Reactions to tech (ie: email, smart phone, ChatGPT, etc) depending on age

[Kaido]

the most important thing is that you now have a calculator on your hip.

i cant even do addition anymore in my head.
$1.35 + 4.85

I found a few years ago I'm math dyslexic. I bombed nearly every math class I ever took & switched into IT Administration instead of Programming in college because I literally couldn't visualize the math required lol. It alllllll makes sense now!

 

[nakedfrog]

I found a few years ago I'm math dyslexic. I bombed nearly every math class I ever took & switched into IT Administration instead of Programming in college because I literally couldn't visualize the math required lol. It alllllll makes sense now!

Dyscalculia
I only recently became aware of it as a "thing" in the last year.

 

[Captante]

I found a few years ago I'm math dyslexic. I bombed nearly every math class I ever took & switched into IT Administration instead of Programming in college because I literally couldn't visualize the math required lol. It alllllll makes sense now!

Same EXACT problem I had in school..... those id10t's wasted OVER 2 math school-years only trying to make me memorize multiplication-tables which was NOT happening. To what end I have no freaking idea.

 

[IronWing]

Got me with this one lol .... they LOOK like someone ripped the "dial" part out of a bunch of those old-school DYMO label-makers!

Kroy lettering machine wheels. They are desktop versions of the hand label makers. There was a different wheel for each font, font size, italics, bold, etc. The cartography folks had a room full of wheels.

 

[IronWing]

DPL can suck it.



Er, is this what the OP was getting at?

 

[Captante]

Kroy lettering machine wheels. They are desktop versions of the hand label makers. There was a different wheel for each font, font size, italics, bold, etc. The cartography folks had a room full of wheels.

View attachment 77433

I was pretty close!

 

[MtnMan]

Well, I’ve almost kept up. Grew up in 50’s-60’s. Built two computers last year, use cell phone (but nowhere near as well as my 27 y o pigmented friend, who still shows me how to do crap on it).

But as I hit 70, the impulse to keep up is dwindling. Still read but don’t care like I used to.

But I don’t Tik Tok, Reddit is a mess to me, don’t use most of the popular apps. No use to me.

Having a similar background, formative years in the 50s and 60s. I got a degree in electronics, which even included courses on vacuum tubes, and really predated IC Chips, but after a stint in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club, I found a career in the computer industry, which provided a great deal of training, and migrated into networking as the industry and employment opportunities changed.

I guess I qualify as a "grumpy old man", and if you don't like it, my attitude is "fuck you". Thus, Tic Tok, FB, etc., is irrelevant. I don't give a fuck about them, or how anyone might care to judge me on what I post.

I don't dress, or post, or say things to make other's like me. If I give a like or similar to what others post, they earned it, they are not a courtesy or automatic response. If I respond, it will be clear if it is because I can relate, or you are so full of bullshit that it needs to be addressed.

I'm a mix of, let's go get a beer (a good one, not some mass-produced crap) and we can solve some of the world's problems, but then get the fuck off my lawn.

 

[Kaido]

Dyscalculia
I only recently became aware of it as a "thing" in the last year.

Yup, we have a whole reddit sub!

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

I've been doing online classes for math (from Math Tutor DVD) for awhile now & still immensely struggle with it as an adult. It's really nice to have a name & an explanation for why my brain doesn't process numbers correctly. So far, the best I've been able to come up with is structured tools that allow me to access math using custom interfaces, like checklists, purpose-built spreadsheets, etc. I do a lot of quoting in my job (hardware, software, labor rates for installation quotes, etc. for customers) & pretty much have it all setup to bypass the actual math portion of the work, haha!

It's really frustrating because accessing the executive functions in my brain required to execute numbers-based work can vary from just being annoying to literally giving me a pounding headache. I really struggled with it in college because I had to take higher-level math & use advanced math in stuff like Advanced C++ (haha, I'm old!) & even doing basic algebra "move the X" functions would fog out in my brain.

One of the things that clued me into dyscalculia is that my college trig professor zipped through my classwork while walking around the class & I asked him how he did that. He was puzzled and was like, well you just think about the numbers, visualize the order of operations, do the math in your head, get the result, and write it all down. I started at him blankly and was like...you can see numbers in your head? Turns out I have Aphantasia too, haha! I just see the back of my eyelids - ZERO mind's eye! No internal narration, either - I don't have an inner monologue! I had a minor panic attack when I learned this because my background is in art, not computers, and I had to figure out that I had a CONCEPTUAL imagination, not a VISUAL imagination! I went down the rabbit hole on that one & have some really interesting reading here on that:

https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/qnox4v

But yeah, it was like getting diagnosed with ADHD as an adult...struggles I had had my WHOLE LIFE suddenly became crystal-clear because suddenly I had a name & an explanation for what I was dealing with! It's really crazy to get those diagnoses later in life, or at all...like, I've been literally sick & tired my whole life, just constant health struggles, and I found out last year that I have something called "histamine intolerance". I'm in the particular sub-group that reacts really well to a digestive enzyme (OTC!) rather than antihistamines. The enzyme acts sort of like Lactaid, it just breaks down the histamine so that it goes (properly) into my gut & not my blood stream. Dozens & dozens of health woes, poof! Vanished! My lifelong brain fog, anxiety, and fatigue are magically gone! I have ZERO carpal tunnel, which is insane!! All because I'm not dealing with chronical inflammation anymore!

