Middle Aged people and the Technologically Impaired

cherryghost

I have some gripe with middle aged people and those who are technologically impaired.

I work in an internet cafe, so I get the odd person in who doesn't have a clue how do such and such a thing, so as per usual I would assist them with whatever they needed done online. It's not all easy though.

I have encountered so many people that haven't a clue how to use a pc, and REFUSE help, probably because I'm just a young fella.

For example, a farmer came into me today and wanted to place an ad on donedeal.ie for his tractor. He came up to me and said 'Me wife gave me this block plug (it was a usb key) and to put the tractor on the internet'. So, fair enough, I deciphered what he meant and gave him the PC, got to the website and told him to register the wifes email he had written on a piece of paper. I had to go back to the reception desk for a moment to server another customer. Not 5 seconds later did he have the mouse in his hand, 3 feet off the desk and trying to put the usb key inside the underbelly of the mouse! I went over to help the poor fella, where he downright refused my help to do the work for him and he told me to leave him alone. I tried to guide the mouse to the desk, telling him that's how you use a friggin pc, and his reply was 'it's not how we do it at home!' After a while he just got pissed off and left.

So yeah, anyone else got any stories? And why in hell are some people so stubborn?

up for anything

cherryghost wrote: »

I have some gripe with middle aged people

A bit of a generalisation here.

Stercus Accidit

Double clicking html links, single clicking items on the desktop, ah bliss.

kowloon

Couldn't get a connection to someone I was trying to help over the phone, asked him to find an icon on his desktop, he came back to me after a very long wait to tell me he couldn't find an icon on his desk.
Glad I didn't work at that for long.

InTheTrees

cherryghost wrote: »

I have some gripe with middle aged people and those who are technologically impaired.

Being middle aged and thus having a basic understanding of grammar I'm guessing you actually mean you have a gripe with middle aged people who are technologically impaired.

bmw535d

InTheTrees wrote: »

Being middle aged and thus having a basic understanding of grammar I'm guessing you actually mean you have a gripe with middle aged people who are technologically impaired.

STFU who cares we all understood, im sick of these grammar nazi's.

kowloon

Just thinking about it now, I think the problem is that people often learn the way to remember the exact way of doing something.

Press Start > move arrow over the Word > click left button > Word opens

You ask the same person to click the icon beside Word and you might aswell be asking them to do something entirely different. They can't grasp the logic of it so they learn off the steps and can't adapt that to anything else.

ardmacha

del *.* /dob>1/1/70

silverspoon

bmw535d wrote: »

STFU Who cares? We all understood; I'm sick of these "grammar Nazis".

FYP.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

kowloon wrote: »

Couldn't get a connection to someone I was trying to help over the phone, asked him to find an icon on his desktop, he came back to me after a very long wait to tell me he couldn't find an icon on his desk.
Glad I didn't work at that for long.

Get laid off?

peasant

cherryghost wrote: »

I have some gripe with middle aged people

Insolent whippersnapper

Witcher

bmw535d wrote: »

STFU who cares? We all understood, I'm sick of these grammar Nazis.

:pac::pac::pac:

starbelgrade

This is brilliant...!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3QdGljaxsY

"Click the mouse like it were a hot potato"

Overheal

cherryghost wrote: »

Not 5 seconds later did he have the mouse in his hand, 3 feet off the desk and trying to put the usb key inside the underbelly of the mouse! I went over to help the poor fella, where he downright refused my help to do the work for him and he told me to leave him alone. I tried to guide the mouse to the desk, telling him that's how you use a friggin pc, and his reply was 'it's not how we do it at home!' After a while he just got pissed off and left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY4SU0c1eUk

Teutorix

I get pissed off by computer illiterates regardless of age, most of the young people i know are as clueless as the older ones, they know how to use a web browser to go on facebook and thats it.

