Why do some people refuse to go online?

I have a dumb phone and a laptop and have had them for over 25 years. I do not have a smart phone, I do not like smart phones and do not want one.

I do everything I need online including online banking. I take my phone with me when I go somewhere in the car, that's it. It suits me.

I've just come back from the dentist where 6 people were gazing at their phones. Except me and a lady having a nice chat like in the olden days. Phone calls and texts can wait till I get home, as can use of the laptop. I already pay my internet provider for home use, don't want to pay twice for internet use when I would probably leave the phone at home anyway.

It is causing my sons to despair, but I just chuckle. My set up suits me. I actually showed them how to set up devices and get online, which they forget.

Sorry,I don't get it either! My dad,who passed away @93, used to go online,with help from me...no excuse especially if you can but won't and rely on other people to do it for you.

friendlygingercat

*It’s a bit like people who don’t drive and expect you to give lifts instead of using a cab*

There are valid health reasns why people may not drive. They may have poor eyesight or cognitive problems. In my case I have experienced intermittent panic attacks all my life. To the best of my knowledge no one had ever killed anyone through careless use of a computer or smart phone but you can do a lot of damage in a car if you panic.

There's no way I could drive,anxiety and no spacial awareness at all! I am very independent and don't ask the family for lifts.
They chose to move away,not me!
I'm very computer literate and still at work (76)

My DH is 87 and computer literate. He banks and plays bridge online. However sometimes there is an assumption that we are all capable of doing everything online, like paying CGT. He set up a government account successfully, but HMRC defeated him as although he has a passport, they also wanted a driving licence, which he no longer has, due to poor sight. Alright,tell us when you first got a credit card, really?! The other option was to take a selfie , keeping your face inside the faint oval on the phone, can't be done with poor eyesight. In the end an email was sent to HMRC detailing the difficulties, the response was that he could send altter with a cheque!

Colls
The reason the dinosaur sites you mentioned failed is because they failed to keep up.
Zuckerberg doesn’t keep up he sets the agenda. That’s the difference.

sazz1

First reason I can think of is security against fraud.
Then there's hundreds of adverts often targeting your interests. Try talking about holidays with a mobile phone in earshot.
Also Internet can be quite addictive and a time waster.
I use it all the time on my phone but don't have mobile banking as I don't trust it. Banking is on my home laptop only.

Oh dear. A classic sign of too much knowledge is a dangerous thing.
It’s far easier for a scammer to insert malware onto your laptop/ computer than it is on your phone.

I think some people are just more ready to embrace change.
My mother-in-law bought a new car in her 90s "whilst I'm still young enough to understand it" and a new laptop at 98 "because this one is even slower than me".

She is 101 now and had a stroke this spring which was pretty debilitating - but she is still banking online (admittedly with more help) and grocery shopping, and sending emails.

It is part of her life and she values it.

I was late coming to smartphones as I managed with a basic pay as you go one. Eventually my DD gave me her old one when she upgraded. I used it for quite a few years until it could no longer accept my email then I bought a brand new one in 2021 which I'm still usung. That will probably need upgrading soon as the battery life isn't what it was but I shall hold off for now. I couldn't cope without it or my laptop now. I learn new things all the time but sometines need assistance with things.

I hope none of these people who are reluctant tech users ever plan to fly with Ryanair. You have to check in on a smart phone as you can't print a boarding card and if they have to do it for you they charge £55! They are planning to stop doing that altogether. Personally I think it's outrageous to disenfranchise people so totally. Unfortunately that is the way the world is going and more and more things will become impossible for those who are reluctant to go online. My mum had no tech at all but she died in 2011 when most things were still possible, but I feel sorry for people who are struggling.

As for printing things, my printer is currently refusing to function. I have to get friends to help out if I really need something. I've also now found that without microsoft office I can't edit a word document online, further inconveniencing me. So far I've managed with free applications as I simply can't afford to buy it. I suspect I'll have to do some things in the local library soon. At least we still have one of those!

People can have phobias or extremely stressful fears about all sorts of things, so why should technology be any different?

I say this as someone who uses the Internet daily, but gets very stressed every time I have to use, for example, Internet banking. In my case it is a huge fear of getting something important wrong and having to / not knowing how to deal with the repercussions.

I do use the internet and have both a smart phone and a tablet - but I struggle and worry I might get caught out by scams etc. I wonder if people who refuse to use the internet and IT have similar fears. I have a several big holes in my knowledge- despite trying to fill in gaps as I become aware of them! I leant basic coding and used main frames at university, used an early PC for word processing and early programmes for research purposes etc- but that was before the internet was fully up and running - and so much advanced so quickly during actually a very few years - whilst I was busy with child rearing etc. So if I struggle - I’m not surprised others - who have not started to catch up with IT - feel intimidated!

to access online services you need either broadband or a smartphone. Both require funding 99% of which is a regular payment . for some people they don't want to pay or can't afford to pay. The alternative is to go to a library - not every town has one .
My husband does not "do" technology - of any kind. He asks me to do things for him!
then there are others who refuse to use online to prove a point. Like those who won't use self service tills on principle - not because they have large amounts of items to scan or are afraid of technology but just to be bloody minded. I know of people who won't go online as they want firms to write to them.

The self serve tills really annoy me. I don't use them but yesterday the Co op refused to sell me a Sunday paper because it would not scan on either till. I offered cash but the lad said he didn't know how much it was! He insisted on putting the paper away and the boss said they had to return it as unsold
I gave up.