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistamineIntolerance/comments/ytmcl4/_/iw75m9l

 

[Kaido]

Tic Tok

Just a quick note on TikTok, if you're open to it: I had some serious misconceptions myself about what it was all about! It's basically "short-form Youtube". Most videos are like a minute long (I think they can go 10 minutes now). What makes it cool is the content that people create: basically, they make it easy for ANYONE to record a video straight from their smartphone, meaning that people who never would have joined Youtube due to the effort & complexity required to share their knowledge or entertainment skills are now constantly sharing really cool stuff about their little niche in the universe!

I also avoided Facebook for years because of personal misconceptions. I primarily use it for the amazing Groups, where data, photos, videos, and communication can be shared. I'm on groups for the Ecoboost Mustang, 3D printing, Sourdough bread baking, Instapot cooking, etc. TikTok basically takes that to the next level by letting people record cool stuff about whatever topics they're into. I swear I've learned more about cooking, computers, hobby stuff, etc. from the last year on TikTok than I did from college!

So while it's not for everyone, it does pay to have a solid understanding that Facebook is more than just relationship drama & TikTok is more than just dancing challenges! Plus I have a lot of weird little pockets of time to fill, like if I'm babysitting a server install & have to click a button every few minutes for an hour haha. If you're into the Instant Pot, one of my favorite groups has 1.5 million people with tons of amazing recipes being posted daily!

Bei Facebook anmelden

Melde dich bei Facebook an, um dich mit deinen Freunden, deiner Familie und Personen, die du kennst, zu verbinden und Inhalte zu teilen.

www.facebook.com

Anyway, I avoided both TikTok & Facebook for a long time, but as it turns out, they're absolutely GOLDMINES for infotainment!

 

[Kaido]

Kroy lettering machine wheels. They are desktop versions of the hand label makers. There was a different wheel for each font, font size, italics, bold, etc. The cartography folks had a room full of wheels.

View attachment 77433

Oh man, I remember playing with this as a kid & getting yelled at for wasting the ribbons lol

 

[Kaido]

Same EXACT problem I had in school..... those id10t's wasted OVER 2 math school-years only trying to make me memorize multiplication-tables which was NOT happening. To what end I have no freaking idea.

My problem was that I was able to (eventually) do memorization, it was visualizing the numbers & thinking through the logic required to solve the problems. It just gets all scrambled, like when you open your eyes underwater in a pool & try to see things clearly without wearing googles It's hard to explain the exact effect, but it's always just been a barrier for me, which is a bummer because there's a lot of higher-order math I'd like to learn, and I can't even move the decimal for a tip on dinner in my head lol. Fortunately we have Google Lens to solve math problems using AR, calculators on our smartphones, Excel to help automate functions, etc., so it's not as big of a deal as it once was!

 

[Captante]

Oh I still remember SOME of my multiplication-tables to this day..... and draw a complete blank on others!

Lucky thing too! They sure were right about not always having a calculator handy! (oh wait...)

 

[nakedfrog]

Yup, we have a whole reddit sub!

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

I've been doing online classes for math (from Math Tutor DVD) for awhile now & still immensely struggle with it as an adult. It's really nice to have a name & an explanation for why my brain doesn't process numbers correctly. So far, the best I've been able to come up with is structured tools that allow me to access math using custom interfaces, like checklists, purpose-built spreadsheets, etc. I do a lot of quoting in my job (hardware, software, labor rates for installation quotes, etc. for customers) & pretty much have it all setup to bypass the actual math portion of the work, haha!

It's really frustrating because accessing the executive functions in my brain required to execute numbers-based work can vary from just being annoying to literally giving me a pounding headache. I really struggled with it in college because I had to take higher-level math & use advanced math in stuff like Advanced C++ (haha, I'm old!) & even doing basic algebra "move the X" functions would fog out in my brain.