I was on u413 if any of you know it, its a closed web forum that uses a command script interface. Anywho i was on it in the computer lab in school SFW and everything, when i get told to get out and am banned from the lab for ''hacking''. people make me rage so hard at times.

partyatmygaff

Teutorix wrote: »

I get pissed off by computer illiterates regardless of age, most of the young people i know are as clueless as the older ones, they know how to use a web browser to go on facebook and thats it.

I was on u413 if any of you know it, its a closed web forum that uses a command script interface. Anywho i was on it in the computer lab in school SFW and everything, when i get told to get out and am banned from the lab for ''hacking''. people make me rage so hard at times.

Meh u413's just 4chan for elitists who think they're experts with computers.


Back last year my Engineering teacher's laptop had it's bootloader corrupted (HAL/NTLDR.DLL for those that know what i'm talking about). Apparently using a Linux live cd and a few simple copy commands in the terminal makes me a 1337 computer hacker :P

If only it were a real computer problem...:pac:

starbelgrade

Teutorix wrote: »

I get pissed off by computer illiterates regardless of age, most of the young people i know are as clueless as the older ones, they know how to use a web browser to go on facebook and thats it.

I was on u413 if any of you know it, its a closed web forum that uses a command script interface. Anywho i was on it in the computer lab in school SFW and everything, when i get told to get out and am banned from the lab for ''hacking''. people make me rage so hard at times.

WARNING - NERD ALERT

kowloon

THFC wrote: »

Get laid off?

No, it was a few years back, before all this recession stuff.

CreepingDeath

cherryghost wrote: »

I have some gripe with middle aged people and those who are technologically impaired...

... a farmer came into me today and wanted to place an ad on donedeal.ie for his tractor

up for anything wrote: »

A bit of a generalisation here.

Yeah, he should be more specific that it's middle aged culchies he has issues with.

partyatmygaff

starbelgrade wrote: »

WARNING - NERD ALERT

The encyclopaedia dramatica page describes it fairly well


It's essentially a less technologically advanced version of 4chan with a super 1337 sekkrit entry system.

Pauleta

I dont mind as long as people give it a shot. I hate people who are afraid to use technology. My granny lives in my house and she wont turn on the TV or the UPC box in case she breaks it. We have had the same TV for about 4 years and the UPC box for longer and she refuses to learn how to even turn the thing on.

mikemac

Maybe the farmer was embarrassed about asking for help and got defensive.
They are very independent you know, spending most of their working day on their own with nobody to talk to.
Ok he wasn't very nice about it but it's understandable

cherryghost

InTheTrees wrote: »

Being middle aged and thus having a basic understanding of grammar I'm guessing you actually mean you have a gripe with middle aged people who are technologically impaired.

No, actually I meant to phrase it like that. Either/both catagories of people are included

Mrmoe

I don't mid anyone not knowing how to do something as we all had to start somewhere once but the point blank refusal to even try to learn is what grates me. It shouldn't even be an age issue as there are many older people who know how to use PCs.

whatdoicare

Ah, I know a lot of people who seem to have decided everything they learned in the 40's/50's/60's was all they were ever going to learn and no amount of cajoling will make them change their mind.
My MIL won't turn on her own television and sits waiting for her adult kids to come home to turn it on for her. I caught her at it one day, not knowing I was there, she patiently sat and twiddled her thumbs and the second my husband got in the door she was calling him to turn on the telly while she pretended to be making tea - she only has RTE channels BTW.
We got her a basic mobile once (crappy Nokia with just about a number pad and a button to answer) as she has two gammy hips and the husband was terrified she'd fall when noone was there (she lives alone but has nine adult kids who seem to be in and out constantly) but once she fell out her back garden and couldn't call anyone to help her up. No way would she touch it! We found it recently still in it's box under the kitchen sink. So we got her a panic button - this is one button. She "hid" that under her bed, then promptly went into her kitchen, slipped on the mat, fell and broke her leg, youngest son found her an hour later!
Some days she passes comment on how she'd love it to be like it was when she was young, in the late 40's(?) when all there was to do was drink tea and pray! I pretend I can't hear her when she spouts that crap.

