Why "older people"?

Loved your post Diddy1 - the very idea - fancy going to a GP to ask for advice!

The young 'un in the Chemist should be a bit more savvy though - after all, pharmacists probably know more about drug interactions than your average GP.

The point of advertising computer classes for elderly people is probably to save them from feeling self conscious amongst a lot of youngsters. I am fortunate that at 81 I may not be a computer whizz kid but am quite able to manage my banking, deal with the council and utility companies, book flights and hotels and buy from internet sites.

I'm a younger nanny as I'm only 52 with parents in their late 70's. They have a laptop and both have smartphones. Since I told my dad not to turn off the modem I don't get 'Kasey we've lost the apps on our phone' comment anymore though they still have no clue what mobile data is

I have a laptop, tablet and smartphone and frankly would be lost without them - I've been using computers at work since 1997

I have a friend who uses a library computer as her husband flatly refuses to have anything to do with modern technology! They only got a flat screen tv last year, have a corded phone, just the one, in their draughty hallway, as he only feels safe talking on the phone when the message is coming down a physical cord and not "floating around for anyone to pick up"!!!! Wont have a micowave as they "dont trust the waves"! He is just 70! He got conned by a cold caller offering him a "too good to miss" investment opportunity and they have lost in excess over £50,000 which the police say they will never get back! It pays to be technologically savvy, whatever your age!! A very condescending bank clerk asked me years and years ago "Do you have anyone who can access the internet for you?" To which I replied, in the haughtiest tone I could muster, "Yes, me!"

My mum is 92 and uses the internet. Has just got a new laptop as her steam powered PC gave up the ghost. She is finding it hard work but persisting. Her memory is great and she knows phone numbers of family and friends off by heart. I have them all in my smartphone and know only a very few off by heart. Maybe we're losing the ability to remember stuff because it's too accessible? What will we do when the internet crashes? Not pay £ 9 to rip off merchants if I can help it but maybe have no alternative?

i think people are maybe missing the point here: there are countless reasons why people don't have internet access, including but not exclusively that they haven't mastered the technology. i am often irritated (nay, incensed) when internet access is assumed to be had by all ~ life can definitely be made more difficult than necessary by this assumption.
anyway, some of us choose to avoid the internet, and some live in areas where the connection is so intermittent it just isn't worth the aggravation. what i would like to see is the people who charge £9 to give a phone number being charged £9 to get the essential order number of every item they want to buy, including a pint of beer in the pub or a pint of milk in the shop.

diddy1, I'd go to an optician for any advice to do with eyes or eye ointments whatver my age.

At almost 80 I would be lost without my tablet,kindle,laptop i-pad and smartphone.
I didn't know anything until my SiL brought me a desktop when they were upgrading their technology at work.
I took to it like a duck to water. That is probably about 6/7 years ago. I needed a bit of help at first but soon worked things out for myself.
I now spend/waste far too much time online.

The problem is that all older people are gathered up and assumed to be the same as the group of older people, who are having problems.

Some older people do not use computers or the internet, some cannot use a bath, others have difficulty climbing stairs, but the majority of older people have none of those problems or only one, but everything is rolled up into a group called 'vulnerable older people, or 'vulnerable pensioners' or whatever.

What I would like, more than anything is if people devising aids for older people would actually speak to us and ask us what we want and what we need and not just decide for us. I read an item yesteday by someone complaining about buying a phone aimed at older people that had, in her words, all the facilities younger people thought she wanted and none of the ones she actually wanted.

My sister who is 66 only has a land line and a basuc TV, no recording facility, no mobile, no internet etc, and will not be talked into it.

Today I had to put the sales person in the Apple shop right, not sure if he was amused or embarrassed!

I remember the first laptops in early 80's, you could hardly lift them, now I am using my ipad with one hand

When I briefly moved to live with my elderly parents the first thing I did was have broadband connected. Someone asked my mum if she had the internet - she replied 'no, but we have broadband!' Bless ?

Not to mention one unscrupulous repair man no longer cashing in!

My late mother-in-law used to call my son to put her TV right after he insisted she stopped calling and paying the repair man every time she pressed a wrong button on the remote. He realised how she was getting into difficulties and wrote a list of steps for her to follow. Problem solved and a lot of money saved!

I'm 65 and I, too, resent the 'older person' label and all the stereotypes it implies. Everyone is older than someone else, even my two year old grandson! Back in 1978/79, computerised systems were being introduced in the laboratory where I worked as an analytical chemist. Later, as a teacher in the late 1980s, computers were beginning to be used in all primary schools. Younger teachers needed training courses just as older teachers did! Older people provide today's technology and teach children, initially, how to use it.
If older people are unaware of how to find a phone number without bankrupting themselves, someone should tell them! Then the ball's in their court! Take it or leave it.

I use the Internet several times a day and love it, especially Gransnet.
This is nothing to do with todays thread, but I must tell you, I went into a local Chemist to ask for some eye ointment, the lady behind the counter said " I am afraid we cant give advice about eye ointment, at your age it is better to go to your Doctor for advice" well when I had recovered and looked in the mirror, I made an appointment today, only to be seen by a Nurse, I think I might have been to young to see a Doctor! Incidentally it was a waste of time, as being a Nurse I didnt get any more advice then I would have given anyone else! So what does one do at "my age?"

