Tech Savviness

Post Reply New Topic

I am not going to make many friends with my next statement, but I must speak my mind about this. Age is NOT an excuse for not being so-called 'tech savvy'.

I work in a call-center, and get many, many, many calls from people aged anywhere from 40 to 80, who start the conversation with "I am not tech savvy." In my mind, that is the same as going up to someone and admitting that you are either too uneducated or too lazy to learn.

In case you didn't know, computers have been commercially available since the 1950's. But, for the sake of the general public, we'll just start from the Apple II, the first massively successful home computer. That was first sold in 1977. That means computers have been available to the general public for 38 years at the time of this writing.

38 years, and people are still complaining that they are too old to learn. If you are younger than 80, that means half of your life has had computers in it. This is not a 'new-fangled contraption'. You simply were too lazy to learn when you were younger, and are now paying for it.

And as for today, this is the age of technology. Learning the basics of computers is as simple as going onto Google and typing in whatever ails you. Its how I learned what I did. I am considered 'tech savvy' simply because I took the time to ask someone online how to do things. I was not difficult at all, and I still Google what I need to know, and I'm the guy you call to fix your machine.

So tell me, explain to me, why are there 'non-tech savvy' people in the world? Because, as far as I can see, its either that you are uneducated, or you just don't care. And answer quickly, because every day that goes by makes your 'too old' argument even more laugable.

Thank you for listening to my spiel.

Cooking has been around for thousands of years. So why isn't everyone a master chef by now?

You should appreciate those people--they help insure you have a job!

People are tired of new systems that don't work like the old one. Yeah, maybe they might learn one or two different ways of doing stuff, but after a while they don't see the point of figuring stuff out when they can just call someone to walk them through it.

The whole issue with plugins is a big mess. Firefox handles them best, but people want to use their favorite browser--or the only browser they are familiar with. Who has time to keep track of who allows what? Right now, Chrome/Google doesn't allow them to access stuff plugged into USB ports--will that change? Who knows?

long story short:

I help a few elderly people (one who actually taught me MSDOS and curses programs back in the eighties), they just don't retain the information, they're not using it regularly enough to do so.

As already stated, everything changes, which implements new usage paradigms and generally forces you to buy new software too, which again will be different. Many who have lived through this for so long really aren't bothered about upgrading because it isn't getting better. Smart device / single app(lication) full screen has been pushed to desktops, MS are even forcing touchscreens everywhere, try using CAD on a touchscreen lol, try manually extrapolating data from one table to another using Alt-Tab switching, the animations alone will drive you into an epileptic fit!

Too lazy to learn... is it important enough to relearn for the 10th time? Especially if only to do it once every 5 years?

As simple as going to your favourite search engine and typing in "whatever ails you", hilarious! If one doesn't even know the difference between Windows and a web browser then how are they supposed to know what to search for? On top of that, what version are they using(how often does Firefox change where the buttons are?) Then half your results will be adverts or for programs that will help you, only to find that they want money after being installed, or the page is a forum where even after 3 pages of obscure posts by people not tech savvy you still don't find an answer, or one unclear enough to have given you narcalepsy!

So, in short, if they've paid for this and there's a phone number with an "expert" to speak to then surely that's the sensible and easiest thing to do!

What next... Government tax returns forms are so easy that why use an accountant, or defending oneself in court is so easy that why use a lawyer? I know one can learn a lot on Youtube but really? Surely its easier to use / hire an expert who has studied in this field for years and then gone onto getting years more of practical experience. Next it'll be why are you going to hospital when there's a first aid box in the kitchen...

Gotta love a little hyperbole

This discussion is a feedback loop. Upon a cursory scroll on my phone I saw no original viewpoints at all, save for some anecdotes. You need to remind people of their potential, not their apprehension.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

By all means keep it up if you like, I'm a coder (3rd generation in fact, lulz) so I wasn't exactly saying much. I just mean we're dancing on a very idiosyncratic divide. It's like unicycling on a tightrope across the uncanny valley. As soon as this discussion includes AIs and/or heuristics, the debate may well become inescapable. I'm just gonna read into Ncurses.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ncurses

Just reading that and not seen the good old conio.h file for a long time...

First and foremost, I must admit that I was quite stressed when I posted this, and for that I apologize. Having cooled down since then, I can now speak with some degree of control.

First of all, to address the age-old excuse that I always run into: 'Their inexperience pays your salary'
This is somewhat incorrect, as I am perfectly fine helping people with legitimate issues. To explain, most of the calls I get are either for information that is available on the website (I work in sales), or calling about issues that arise as a result of user error (eg. didn't turn on monitor, forgot password and don't know how to change it, etc.)

Regardless of what I say when I'm angry, I do tend to treat older folks with a degree of tact. I understand that they have troubles, but I would like for people to be able to at least have common sense. I always get grumpy when someone wastes my time because they refuse to simply scroll down the page a few more inches.

Another thing that concerns me is the number of people who call in about scams. There isn't anything I can do if someone stole your identity or credit card information. I don't think many people realize how dangerous it is to visit websites willy-nilly, and I wish there was at least some sort of program that teaches people this. If not for my sake, then for their safety.

I see my biggest mistake was assuming that since you were in a call center, that you were in tech support not sales. That makes my point about salary moot and not worth mentioning. I should have asked. Sorry, and all those PBCaKs are just plain annoying.