On the other hand my own Dad is in his late 60's, is mad into gadgets, has a Wii, a DS and a home cinema system -and he's skyping me as I type this!

Rabies

Playing International Superstar Soccer years ago with my mate on his snes. His dad walked in and thought it was live TV

The_Minister

Soon as I read the title, I thought of this.

Einhard

starbelgrade wrote: »

This is brilliant...!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3QdGljaxsY

"Click the mouse like it were a hot potato"

I don't think that's s'posed to be a piss take!!

Mackman

I just find it funny

Overheal

whatdoicare wrote: »

Ah, I know a lot of people who seem to have decided everything they learned in the 40's/50's/60's was all they were ever going to learn and no amount of cajoling will make them change their mind.
My MIL won't turn on her own television and sits waiting for her adult kids to come home to turn it on for her. I caught her at it one day, not knowing I was there, she patiently sat and twiddled her thumbs and the second my husband got in the door she was calling him to turn on the telly while she pretended to be making tea - she only has RTE channels BTW.
We got her a basic mobile once (crappy Nokia with just about a number pad and a button to answer) as she has two gammy hips and the husband was terrified she'd fall when noone was there (she lives alone but has nine adult kids who seem to be in and out constantly) but once she fell out her back garden and couldn't call anyone to help her up. No way would she touch it! We found it recently still in it's box under the kitchen sink. So we got her a panic button - this is one button. She "hid" that under her bed, then promptly went into her kitchen, slipped on the mat, fell and broke her leg, youngest son found her an hour later!
Some days she passes comment on how she'd love it to be like it was when she was young, in the late 40's(?) when all there was to do was drink tea and pray! I pretend I can't hear her when she spouts that crap.

On the other hand my own Dad is in his late 60's, is mad into gadgets, has a Wii, a DS and a home cinema system -and he's skyping me as I type this!

You sir may have encountered a genuine bonafide bovine Luddite.

goatboy1000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv6BimHxkI4

cuppa

do internet coffee shops and know it all ****es still exist.bet his mouse at home has a usb or block port.

topper75

feelingstressed wrote: »

Maybe the farmer was embarrassed about asking for help and got defensive.
They are very independent you know, spending most of their working day on their own with nobody to talk to.
Ok he wasn't very nice about it but it's understandable

I like farming/country folk - esp their independent nature. The derision they get from urban quartes is undeserved. But I couldn't excuse rudeness or pigheadedness - which is what this is. The equipment is the property of the internet cafe and it is the employee's responsibility to ensure that it is not abused.

Let's put the boot on the other foot and see how it fits: - I also work alone all day in an office with nobody to talk to. I like to do things for myself. If I called in to this farmer who happened to have some kind of 'dig your own veg' facility and started to use his fork or spade to go hacking at the stems of carrots - he wouldn't be long taking it off me and showing how to properly dig the carrots. And he'd be right.

Not knowing stuff is not a problem. Refusing help from those who do is.

gravityisalie

i'm in no way tech savvy and i'm in my twenties but what kills me in work is the amount of times people will give me their email address , and proceed to make sure i know " theres no spaces and theres the @ symbol , you know the a with a circle around it ? " i get this every day , now this is from people working in offices who should really no better , the vast majority are from people with government email addresses like @agriculture.ie , @coco.ie , @hse.ie ,


oh hold on it just dawned on me they just think i'm thick:(

mikerowsopht

I worked in a call centre trying to help a customer with their broadband connection over the phone as I worked in an ISP. The guy I was speaking to sounded very old.

After a couple of mins of having maybe 2 Internet Explorer windows opened and a couple of cmd's consoles opened for troubleshooting I asked him to close all opened windows.

There was a click on the phone and I had to wait 2 minutes before he came back on the phone again.

He said to me " Right, all my windows are now closed "

Needless to say it wasn't the windows on his pc. It took me about 5 minutes before I could take another call after that one.

