Things you need to believe when you're old and have a computer

[NikolaeVarius]

This makes me worry about my future in technology. Will I become as clueless as our seniors?

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones

7) You have to double-click EVERYTHING.

So, so, so true. Anyone 40 and above seems to do this. Or they single click everything they should double click.

They single click an icon on the desktop and complain when it won't lauch

QUIT DOUBLE CLICKING ON HYPERLINKS IT DRIVES ME NUTTY

Or I'm standing behind them and telling someone what to click on:

"Ok click right click-on the Start button"
*Person clicks the close button at the top right of the screen*
"Ok that's fine, just click whatever you want, I'm now charging by the quarter hour"

Rule #1 when I do tech support. I drive. If they knew what the fuck they were doing, the computer wouldn't be messed up to begin with. In fact, just leave the room altogether. 😛

 

[oiprocs]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I feel you. I really feel, and this is a person opinion, that those types of people should just avoid computers altogether. Similar to seniors who drive when they really shouldn't.

QFT

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by:
Finally, don't be so quick to complain, what would they have you do if there were no "stupid questions" to answer or "dumb old people" to help ??

Well, for one, I'd be able to work on the 14 pages of projects I have to bring new features and enhancements to our service that people want, plus write the two weekly columns that I used to write for our homepage content before getting this "promotion". 🙂

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: TheGizmo
yea its true, old people are dumb and annoying. but don't fret, one day you and me will be 65 and we will have our chance to piss people off with our lack of common sense with the new generation

I don't think this will happen as most of today's adults grew up with technology, so it will be the minority that will have these problems.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Willoughbyva
I think Aliencraft hit the nail on the head. People see so much stuff about computers from T.V., Movies, and ads run by corporations. What they really are, are people in need of assistance. So I guess you get paid good money to offer your assistance to them. Since you work for an ISP, perhaps you should put some of the common questions/mistakes these people have in a FAQ, and put it on your homepage. You could also provide links to sites like anadtech or more simple sites to offer them help. But that would probably cut down on the questions, and then some your companies technicians wouldn't be needed, and you might be out of a job.

Computers are no different than anything else. Imagine what people at any age have to go through when a medical problem arises. Or when the car breaks down. Or the washer machine, or the water won't drain. People make a lot of money providing services to others. And it is a shame. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of education.

Also I want to add that these people are over 65. Do you even stop to think about some of the crap that some of those people have had to go through in their lives? Very few people in this world go through life without a few bumps and bruises, and sometimes it is a lot worse than that. We are all human here.

Perry

Ahhh...naivity. We have an excellent support page, with links, FAQ's, SCREEN SHOTS AND MOVIES that walk you though a process, and most instructions are 5 steps or less. You know what people click on when they go to our (and most other ISP's) support page? The "How to Contact Us" link. Average time on our support page: 24 seconds. People have no interest in helping themselves, only on being spoon fed an answer. Often one of my techs will read the same instructions the customer is looking at to them and they follow them just fine.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Willoughbyva
I think Aliencraft hit the nail on the head. People see so much stuff about computers from T.V., Movies, and ads run by corporations. What they really are, are people in need of assistance. So I guess you get paid good money to offer your assistance to them. Since you work for an ISP, perhaps you should put some of the common questions/mistakes these people have in a FAQ, and put it on your homepage. You could also provide links to sites like anadtech or more simple sites to offer them help. But that would probably cut down on the questions, and then some your companies technicians wouldn't be needed, and you might be out of a job.

Computers are no different than anything else. Imagine what people at any age have to go through when a medical problem arises. Or when the car breaks down. Or the washer machine, or the water won't drain. People make a lot of money providing services to others. And it is a shame. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of education.

Also I want to add that these people are over 65. Do you even stop to think about some of the crap that some of those people have had to go through in their lives? Very few people in this world go through life without a few bumps and bruises, and sometimes it is a lot worse than that. We are all human here.

Perry

Ahhh...naivity. We have an excellent support page, with links, FAQ's, SCREEN SHOTS AND MOVIES that walk you though a process, and most instructions are 5 steps or less. You know what people click on when they go to our (and most other ISP's) support page? The "How to Contact Us" link. Average time on our support page: 24 seconds. People have no interest in helping themselves, only on being spoon fed an answer. Often one of my techs will read the same instructions the customer is looking at to them and they follow them just fine.

You hit the nail on the head. It is not so much the lack of education that is a problem, but the complete unwillingness to learn or make any attempt to figure things out on their own.

