OAP ageist TV

I helped two middle aged people dithering at the car park paying machine the other day. Admittedly the new machine does have many steps before spewing out the ticket.

A number of my older friends refuse to use modern technology. IMO they miss out on so much.

I have been using computers since 1976, when my late husband bought our first home computer! He loved anything new and needless to say we had a pager when they came out and he upgraded our original computer many times graduating to building his own to get the right specification for what he wanted it to do (and he learned several different computer coding languages along the way). It is very insulting to tar all older people with the same brush - perhaps we should all write in and complain and insist on a programme about us tech-savvy ones to redress the balance!

I’ve just become an independent consultant with an amazingly brilliant health and beauty firm. To boost my modest income! And I’m doing most things via, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Zoom! Think I can prove my Technology prowess if any TV programme would actually be interested in someone real...not a ‘celebrity’ news chaser!

we grew up in a world where there was no technology.no mobiles .no internet. no telephones ,we had to use the one on the corner of the next street. we actually "talked to each other" not had our mobile phone in our hand 24/7.(another new word)......i dont have tv ,so i cant really comment. but maybe us oldies prefer not having new technology. (i'm 61) while vi do enjoy chatting to my penpals the other side of the world . i do still write letters .not emails.but then each to his/her own.

I didn’t see the programme, and glad I didn’t as I would probably have thrown a brick at the TV set.

I'm sick of them trotting out these old 'luvvies' in the name of entertainment, they are both predictable and boring.

I too have used (and helped to teach) computer info. for over 20 years, but reading some of theses post I feel quite demoralised, those of you so patronisely clever about your up to date (!) technology knowledge should think again. I think the Tv programme was very tongue in cheek, remember June is in her nineties and still working despite macular degeneration; so not ageist really , some people have no sense of humour along with their up to date 'tech knowledge'.

Yes it was load of rubbish..., I’m 69 and my sister 80... I’m ok with it all but she’s a whizz kid with it all. She has four kids and 9 grandchildren in their teens and twenties.... they all call her if something goes awry with the techno stuff.

At 69 I have been computer savvy since the late seventies and think it is a good idea to keep up with current trends if possible. The way we now shop, bank, seek knowledge and communicate is not going away so it is better to embrace it before we are stranded by our lack of know-how.

However, I do think there are too many gadgets and apps which just confuse without enhancing the experience.

I didnt watch it as I would probably have thrown my IPhone at the TV or even my Google Home Mini. How dare they make a programme like that?! I think it is as bad as racism, but hey what do I know - I'm old - and proud of it! x

I thought it was really funny and I can use all the gadgets. No they don’t or never have lived in the real world and it was better than watching the brexit debarcle

It’s the same here - unless you’re under 40 you’re largely written off - and if you're 60+, well forget it.
Senectus; Come off it! Totally disagree! I too was born in England, came to OZ 50 years ago, now 91+ and engaging in all sorts of "social inclusion" activities organised by our local Council for free! Weekly Comp. users group today followed by our "Over 80's" exercise meet followed by afternoon tea. Sounds like you need to be more positive and get out more!
Sorry, but your remarks rubbed me up the wrong way. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt thinking you could be jesting, but in the absence of Smileys I could be wrong.

I found the programme amusing and infuriating at the same time. I'm in my mid 60s and loathe some of this modern technology.
BIL rang me a while back and said he'd got something like Alexa - expecting me to be impressed I suppose.
"It's great, listen - Alexa, play a 1980s playlist!"
I was polite.
If I was incapacitated and couldn't get off my backside to put a record on I expect it might be of some use but it's not for me.

Alexa was the butt of most of the jokes. Why computer engineers thought we’d welcome the chance to shout at our computers remains a mystery to me.

And I’m computer savvy (since 1983).

My 84 year old Mum uses a laptop and IPad to chat to friends , send and download complex patterns, photos and is on Facebook.

I've been using technology for over 20 years, however have never used Alexa or electric cars, and would be confused about setting them up and getting used to them.

Although stereotypical of older people I did find the show very funny, especially when Dot wanted a recipe for scones and kept getting incorrect information.

I hate programs like that-which only put one side of the picture. My 99 year old aunt is an avid Facebook user and I, at my unspeakably great age, teach computing including simple coding and HTML. Were we asked to be on the programme?
Nope!

HannahLoisLuke - you'll need to connect your wireless printer to the new wifi! Had this challenge myself only a few weeks ago.

Good thing I never saw it.

Like many of us who were not stay at home mums in the 80's we had to get to grips with computer technology that was being used in the workplace.

I retired at 64 and was at that stage, part of the Business Recovery Team (I set it up) to handle business continuity/security of client information during a power failure - for whatever reason. Computer technology was not my career, but a means to an end to get things done for a business.

At 50, I studied Multimedia and designed a 3D logo on 3D Max (used for Lord of the Rings) for a filmmaker which she bought from me and used on her documentaries.

In my late 60's I designed a website using Adobe products to produced a unique site rather than use the templates that most people use because they're easy, or that finding out how programmes really work, like Adobe, is too taxing when its not.

I'm no different to anyone else in ability, just interested. It's a mindset - if we think things are too hard, they will be.

Who don't need the latest gadget or ap teaching us how to do something we should know already or something that is just not relevant to everyday life. Many of these things keep us hooked to a screen for other people's persuasive messages. There are better things that we can do with our time.

Yes it was all fixed to make them look daft. - If it were people of any other 'group' - young, Welsh whatever, there would be an outcry.

It was our generation that actually pioneered a lot of the technology we have now.

I wish I'd seen that. What channel and time was it on please? I don't 'embrace technology as such but I certainly don't shy away from it. We have to try at least and it's not that blooming difficult is it? I know we probably don't move as quickly as we used to but we still have brains.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Agree. And what's more if the electricity suddenly wasn't there all these "must have" technologies wouldn't be worth a sausage!

In the days when we watched TV on a telly instead of a pc, ITV was known in my family as Idiots' TV, and rarely, if ever, bothered with. What does scare me about ageism, though, as with all prejudices, is the very real possibility of it tipping over into physical violence - think all the variations on 'The old are stealing from the Young', and the ghastly Brexit thing. BTW I am in my 8th decade and work regularly and professionally online.