Why old people don't need a computer

[Fritzo]

<rant>Why does every good son/daughter think it will be a good idea to get grandma/grandpa a computer???? These people have a problem using their remote control for their TV, and then you plop a complicated PC in front of them, leave, and then let people like ME to help them learn how to use it. THAT'S NOT MY JOB! My job is to fix a problem if something's broken, not training. These old geezers call me and turn off their computer everytime I tell them to hit the Start button, they don't know how to right click, they don't know how to type, they type everything in CAPS so their passwords don't work, they think their computer uses the phone line if it's on so they can't be at their computer when they call, they think I can connect to their computer over the phone and fix everything by magic, they think I'm watching everything they do, they think SPAM from China is from Commie spies trying to hack into people's PC's to spy on people, they want to know how to adjust their computer chair because it's too high, they want instructions on how to play a card game on Yahoo, they don't understand that a 16400 connection to the Internet means your phone line with the old rotary phone on it are crappy-not the "server is overloaded", they ask where to buy a computer desk, they yell at me when their monitor doesn't come on after they installed our software (the power button wasn't on)......and these were calls from just the last 2 days!

Do me a favor and make my life a LOT EASIER. Buy grandma a friggin' phone card if you want to stay in touch! If she doesn't have a VCR because she would never know how to use it, what makes you think that something as complicated as a PC would be a good gift for someone that grew up having to crank start a car. Hallelujah!!!! </rant>

Man....do I feel better!

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Patience is a virtue Send their business my way, I'll gladly take their money.

 

[PleasantlyDisturbed]

Those old people help to pay your salary, think about it next time you buy something you like

Pleasant

 

[DaveSimmons]

On the other hand my 63-year-old dad has played through Doom 1 & 2 and my 60-year-old mom has played through both Dooms, Heretic, Hexen 1-2, and Half-Life. Mom has also installed a replacement CD drive and soundcard with a little help over the phone.

So not everyone over 50 is a tech idiot

 

*yawn*

 

[monk3y]

<< Patience is a virtue Send their business my way, I'll gladly take their money. >>

 

[nihil]

speaking of tech idiots. i used to work at radio shack and had to deal with some of the most technophobic people i've ever seen in my life. one lady who was about 85 years old at least comes in with this HUGE archeic remote that is from god knows what year. and she just comes up to me, hands me the remote and tells me that it doesn't work. so i'm thinking to myself "wtf am i supposed to do with this thing". i tried new batteries, and no matter what i would do it would not work. to make matters worse she refused to believe that it was broken and would not buy a newer remote. i finally let someone else take care of her as its really not part of my job responsibilities to help old women with denial problems.

 

[Maetryx]

I gave my Dad (who is 58 this year) a computer in 1995. I think it was a 5x86 @ 120 MHz. Anyway, now he has a LAN with 3 or 4 computers, does most of his own upgrades by himself, and only needs to get me on the phone to walk him through some of the network configuration.

You see, old people CAN contribute to society. If somehow my step-mother playing The Sims 24/7 is a contibution.

 

[308nato]

My 65 year old mom knows nothing of hardware. She could sure as hell teach a few people about software. She is a Win98SE guru for God's sake. My mom!!!!!

Mom turned me on to computer games. She still likes to play a level of Wolfenstein 3D now and then. She says it is just to look for the treasure and hidden stuff though.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, old people CAN serve a purpose!


Seriously, though...in 20 years neither of my parents have figured out how to use the VCR correctly.

 

[GermyBoy]

<< Patience is a virtue Send their business my way, I'll gladly take their money. >>




Money is money. I taught a person how to use a computer once, and it wasn't ALL bad.

 

[Stark]

<< and then let people like ME to help them learn how to use it. THAT'S NOT MY JOB! My job is to fix a problem if something's broken, not training. >>


you are an id-i-ot... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

Don't take their money if you don't like the work.

<-- built both his grandparents computers

 

[nihil]

honestly though, i think old people should have computers. i think it would be a good thing for them and maybe they'll even find a new hobby or something. one thing that has to change though is that we have to have more patient people to help them learn how to use computers. i'm sure as hell not one of them, otherwise i would help.

 

[BillGates]

I work in support as well, and have experienced every single one of the things he mentioned except the computer desk question. People from the south are idiots too...and old people from the south are the devil.

 

[Harvey]

It broke my heart when I built my Mom a great machine, and she is so intimidated by technology, she wouldn't allow me to bring it in her house.

My Mom used to be a world traveller. Now, she has severe osteoporosis, and she can hardly get out of the house without a great deal of pain.

She has nine grand children, six great grandchildren (as of yesterday), and lots of other family who would love to send her pics of the new arrivals. I set it up with the walk through tours of the Louvre and Hermitage Museums and other international visuals, and I made it as bulletproof as I knew how.

She said she'd rather listen to her CD's. I told her the computer would gladly play her CD's while she enjoyed videos of her grandkids and toured the cyber world.