I studied computer science in my third year at university. Up till then there had only been a postgraduate course for graduates in maths, physics or engineering, but in 1964 they decided to accept undergraduates who had done two years of maths. We learnt to programme in Algol and KDF9 Autocode (which was a gooble-de-gook low level language). I think only four of the undergraduates survived the course.

Hm999 I don't use the same software now that I did when working. I still do my graphics and layouts for business and have also moved on to 3D modelling, but I do not use spreadsheets any longer and have trouble when someone wants me to generate a chart put into a presentation from their columns of figures! I now just ask them to send me the file with the chart in it, and then I am OK to adjust the appearance.

Also have lost my edge with web design software as my older version does not work across all devices without updates I've not bothered with.

Enough to do as it is... I leave behind the things I don't really need any longer. Hard enough to keep the stuff I need to know in my head.

Like others... passwords are a PITA!! I used to alternate, but for many sites you cannot recycle ones used previously.

Love reading these posts, especially from the computer vets who were using the technology in early days!

I'm 71 and have used computers since the 1980's. As soon as it was possible I used the internet. I think it has more to do with inclination than age. Disabilities may be a problem, blindness for example, but you don't have to be old to suffer from that.
Have any figures been put together regarding financial circumstances? That too can be a factor.

I retired 18 months ago. I am very aware that my IT expertise has diminished in that time. Software I used all the time I use infrequently now, and so have to work hard remembering how to it performs a certain task. I have learned no new IT skills. I assume that as technology moves on, I will be left behind.

My late Mother had a laptop and kept in tough with everyone on it and she passed away in 2010 in her late 80's.

On another point, I remember Directory Enquiries first started charging. I wrote a screed detailing the new "company policy" on use of this service. This involved the use of a company umbrella for use in rain when the callbox across the road, was used! The final draft required all applications to be registered with reception by Tuesday evening so that the maintenance guy could use the public telephone in B&Q opposite the firm. Also required were any items required from B&Q notified to reception to justify his visit there. This had to be done by Tuesday so that he could go over on the Wednesday to make full use of his senior citizen's discount!

I was highly amused when someone printed out my screed and posted it on the company noticeboard! The maintenance guy was not so amused when he kept getting requests for B&Q!

Oh LouP I'm sure that's the way to go. I'm 70 and use my pc and ipad daily. When I become old and decrepit I shall do my grocery shopping online as well as (as now) shopping for clothes and other items. Some of these I have found via GN. Aren't we fortunate that we have this wonderful, universal technology at our fingertips?

At what age does "old age" commence? My husband and his golf playing chums are in their '70s, some even early '80s. They all use the internet, they fix up their games, matches etc. by email. They all used computer technology at work so it's been part of their lives for a while. My parents, if they were still alive would now be in their late ninties, they were of a generation that hadn't become savvy with computers. I bought my mother a mobile phone and taught her to use it. I really wanted to get her started with a computer too, just sending emails, nothing too complicated, but like my husband's late parents they were of an age on the tail end of the technological surge which I think they thought they wouldn't be able to get to grips with. I remember arguing with my late father in law that computers were necessary to every day life, even then I did a lot of booking up holidays, tickets etc. on line. These conversations would have been 10 years or so ago, if he was still alive he would be over 100. He was adamant that no one needed a computer, at the time one of my sons was in the stage of applying to universities it didn't matter how many times we told him liaising with UCAS and course work couldn't be submitted by means of a quill pen, he just wasn't having any of it! We also bought him a mobile phone which he chucked in the drawer and refused to use, although his sister, my husband's aunt, still alive and nearly hundred can text on hers

I think, on the whole, us gransnetters aren't really 'older people' yet! Not at heart and definitely not if tech savyness is a criteria!

My mum will be 94 tomorrow and really struggles with technology. She doesn't really understand the internet and although she has a mobile phone it isn't a smartphone and she has trouble even using that! I think it's a shame as you can make life so much easier and cheaper by doing things online and the very age group that could probably benefit the most from this are losing out.

My OH and I regularly do bank account switching to get extra cash, but they all seem to involve online banking. We also use the comparison sites for our home contents and building insurance, car insurance etc. again managing to get cheaper prices every year.

We do our grocery shopping online and just go and pick it up for free, which saves us the time walking around the supermarket. I rarely buy anything without checking online first to see if I can find it somewhere else cheaper or just to read reviews on things. Without the internet you can't do any of these things.

Like Lupartria we are lucky that we have a lot of technology products in our house and I'd hate to be without my laptop, smartphone, smart tv, mobile phone etc., although when they go wrong it's a real nuisance!

The problem with older people/grandparents is that this encompasses ages ranging from 60 year olds to 100 year olds; a huge age range. During those 40 years there have been so many technological advances. And some embrace it but some have been left behind. There is no general rule of thumb. But we need to cater to both.