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

The exact same thing happens with my Grandfather. He doesn't own a computer (thank god) but when he recently moved to his new apartment he had to get a comcast set-top box in order to get all the channels he used to get. Except along with that, he has to use the massively complex Comcast remote. He can barely read the buttons, and if he pushes anything other than "power" or "channel up/down" or "volume" buttons, he'll mess something up on the tv and won't be able to use it until me or my Uncle can go there and put the tv back onto channel 3 so it'll recieve the input from the cable box.

I wish comcast would put together a "senior citizen" package with a simplified remote and installation setup that didn't require a set-top box. Sigh...

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: scrawnypaleguy
The exact same thing happens with my Grandfather. He doesn't own a computer (thank god) but when he recently moved to his new apartment he had to get a comcast set-top box in order to get all the channels he used to get. Except along with that, he has to use the massively complex Comcast remote. He can barely read the buttons, and if he pushes anything other than "power" or "channel up/down" or "volume" buttons, he'll mess something up on the tv and won't be able to use it until me or my Uncle can go there and put the tv back onto channel 3 so it'll recieve the input from the cable box.

I wish comcast would put together a "senior citizen" package with a simplified remote and installation setup that didn't require a set-top box. Sigh...

Actually, SONY makes a universal learning remote with HUGE buttons that is about the size of a deck of cards. It only has limited features, but it sounds like what you need.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
Sorry, but the perception here is that of condescension. which is a subset of "frustration"....Which often seeps into how one deals with problems or people that one deems insignificant.
However those problems may be to you, it pales in comparison to the additional humiliation and frustration the one who has the problems feels as they seek relief from someone whom they may suspect imagines them to be stupid.

You hit on the real problem in your last sentence...education or more accurately the lack of it is your real nemesis.

A lot of people will seize on jargon, terms they've heard used, or even wrong names for items in their attempt to not appear stupid to the technician.
People want to converse on an equal footing and no one, regardless of age, likes to be made to feel stupid or foolish or humiliated.
It's the old "Woman and the Car Repair shop" scenario, only in IT it cuts across gender lines and divides more so along age lines.

I have gone so far as to use colored paint and put dots or marks on certain keys, buttons, etc. in order to achieve functionality with clients, especially if it's a task they don't do enough for it to become routine.

When you learn to educate your problem children properly, you'll start to move past the inane problems and on to the more challenging ones you haven't imagined yet.

Finally, don't be so quick to complain, what would they have you do if there were no "stupid questions" to answer or "dumb old people" to help ??

Thanks, Dr Phil.

 

[BigPoppa]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: Willoughbyva
I think Aliencraft hit the nail on the head. People see so much stuff about computers from T.V., Movies, and ads run by corporations. What they really are, are people in need of assistance. So I guess you get paid good money to offer your assistance to them. Since you work for an ISP, perhaps you should put some of the common questions/mistakes these people have in a FAQ, and put it on your homepage. You could also provide links to sites like anadtech or more simple sites to offer them help. But that would probably cut down on the questions, and then some your companies technicians wouldn't be needed, and you might be out of a job.

Computers are no different than anything else. Imagine what people at any age have to go through when a medical problem arises. Or when the car breaks down. Or the washer machine, or the water won't drain. People make a lot of money providing services to others. And it is a shame. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of education.

Also I want to add that these people are over 65. Do you even stop to think about some of the crap that some of those people have had to go through in their lives? Very few people in this world go through life without a few bumps and bruises, and sometimes it is a lot worse than that. We are all human here.

Perry

Ahhh...naivity. We have an excellent support page, with links, FAQ's, SCREEN SHOTS AND MOVIES that walk you though a process, and most instructions are 5 steps or less. You know what people click on when they go to our (and most other ISP's) support page? The "How to Contact Us" link. Average time on our support page: 24 seconds. People have no interest in helping themselves, only on being spoon fed an answer. Often one of my techs will read the same instructions the customer is looking at to them and they follow them just fine.

You hit the nail on the head. It is not so much the lack of education that is a problem, but the complete unwillingness to learn or make any attempt to figure things out on their own.

This is an endless source of frustration for me. Nobody ever TRIES to fix things on their own. I just don't understand it. Google is the source of 90% of the information you're going to need to fix something. Its a boon for the company I work for (Best Buy/Geek Squad).

My dryer broke last summer. Attempted to fix it, really not that hard. Unfortunately was unable to do so because the eyelets that hold the belt to the drum had broken off so we had someone come in and fix it. At least I tried.

My cars check engine light recently came on and started idling very rough. Googled around a bit and found that cleaning the MAF and cleaning/replacing Intake Air Contoller fix this issue. My IAC needs to be replaced, cleaning helped, but the issue came back. I'll purchase the part and do it myself.