My friends all refuse to use Facebook. I don't think they understand what it is as I seem to be the only one who knows what's happening locally. I don't use it to show family things or gossip.

Currently dealing with husband’s death I have every sympathy with your friend. Since husband became tetraolegic after I’d been retired for a while. I felt deskilled
We have a Mac but I’d never used for business until he died.
I worked using android .
Ever since I used internet for pleasure
For business iam confused, unskilled, sometimes scared of it and sometimes bored.
I’m exasperated when friends are clueless but in reality it’s a protection thing.

I have two friends in their 80's who are single women with no children. Both are really kind, and lovely ladies. They are also very intelligent women, and have worked hard all their lives. Incidentally they don't know each other, and live a long way apart.

They both have small pensions, very modest savings, and neither have been lucky enough to inherit any money. Neither of them had siblings, so they have no nieces or nephews, or great nieces or great nephews. Both have one or two elderly cousins who live a long way away. They cannot afford to pay for broadband, or buy and keep up to date with gadgets like laptops, smart phones and tablets etc., and no adult children or other young relatives to help them learn how to use them anyway.

Both ladies used to drive, but for either health or financial reasons, have had to give up their cars. So altogether they are feeling very cut off and isolated. They are having a terrible time with businesses, utilities and authorities, and also with their doctor's surgeries, as they are not able to gain access to these services and communicate with them on-line. More and more organisations are cruelly insisting on this.

There must be many, many more men and women like these who live alone - and who through no fault of their own, are not able to be on-line. How can we help them???

kircubbin2000

The self serve tills really annoy me. I don't use them but yesterday the Co op refused to sell me a Sunday paper because it would not scan on either till. I offered cash but the lad said he didn't know how much it was! He insisted on putting the paper away and the boss said they had to return it as unsold
I gave up.

I love self service tills and particularly the self scan. Fast and easy, pack your shopping as you go. Brilliant in my opinion.

Yes you are right. I apologise if I misunderstood you. I don't drive, but would never expect to get a lift (except occasionally from my husband in special circumstances). You were not being judgemental.

You say she is financially Ok, but even just a small tablet is going to cost £200. And access to the internet - I do not know many cheaper than £25 pcm.

I have no idea what the power usage also would be

Lathyrus3

My mobile cost is 11:99 a month for unlimited calls and text and more data than I can use. The phone was included.
The phone does everything that a computer would. Admittedly I don’t stream entertainment which would need more data.

Access can be quite cheap🙂

I’ll just repeat myself.

I did have a more data limited package that was 7.99 a month. It was usually enough.

I don’t think cost can really be the issue.

Lathyrus3

I have to ask. Are your friend and her husband not a partnership too?

Is it the scorn that makes the difference?

In that case I think it’s just like the people who tell me that they don’t have a car because they are eco-aware - and then happily take /expect lifts from others 🤔

Sorry, I just can’t see any difference in not wanting to go online and not wanting to drive and then relying on someone else to do it for you?

The scorn makes a difference, yes. If someone mocked me for shopping and banking online and then asked me to buy something for them using my card I would take a dim view.

Also, there is no question of not wanting to drive - I have had countless lessons and failed five tests. I would do it if I could, but I have given up now. I have never claimed to be eco-aware, and if I were I wouldn't use cars at all, so I'm not sure where that came from.

I repeat, I do offer reciprocal lifts to those who give them to me. The only difference is that I am not driving - my husband is and he doesn't mind, as he understands that I like to pull my weight. I do different things that he finds difficult or doesn't enjoy.

Lathyrus3

My mobile cost is 11:99 a month for unlimited calls and text and more data than I can use. The phone was included.
The phone does everything that a computer would. Admittedly I don’t stream entertainment which would need more data.

Access can be quite cheap🙂

Cheaper than a landline!

M0nica

Bodiccea if your mother has a problem wth numb fingers she will have a similar problem with a stylus.

I have numb fingertips and someone suggested a stylus, but I had to hold it with my numb fingertips and I kept loosing my grip on it and dropping it.

I like to use the microphone function. I just say what I want to type and it types it out for me.

silverlining48

I have a smart phone but if I am indoors I don’t carry it round from room to room. My clothes don’t usually have pockets, and to be fair it hardly ever rings.
So the landline which I would hear, as there are 3 in the house, is preferable.

I don't have a landline , but I do have a smart watch which I can use to answer calls etcetera. No need to carry my phone around the house.

Well, all I was saying was that I can’t see any difference between not being IT competent and getting someone to do it for you, not driving and getting someone to do it for you or any other thing when you get someone else to do the thing that you can’t/don’t want to do.

Yet some of the people who poured scorn on the IT reluctant , and even refused to help them, were the same people who relied on on others to drive them about.

The fact that the driver does it cheerfully and willingly, doesn’t change the dependence factor. It only tells you that the friend who refused to help her husband wasn’t as obliging as the husbands who drive about.

And as a driver I do find that I an expected to share my car and give lifts, or drive to see friends rather than them using transport to come to me.

It’s not just friends that expect I will drive them about. I’m frequently expected to do pickups so that people in various groups I belong to can also attend ‘because they wouldn’t be able to if I didn’t pick them up”

Do I do it? Yes. I’m not that mean. It’s the expectation that grinds sometimes.

I have an old friend who has never had a laptop or mobile phone. So I have never sent her a photograph in 25 years and have to keep in touch with occasional letters. It’s a nightmare when she visits as we can’t communicate while her trains are late, she misses connections and ends up at the wrong station while we wait hours somewhere else.