She said she was afraid she would break it. I had ghosted the drive, so I told her there was nothing she could do to it that I couldn't fix on my next visit. I live about thirty minutes from her place.

I ended up selling it for my cost to a friend for his son's thirteenth birthday. One happy kid, but one Mom missing all the fun she could have. In her present condition, she needs all the smiles she can get.

OTOH, one of my best friends put a nice machine in front of his mom (about as hesitant as mine), but as soon as she got the handle on it, she was hooked.

Old folks DO need computers. They're a gateway to a world they sometimes can no longer participate in by other means. The problem is convincing them they can handle it and getting them into it.

 

[FlashG]

HEY WATCH WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD!

J/K

Make a positive out of their shortcomings. Take their money to the bank and buy a new car or something.

 

[Fritzo]

<<

<< Patience is a virtue Send their business my way, I'll gladly take their money. >>

>>



I used to think like that too....trust me, you burn out quick

If your grandparents can use a computer....fine. If you plop it in their lap and give them some Internet tech support numbers, you should be shot

 

[Cyberian]

Stupidity is not the sole province of older folks.
I repaired PCs and printers for the NY City School District and the stupidity I had to put up with, mostly from people young enough to be my kids, was rampant.

BTW - Nice post, Harvey!

 

[hoihtah]

<< Patience is a virtue Send their business my way, I'll gladly take their money. >>



haha... this is quite funny.

hey... if they are calling you... and paying you by the minute...
i'm sure you wouldn't have any trouble listening to their reasoning as to why they think these chinese spams are from commie spies.

that particular one caught my attention... 'cause this happened to me before.

my ex girlfriend's granpa was asking me thousands of questions regarding his 386sx computer.
he wanted me to install all these korean softwares on there... which he has no idea how to use... which is incompatible with his slow as hell computer.

he just thought that i didn't want to help him out.

oh and the whole thing about them thinking that you have to be on the computer to be able to receive mails...
that happened too.



imagine this old guy sitting in front of this computer waiting for emails.

i thought i was the only one.

at least you're getting paid for it... i had to do it 'cause i was dating his grand-daughter.

 

[Fritzo]

<< I gave my Dad (who is 58 this year) a computer in 1995. I think it was a 5x86 @ 120 MHz. Anyway, now he has a LAN with 3 or 4 computers, does most of his own upgrades by himself, and only needs to get me on the phone to walk him through some of the network configuration.

You see, old people CAN contribute to society. If somehow my step-mother playing The Sims 24/7 is a contibution. >>



50's and 60's are OK. 70's, 80's and up....THAT's where the problem starts. If they've lived without a computer that long, they don't need one NOW.

 

[hoihtah]

<<
50's and 60's are OK. 70's, 80's and up....THAT's where the problem starts. If they've lived without a computer that long, they don't need one NOW. >>



in my case...
it was quite a brag for my ex's grandpa.

he'd ask me to print out all these webpages... and was bragging before his ol' friends that he's got emails and he's surfing the high tech life.

hehe

i guess at that age... if you have nothing else to brag about... it's worth something.

 

[ToBeMe]

Seems like kind of "narrow thinking".....................I've sold MANY systems to "Senior Citizens" through my business and I love it! They may need more "teaching" initially, but, they call as soon as something goes wrong instead of attempting to fix it themselves and never quibble about the charges! Send all of them in MO my way..........I'll gladly take care of them!

 

[Bleep]

Hehe I love threads like this! Old people should not drive----->Old people should not have a computer-------Old people are just a dredge on society.
What age group is on this forum and many other's trying to get help with the simplest problems with there confusers. What age group work at places like CompUSA that dont know which end to wipe after they take a bathroom break. Or the Idiots that work for Radio Shack that could not change a battery in a flashlight.
How about the posts that claim that AOL users are losers or stupid. Move to a city where AOL is all there is and right away your brains turn to mush.
How about the post that the dad is in his 50's and actually knows something, my gawd I cant believe someone over 50 can actually know anything or learn anything for that matter.
I never had my own real computer until 6 years ago. Since then I have built over 30 machines, I have learned C ++. Built and configured several servers. Pretty good at networking, In the last 2 months I have became a little proficient with PHP. Just thought I would toss this in for good measure. I do all the tech support for my kids and my (gasp) grand kids.

Born in 1934
Bleep

 

[Geekbabe]

You know,as frustrating as it can be,there's nothing that brightens my day like seeing an eledrly person's face light up when they get that first email from an adult child or grandchild who lives very far away.Hearing them on the phone bragging to a relative about how they're now a "geek" because they've mastered some basic computing tasks.


I'll say this for my elderly clients, they keep their workstations clean, they will get a pad and a pen and take notes when I am speaking to them, they actually LISTEN when I tell them things instead of arguing with me because they read one article in PC magazine like some younger clients

 

[Bleep]

<< LISTEN when I tell them things instead of arguing with me because they read one article in PC magazine like some younger clients >>



I love it!!!
I cant wait until Bill Gates turns 60 or so and his brains turn into pig dung.
Bleep