Is newer technology making it more difficult for Seniors?
I just had an aha moment as to why my parents refuse to get cable TV... the remotes are too complicated. Even I get baffled and I am usually good at figuring things out. Back when my Dad worked at GE he designed one of the first remotes.. it was so simple.... TV on or off... volume up or down.... change channels [of course back then we had a grand total of 3 to 4 channels]. Now look at today's remotes.
Last year Mom got a new washing machine... whatever happened to just ON/OFF,Hot, Cold, Heavy Load, Light Load, Delicate... and that was it. This machine was so complicated even Dad, who is an engineer, wasn't sure how to do a simple load of wash... plus the letter on the machine was in light blue which looked pretty but it was tough for aging eyes to read.
When we get into our 90's, I wonder what technology will be like then... will we need to sit in the dark because we can't figure out how to turn on the lights in the living room using our telephone???
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Sounds like in your household a mix of simple old fashioned technology along with some modern technology is working. Your'wife is one step ahead of me, I can't use a laptop.... the keyboard is too awkward, I need a regular keyboard and Mouse.
Things changed when my wife began with Alz. we had being changhing m any things. As she has being evolving she just copuld not use the cell, nor the credit cards, just coud not remember the code and after some times going to the bank , I just "forgot" to give her one. The cell phones were another problem, she misplaced every where and we never find it, my solution was to re-install the wall type with nothing different, just the basic, and is working fine, I installed lines, simple lines and sockets where we use to have the cell ones and bought simple wall phones. Solved. Sam e with the washing machine, we bought a new one without any modernities. Simple. I am doing the same with everything, radio, tv, microwave, etc. for computing, she is using an old HP laptop for simple games like the basic Mahjong, and is happy. On tue other hand I discovered with the smartphones thast they are closer to the computers, and that I can have an app with a GPS that allows me to monitor her outside. A grand relieve!! So, I am having to learn to use a Galaxy. Thats is life!!!
It's funny, I find the power outage more difficult to deal with then my parents [90's].... they just go on like nothing happened. Dad gets out the battery operated lanterns, Mom prepares lunch/dinner using items that don't need cooking, etc. It's like they are back in the 1920's :)
Today's young adults do not know how to make simple repairs, their solution is to pick up their I phone and call a repair person. This also includes my own three children now in their forties who were raised in a home where these skills were practiced daily. Technology is very important in our lives and as a senior I appreciate the fantastic advances in medical technology in particular, but I also appreciate the ability I have to mend a hole in my socks.
Many of those over 50 and/or cognitively impaired can navigate the new world technology if it is properly presented. The real problem is that instructions with new products are frequently poorly translated from far away countries in print so small an ant would need a magnifying glass.
Another problem recently encountered was an elevator and I still don't know what the letters actually mean. I know to press T if I want the lobby and that T1 and T2 are the two basement levels.
Apart from acrynoms there is a whole new language out there. We no longer have garbage men they are now sanitation engineers (without an increase in pay) Try finding X-ray in the hospital. It is now "Imaging" may seniors are perfectly capable of learning new technologies but many don't want to have to waste time on that. There are far more fulfilling ways of spending our time. Smelling the roses and watching the sunset come to mind.
I don't have a Face Book account. If something very important is going on in someone's life, they can call me and tell me about it, and vise versa. My significant other has repeatedly told his grown daughter to stop posting photos of her young daughters on Face Book... you never know who will lift off a copy and use it elsewhere. Does she listen? No.
Veronica91, the abbreviation texting that the younger people use reminds me of short hand class in high school :) Where I work, we have been looking for new employees, and we will get e-mail cover sheets in text language.... if we find ourselves spending too much time using an acronyms dictionary, that resume goes to the bottom of the pile.
I find that most of my siblings in the mainland rarely responds to my email. The in-thing is to go on Facebook, post there so that everyone reads your message. No one believes in privacy anymore. I refuse to cave in to FB. They have admitted to having programs that follow everywhere you go on the internet, sell your info to advertisers. And just recently – admitted to using some of you as experiments. FB believes that they can do whatever they want with Every Single Word and Photos you put in their site. I’m of the old school – I don’t trust anyone who thinks they’re above the law just because they were smart enough to put all those tiny prints you agreed in order to become a member.
