No email

I wonder if the people who refuse to 'do modern technology' have any idea of how difficult it is for others to contact them? If they complain that they're the last to know perhaps they should ask themselves why that is?

I agree with M0nica some people just reach an age and stage in life where it it too late to start with new technology. My mother was one of these, she'd never even used a typewriter so was not likely to take up computing in late life. We did try to get her to carry a mobile for emergencies but she found even this was too complicated to use, though it was a very simple phone, not "smart".

Some people have just had enough of being bothered by technology and decide they will no longer participate. My DH is one such, he was a consulting engineer and used and wrote programs, used emails and (occasionally) remembered to carry his mobile. He says that more than twenty years of being plagued by unnecessary emails has turned him right off technology.

Personally I do find it irritating when people call my mobile, I certainly don't check it daily and sometimes miss important messages which should have been sent to my landline. When we were selling our home I asked the agent to always use our landline and NEVER bring anybody to view the house unless he had confirmation from me. Despite this he once left a message on my unchecked mobile and came round first thing in the morning. Although the curtains were drawn and my bed was not made he blundered into the bathroom and caught me stark naked.... Not a pleasant experience - I now only give my mobile number to someone I am likely to need to contact when I am out and about.

I was working in an accountants when the first computer came in to the office!! I was given a room to myself and was told a trainer would be with me for a week. I was panicking and enrolled on a night school course and really muddled through for the first few weeks. However the change in the work load was great and within three months another employee was in with me on a linked computer and with a year the office was completely computerised. Have been retired for many years and use a chromebook daily and do internet banking and e-bay, etc, but still do not have a smart phone as I feel people spend their lives on it - using it on the bus, when in restuarants, pushing prams, etc!!

I have a friend of many years standing who, unfortunately, does not have email or anything like that. Inconvenient though it is, there's no way she would make the paradigm shift into embracing all this modern technology, she has enough on her plate. Just have to remember to keep in touch.

I couldn't get by without using email and Skype, but then I travel a lot.

How about not contacting those without email and then pointing out at the next meeting that you can't afford to make special telephone calls. Maybe explain that they could contact you if they want to know what's going on?

I don't see why you should pay for other people's foibles about technology.

My mother is 92 and now that she finds shopping very difficult does almost everything on line. She also sends e mails but refuses to go near Facebook.

Ha ha ha Grandma60. I had to laugh at your post that your friend does not want to waste the battery. Has she heard of chargers? ? Here is another idea for those who run clubs. We ran a choir for some time,and for those who said they did not have technology. I said they were to call me for updates, so it put the onus on them to find out the info.

Sadly some people think if we are in charge of a group as chairman / woman, they think it is your job to keep calling them. They might even feel special to be called. Let them do the calling in future.

I'm a professional author in my mid-80s. With part of the proceeds from my first novel in 1990, I acquired an Amstrad, and haven't looked back since (currently working on screenplays).
I was lucky enough, though, to have a husband who was in the IT business.
On the downside, I'm a total wuss at travelling since I lost said husband, because we drove everywhere, and I gave up on driving years ago - never really enjoyed it, and was nervous.

I have a friend who gives out her email address to anyone who needs to contact her, then when she misses something says 'I only check my emails once a month!'

My lovely old dad, got me to do all his online stuff for him and pointed out that this was to 'stop him being defrauded', I paid his car tax, all insurances, booked flights for him etc. he always paid me back of course, but he just didn't feel confident with it all.

I was sad that he didn't embrace technology because we could have sat and chatted on FB or Skype and shared all the family pics and so on.

It is hard for some older people to see how it will help them and they think the costs too high.

I distinctly remember, when my friend told me about the internet, saying, 'I will never use it', here I am, older and wiser.

My Mum is WI and has never had a mobile phone, PC or even a bank card. She doesn't want them, says she doesn't understand them and prefers to pay things by post or person using cheques! I think you need to respect the preferences of the person and accept technology isn't embraced by everyone. It's lovely to get a letter through the door even if it is only a copy of an email

Surely people are free to choose how they want to be contacted?

I feel your frustration NanKate, I too have a couple of of friends that say that they don't understand the need for emails, texts etc.

cornergran summed it up neatly saying that we'd would all manage without but things have moved on and it's a shame to be left behind

I also find it annoying. I have one particular friend who set up an IT department at a school, but refuses to use her home computer since retiring 'in case it goes wrong'! She is forever phoning to ask me to look things up on the internet for her, which I find very irritating. She also makes life very difficult for herself by refusing to use any automatic banking, so every time a utility bill arrives she has to go to the bank to pay it (she doesn't trust direct debits or bank cards) and only shops with cash. I don't know what she would do if she was ill. Well, I do know what she would do, she would have me at her beck and call!

should read ^ last week ^ apologies.

Even though most of my friends are on e-mail and easily contacted lasy week I spent an hour writing to three of my pals about the Country by way of a missing you card,there is nothing nicer than a personilised letter popping through the letter box.

Can't be bothered is easier to say than can't afford or am scared I will fail.

I think it is inconsiderate if someone is running some sort of voluntary organisation and are spending their own time contacting people. Or if people ask to use your phone / order something online for them when there's no good reason why they can't do it themselves other than they can't be bothered.

How inconsiderate of these people ! Causing others to lift up a telephone or even write a letter.

If someone really has some kind of disability which make it impossible to access emails etc then I agree they should be accommodated, but if they just can't be bothered to get into the 21st century for whatever reason, they shouldn't moan about being left out / missing invitations etc. Such people will surely get fewer as time and technology moves on.

I remember too Anya my mum at least asking me to give her lessons in using the new money. It didn't take her long to get the hang of it. She was always worried that someone was going to 'diddle' her

Well at least all on this forum are not technophobes. It's very much to do with keeping an open mind and not being like my late MiL who insisted she would not use the new money when we went decimal in 1972!

H uses his Kindle for the net but wouldn't have a clue how to read or write an e-mail. He never hears his mobile but also never checks for texts and dosen't know how to send them either so I can't leave a message when he dosen't pick up
Yes D and I have both shown him on more than one occasion.

Sorry but I think it is up to each person whether they use technology or not. To use email you need a computer, tablet or smart phone and wifi or a mobile operating system and this costs money. What does annoy me is people who who don't use it but go on and on about not using it/needing it and being left behind and yes people who don't entertain it but ask other people to look up things or order things! Like my mother!

I have a friend who has a mobile phone but will not turn it on even when she is out. This means that even if she sends me a message if we are meeting up, by the time I have read it and replied she has turned it off again. She says she doesn't want to waste the battery.