuj943a wrote
Public telephone booths provided telephone access to everyone for a small fee. People who couldn't afford telephone lines in their homes (and there were many!) could still make calls. Some people even gave out the number of a phone booth near them when applying for jobs so that they could get a call back! Couldn't this paradigm be a starting point for a solution so that Internet access is available to all?
Substantial_Boiler t1_iuk6fcw wrote
So you mean an Internet cafe/library computer?
inferni_advocatvs t1_iuiceni wrote
given the general state of the world right now, I feel no sympathy.
Passiveagrosmite t1_iuidnqu wrote
What a bitter pill you are. Bet you are a hoot to be around…not.
inferni_advocatvs t1_iuijgyh wrote
i meant it more in the vein of, it's their own fault\they are(sometimes literally) lying in a bed of their own design(the implication of this being the proverbial "bed" is of a "crappy design"). Look around it's like watching Rome burn, if Rome were the whole world.
jason8001 t1_iuimwby wrote
I see your point. They spent their entire adult life ignoring computers and cell phones. I’ve also seen people not able to work a computer but are always attached to their phone
pembquist t1_iuiph52 wrote
Who is they?
krazyjakee t1_iuitdkn wrote
The commenter is generalising all old people. So "they" is all old people.
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[deleted] t1_iuid08g wrote
Neither did your dad when he left.
inferni_advocatvs t1_iuifx90 wrote
I fucken wish, that useless cockstain is still very much making my life(and the world) a shittier place with his ignorant anti-vax bullshit, etc, etc.
MrSnowden t1_iui6yii wrote
Man, when my dad became older and housebound he was really lonely. So I helped him get connected to and understand the internet with very basic tools (webtv?). It was great for a while as he got on email, and news sites, and YouTube , etc. And then he discovered all the dark sides of the internet: porn, scams, conspiracy theories, etc. But had no natural defense mechanisms and got taken in by everyone one of them.