My sis got me an Iphone because my cellfone was a dinosaur (flip open Samsung $30.00 prepaid cell phone.) I really tried to use her Iphone. I gave it back. I like my dinosaur phone. But, I did buy another phone with keyboards –except the numbers are so faded blue you cannot see it. They want me to use the screen to type in the numbers. Uhm.. how do you tap the number with your big finger on that small square? Oh, well, who goes around carrying that small skinny stick? have to find it somewhere in the bottom of the purse. Hello???? So, I'm back to squinting and angling the phone trying to see those faded blue numbers on the keyboard.
I do not understand how todays schoolchildren can learn the language of texting but fail with a foreign language.
I learnt my multiplication tables so well I can answer quicker than a calculator but that is the extent of my expertise.
Love my computer it is such a mine of information . Email is wonderful.
Don't be put off by Pepper's Japanese manners. She actually bows to the audience. It might be fun to have a robot with nice medieval manners around the house. I think of it as a she because she seems to have a waist.
If you want to see Pepper in action, watch the press conference translated into English at: webcast.softbankmobile.co.jp/en/conference/20140605/index.html
The Japanese are quite keen on developing robots to help take care of the aging population, of whom they have more than we do in North America. Pepper is designed to learn from whatever situation he/she/it is placed in.
Lol, when we used paper and pencils to schedule things, this would not have been a problem!
Washing machines that spun the clothes were a major step forward.
I saw an ad for one of those new watch cellphones.... wonder if it comes with a magnifying glass?
Don't get me started on the programmable furnace thermostats, I had mine replaced couple decades ago with an old fashioned turn dial.... then later on with a very simple digital thermostat. My parents have a programmable one that they are always getting messed up, and I have no clue how to program it. Dad won't get a simple one, he doesn't want to pay for a new one.... [sigh]
But I will agree with most of the posts here, everything is complicated and I hear seniors including my mom (91) feeling like they are being left behind and isolating themselves from full living because they feel "dumb".
Pumping gas--everything is electronic, prompting 10 questions before you can even pump the gas--do you want to use debit, credit, cash, do you have a rewards card, do you want a car wash, etc BEFORE you can even select your gas grade and pump.
My mom doesn't know how to use a debit card, she can't remember a pass code.
Hearing aids, Bluetooth enabled.
Cell phones, buttons aren't user friendly for arthritic hands.
Folks can't see the tiny connection to plug it in for charging.
Wireless phone? My mom can't seat it right in the cradle to chArge. Her house is so old, it doesn't have a telephone jack in the tv room, or living room or any bedrooms but the MB in which she no longer sleeps. She can't hear the phone when she is in other rooms.
Microwaves? Coffee machines? They too have too many choices.
We may fare a little better because we use computers and electronics, but whT happens when we get forgetful, or our eyes go, our fingers aren't as nimble?
My hope is that youth of today will design useful tools, TVs electronics, appliances, etc which are simple and ADA accessible so we can remain as independent as possible and be able to operate our home comforts.
Todays new cars are way too complicated... computer screens... TV/video screens.... blue tooth.... heck, it's like driving your family room down the road. No wonder our parents keep hanging onto their old Cadillacs, Buicks, and Oldsmobiles.
And I plan to keep my 18 year old Jeep until the wheels fall off... I don't need to relearn where everything is :)
But from a Spanish name to Dell's stock to a blue whale is quite a journey!
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It's also irritating when appliances come w/o any manuals and I have to search through pages to find what I need, or incur the cost of ink and paper to print out what used to be a standard accompaniment for a purchase.
Good idea to do your research while waiting in the hospital.
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FreqFlyer, what we used to do back in the old days before we all got caller ID was to call, let the phone ring twice, then hang up. Few minutes later we would call back and Mom, Dad or Sis knew it was a friendly call. And by that time they had opportunity to get to the phone so they weren't rushing.