I don't know why he thought that closing his actual windows in his house would fix anything although the broadband he had was a wireless box in his house but very very funny

CUCINA

Reminds me of something I read about a computer call-centre worker helping a punter on the phone and he said to the customer,

"Ok, now press any key". Pause before customer says,

" Sorry, I'm looking for the any key"!

FlutterinBantam

cherryghost wrote: »

I have some gripe with middle aged people and those who are technologically impaired.

I work in an internet cafe, so I get the odd person in who doesn't have a clue how do such and such a thing, so as per usual I would assist them with whatever they needed done online. It's not all easy though.

I have encountered so many people that haven't a clue how to use a pc, and REFUSE help, probably because I'm just a young fella.

For example, a farmer came into me today and wanted to place an ad on donedeal.ie for his tractor. He came up to me and said 'Me wife gave me this block plug (it was a usb key) and to put the tractor on the internet'. So, fair enough, I deciphered what he meant and gave him the PC, got to the website and told him to register the wifes email he had written on a piece of paper. I had to go back to the reception desk for a moment to server another customer. Not 5 seconds later did he have the mouse in his hand, 3 feet off the desk and trying to put the usb key inside the underbelly of the mouse! I went over to help the poor fella, where he downright refused my help to do the work for him and he told me to leave him alone. I tried to guide the mouse to the desk, telling him that's how you use a friggin pc, and his reply was 'it's not how we do it at home!' After a while he just got pissed off and left.

So yeah, anyone else got any stories? And why in hell are some people so stubborn?

At least they can spell,speak correctly, and understand grammar.

jimmycrackcorm

whatdoicare wrote: »

Ah, I know a lot of people who seem to have decided everything they learned in the 40's/50's/60's was all they were ever going to learn and no amount of cajoling will make them change their mind.
My MIL won't turn on her own television and sits waiting for her adult kids to come home to turn it on for her. I caught her at it one day, not knowing I was there, she patiently sat and twiddled her thumbs and the second my husband got in the door she was calling him to turn on the telly while she pretended to be making tea - she only has RTE channels BTW.
We got her a basic mobile once (crappy Nokia with just about a number pad and a button to answer) as she has two gammy hips and the husband was terrified she'd fall when noone was there (she lives alone but has nine adult kids who seem to be in and out constantly) but once she fell out her back garden and couldn't call anyone to help her up. No way would she touch it! We found it recently still in it's box under the kitchen sink. So we got her a panic button - this is one button. She "hid" that under her bed, then promptly went into her kitchen, slipped on the mat, fell and broke her leg, youngest son found her an hour later!
Some days she passes comment on how she'd love it to be like it was when she was young, in the late 40's(?) when all there was to do was drink tea and pray! I pretend I can't hear her when she spouts that crap.

On the other hand my own Dad is in his late 60's, is mad into gadgets, has a Wii, a DS and a home cinema system -and he's skyping me watching porn as I type this!

FYP.

Kimono-Girl

if my 70 year old grandmother and her friends can get onto you-tube and look up Barbra Streisand then i believe younger folks have no excuse!

Mister men

Teutorix wrote: »

I get pissed off by computer illiterates regardless of age, most of the young people i know are as clueless as the older ones, they know how to use a web browser to go on facebook and thats it.

I was on u413 if any of you know it, its a closed web forum that uses a command script interface. Anywho i was on it in the computer lab in school SFW and everything, when i get told to get out and am banned from the lab for ''hacking''. people make me rage so hard at times.

:pac: GET A LIFE

Branoic

There's an ad on Today FM at the moment for one of their (I think) weekend discussion / panel programmes, where they're talking about Twitter and how none of them tweet, and they think that anyone who does tweet has nothing else to do and basically probably has very little between the ears.

I find it hilarious and grin every time I hear it - a bunch of old farts, not one of them under 50, sitting around a table giving out about new technology they don't understand. Funny, cliched, and a little bit sad.