One of the things that clued me into dyscalculia is that my college trig professor zipped through my classwork while walking around the class & I asked him how he did that. He was puzzled and was like, well you just think about the numbers, visualize the order of operations, do the math in your head, get the result, and write it all down. I started at him blankly and was like...you can see numbers in your head? Turns out I have Aphantasia too, haha! I just see the back of my eyelids - ZERO mind's eye! No internal narration, either - I don't have an inner monologue! I had a minor panic attack when I learned this because my background is in art, not computers, and I had to figure out that I had a CONCEPTUAL imagination, not a VISUAL imagination! I went down the rabbit hole on that one & have some really interesting reading here on that:

https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/qnox4v

But yeah, it was like getting diagnosed with ADHD as an adult...struggles I had had my WHOLE LIFE suddenly became crystal-clear because suddenly I had a name & an explanation for what I was dealing with! It's really crazy to get those diagnoses later in life, or at all...like, I've been literally sick & tired my whole life, just constant health struggles, and I found out last year that I have something called "histamine intolerance". I'm in the particular sub-group that reacts really well to a digestive enzyme (OTC!) rather than antihistamines. The enzyme acts sort of like Lactaid, it just breaks down the histamine so that it goes (properly) into my gut & not my blood stream. Dozens & dozens of health woes, poof! Vanished! My lifelong brain fog, anxiety, and fatigue are magically gone! I have ZERO carpal tunnel, which is insane!! All because I'm not dealing with chronical inflammation anymore!

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistamineIntolerance/comments/ytmcl4/_/iw75m9l

Yeah, I also have aphantasia, and probably whatever the music theory version of dyslexia/dyscalculia is, I have a basic understanding of it, but despite repeated attempts have never been able to grok anything beyond that, but fortunately that's more of an inconvenience than anything else.

 

[Captante]

Anyway, I avoided both TikTok & Facebook for a long time, but as it turns out, they're absolutely GOLDMINES for infotainment!

Should have kept the run going.

To be clear although both are privacy-nightmares IRL, Facebook/Meta isn't nearly the same kind of problem as TikTok.

My problem with it is 100% due to the whole operation being Chinese-owned and run and (shockingly!) those folks don't exactly have America's best interests at heart right now.

Frankly the TikTok app in particular is a serious national security risk disguised by "shiny things".... I personally would prefer to avoid another disaster like 2016 and this kind of thing running unchecked invites just that.

 

[JEDI]

Oh man, I remember playing with this as a kid & getting yelled at for wasting the ribbons lol

View attachment 77456

star trek phaser!

 

[MrSquished]

TikTok is not really tech, it's an app built on existing tech.

 

[Kaido]

Should have kept the run going.

To be clear although both are privacy-nightmares IRL, Facebook/Meta isn't nearly the same kind of problem as TikTok.

My problem with it is 100% due to the whole operation being Chinese-owned and run and (shockingly!) those folks don't exactly have America's best interests at heart right now.

Frankly the TikTok app in particular is a serious national security risk disguised by "shiny things".... I personally would prefer to avoid another disaster like 2016 and this kind of thing running unchecked invites just that.

Software censorship is a tricky thing. If they block TikTok, then they're going to have to hold American companies to the same standards of scrutiny. Not too long ago in a galaxy not too far away...

Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Captante]

Regulation is not the same as censorship.... and maybe all American companies NEED to be given a reality-check and get forced to protect individuals privacy too!

Having said that, I'm NOT "just fine" with the Chinese using a social media app they control to perform social engineering experiments on our young people..... this isn't P&N so I'll stop there but not learning from our past can only end one way and it ain't pretty!

 

[sdifox]

I wonder how many kids have any clue what the "Dewey Decimal system" is?

Dewey Decimal Classification (Wiki)

Why is a Chinese classification system called Dewey?

 

[Kaido]

Regulation is not the same as censorship.... and maybe all American companies NEED to be given a reality-check and get forced to protect individuals privacy too!

Regulation is a better word! The problem is that American companies are so deeply in murky territory that to shine a light on them will disrupt a lot of business activities. And not just user tracking, either, but weird automated-judgement stuff like how AirBNB operates:

Airbnb may ban users for being 'closely associated’ with a prohibited user - Times of India

Airbnb is a US-based service that allows users to look for short-term homestay rentals. The company acts as a broker between the client and the proper

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

So if someone gets banned from AirBNB, AirBNB may ban other users for being closely associated with those banned users, which sort of makes sense because maybe they're using a spouse or friend to get into a rental & engage in the same bad behavior (theft, property damage, etc.). However, the background check goes back for years & apparently has banned people for things like broken tail lights, unleashed dogs, etc., to which people have no ability to appeal. So basically unjust judgement that prohibits access to their service, which reminds me of another system:

China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy

Chinese people are being introduced to a program that monitors their behavior, scores them, and doles out punishments and rewards.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[sdifox]

lol the CPC just put the armed forces and the police under CPC control, away from the PRC government, you think they care about pesky things like rights?