I'm not a trained appliance repairman or car mechanic but still give it a go.

I'm not even a true trained PC repair technician, but I've got enough experience doing it. How did I learn? I broke a LOT of computers (well the same few multiple times. How I miss my 486 DX2 and Pentium Pro 200) and had to learn how to fix em or go without.

 

[vtohthree]

haha, I just caught my father double clicking the start menu and then double clicking a shortcut in the start menu. "double click everything".

My dad and I would get so frustrated with eachother while I was trying to teach him how to use a computer. I was trying to teach him how it works,(the concept of: the computer does what you tell it to), whereas he refused to listen and only wanted to memorize steps, and if something went wrong he'd call me for every single freakin' prompt that came up without even reading what it said. As it was mentioned, he expected it to be like operating a TV or microwave, just remember a few steps and that's it.

It's similar with cellphones too, but I'm amazed how most elderly(in my family at least) memorize phone numbers because they don't know(or want to learn) how to store them on their phone. Atleast it jogs the memory, =P.

It's because we are used to a User Interface in which we see consistencies in how electronics work. For example the red hang up button is used to cancel or get out of virtually any screen, it's just an intuitive consistency.

 

[Injury]

If everyone knew what they were doing... half the people that visit these forums would unemployed. Annoying or not, people's inability to embrace technology creates lots of well-paying jobs. It's just the same as cars, appliances, plumbing, electrical, and many more things.

Consider it a blessing in disguise.

 

[Eos]

I sometimes think about all the technology crap I do everyday. Audio editing, torrents, cell phones, etc. I can't see how I would ever forget how to do these things.

The average age of my customer is 47/f and most of our customer use dialup.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Fritzo


I don't think I'll find anything that pays this well. I'm singling out older people because I made a "joke" Access database that I ran for two weeks and compared it against people's ages. I'm sorry, but 87% of the above behavior was attributed to the over 65 crowd. Just trying to understand their thought process so we can see where the problem is.

Here's something people forget, we know when other people mock us. It's innate.
Doesn't matter the age, race.

The key to dealing with the public is to never think you're any better than them, you simply know where what they want is located, in this instance. That is your job, is it not ?
We all serve someone. The least you have to be is polite, that gonna kill you?
When you understand that technology has progressed so very far in their minds, whereas to you, it seems to be the norm, you will cut them some serious slack.
Imagine that the phone, that little multi purpose device you have in your pocket, to them was once something you only used for talking to another person, and only then when the other person on the block was finished using the block's line, that your number had an alpha designator(ORchard 356 was my grandmother's), and it was a chunk of plastic as big as a six-pack, which was new technology as well.

And finally, if it isn't so simple that some one 65 and older CAN operate it, it's too damn complicated, and it's usefulness is diminished as such. TV remotes being a prime example.

There's no superiority complex going on here at all...it's just a bunch of common misconceptions and knowledge deficiencies that seem to be shared by a (overwhelming) demographic of people (of course my stats were unscientific, but I recognized the patterns over the years to relate to each item on the list). I'm nothing but helpful to these people, I've built a career on it, and I'm at the top of my game with the company right now. However, when you hear this stuff every day, day in and day out, multiple times per day, it grates on your nerves. If you're not guilty of anything on the list, educate your friends so I won't need a massage once a week 🙂

Sorry, but the perception here is that of condescension. which is a subset of "frustration"....Which often seeps into how one deals with problems or people that one deems insignificant.
However those problems may be to you, it pales in comparison to the additional humiliation and frustration the one who has the problems feels as they seek relief from someone whom they may suspect imagines them to be stupid.

You hit on the real problem in your last sentence...education or more accurately the lack of it is your real nemesis.

A lot of people will seize on jargon, terms they've heard used, or even wrong names for items in their attempt to not appear stupid to the technician.
People want to converse on an equal footing and no one, regardless of age, likes to be made to feel stupid or foolish or humiliated.
It's the old "Woman and the Car Repair shop" scenario, only in IT it cuts across gender lines and divides more so along age lines.

I have gone so far as to use colored paint and put dots or marks on certain keys, buttons, etc. in order to achieve functionality with clients, especially if it's a task they don't do enough for it to become routine.

When you learn to educate your problem children properly, you'll start to move past the inane problems and on to the more challenging ones you haven't imagined yet.

Finally, don't be so quick to complain, what would they have you do if there were no "stupid questions" to answer or "dumb old people" to help ??

I think this has to do with it just a tad bit. If you don't mind, I'm all ears with your methods that you use to educate your clients. I'm definitely all ears.