The digital world and OAPs ..

[little miffy 10]

I'm 'only' 45 and I have the same trouble! I'm so far behind with technology it's scary, I'm clueless! I don't want to do internet banking or social media or any of that stuff. I dread to think what I'll be like with it if I get to be an oap.

[Ontarian1981 10]

Anna, if you have any specific queries, you could always ask on here. Plenty of tech savvy users on this forum who'd be happy to offer advice.

 

Also, I'm wondering if you may benefit from using a password manager; it's a small investment (money, though some are free; and also time to learn it) but well worth while.

 

I just write all my passwords and pin numbers in a notebook as I was fed up with forgetting the damn things, same goes with my wi fi code number etc. Not concerned with identity theft as I have nothing worth pinching:D

[onewheeldave 22]

It’s not that old people don’t like computers and don’t recognise the usefulness of them. One of the problems is that as we get older, we do not usually like change. Onewheeldave has alluded to this in his post. Security updates aside, the big system updates that come along are often unwanted and not needed. Windows 10 has been reliable for me but I still don’t feel as comfortable with it as XP and 7. I use it as a normal computer and don’t go anywhere near the Store.The two sides juxtaposed just muddles things up. Just think they need to bring out a simple OS like XP was. TBH I use my iPad more than the computer these days.

 

I agree about XP- I used it as long as I could. I think there's a good business opportunity for someone to put out an operating system targeted towards subsections of the autistic population, and the elderly, whose unique selling point is that it'll pretty much stay the same.

 

It'll have the necessary security updates, but the interface and menus won't be tampered with. New menu items for new functions would be added in a logical place within the existing menu system.

 

The owner of the computer would have final say on when, and, whether updates are installed (it is, after all, their computer).

[altus 538]

I just write all my passwords and pin numbers in a notebook as I was fed up with forgetting the damn things, same goes with my wi fi code number etc. Not concerned with identity theft as I have nothing worth pinching:D

Do you have a credit rating they could run up lots of debt? Property they could secure loans on? Credit card details that could be used to pay for access to a child porn site? There are a myriad of things criminals use stolen identities for. If you think you're safe because you haven't got much money in your bank account you are very foolish.

[Ontarian1981 10]

Do you have a credit rating they could run up lots of debt? Property they could secure loans on? Credit card details that could be used to pay for access to a child porn site? There are a myriad of things criminals use stolen identities for. If you think you're safe because you haven't got much money in your bank account you are very foolish.

 

Well now I am convinced, especially now that two of you have pulled me up on various things, that my humour is not for everyone.

Btw, my son in law is a police detective who is currently working on internet fraud among other internet based things like child porn and keeps me informed on the ways of the criminal cyber crooks, without specifics of course. I am not quite as stupid as I appear sometimes and neither am I skint LOL

[davyboy 18]

I kept forgetting my passwords UNTIL I realised that my mac suggests a password (total gibberish) which it remembers and enters each time I go on that particular website.

The only password I have to remember is the one I login with.

[Padders 2,850]

Well now I am convinced, especially now that two of you have pulled me up on various things, that my humour is not for everyone.

Btw, my son in law is a police detective who is currently working on internet fraud among other internet based things like child porn and keeps me informed on the ways of the criminal cyber crooks, without specifics of course. I am not quite as stupid as I appear sometimes and neither am I skint LOL

 

Suits me Mr T. you"ve got nothing worth pinching:huh: I"ll ask Mrs T. that one.

[Ontarian1981 10]

I kept forgetting my passwords UNTIL I realised that my mac suggests a password (total gibberish) which it remembers and enters each time I go on that particular website.

The only password I have to remember is the one I login with.

 

I too have passwords that my computer remembers automatically and I used to rely on that alone, but it's not foolproof as I have had to change mine a few times for various sites, even this one. I was once asked on here for my password and didn't have a clue, but when I tried to change it I couldn't because forum emails would not reach me as I disabled the constant notifications of posts. So although it shows I am a relatively new poster I have been on here since 2012 under a different username which is now closed. Also , if you buy another computer you may have to do everything all over again Now I always have everything written down as back up.

[Anna B 1,401]

I too have passwords that my computer remembers automatically and I used to rely on that alone, but it's not foolproof as I have had to change mine a few times for various sites, even this one. I was once asked on here for my password and didn't have a clue, but when I tried to change it I couldn't because forum emails would not reach me as I disabled the constant notifications of posts. So although it shows I am a relatively new poster I have been on here since 2012 under a different username which is now closed. Also , if you buy another computer you may have to do everything all over again Now I always have everything written down as back up.

 

Don't get me started on new computers...

 

Each time I change computers I lose the ability to do something I probably took for granted on my previous one. At the moment I can't print anything out on my expensive new super-dooper printer which needs a pilot's licence and a degree in engineering to make work...

[Jomie 30]

On the subject of passwords, some years ago I tried a free password manager and couldn't be doing with it. More recently I tried a paid for one and stuck it out for a few weeks but ended up uninstalling it. Can't remember the particulars but it repeatedly tried to generate a new password every time I went to a particular site that I used a lot. I tried to solve it but this was how it worked and there was nothing to be done about it.

 

I find password managers too intrusive and unnecessary. I stick with the system that I have used for years and it works well - it is a table in a password protected Word document. The password to the document is written down and put in a safe place, just in case I forget it. Not perfect, but then nothing is.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

Dear young people who are reading this,

 

You are being conned. The new generation of OAPs are quite capable of dealing with computer stuff its just that they prefer you to do it for them.

 

The new generation of OAPs are the most computer literate of any age group, after all it is they who were the first to use home computers, deal with the introduction of computers at work and the growth of the internet.

 

This new generation of OAPs were the only(until very recently) ones to be taught computer programming at school and became self taught in problem solving connectivity and peripherals.

 

This new generation of OAPs were also the ones who first saw the impact of computers on society and able to evaluate the promised benefits of computers-most of which were pointless. Forty years of trying to get us to operate house lighting remotely! Forty years of trying to persuade is to talk to a computer!

 

Fifty years later this generation is struggling with digital dependency in social media and retail -why? Because there are too many imperfect solutions driven by fashion and commercial gain.

 

Mind you there were always a few who couldn't change a light bulb, wire a plug or operate a video recorder.

[davyboy 18]

Well if things did go seriously wrong with computers, it is our generation with our education in mental arithmetic and problem-solving skills that would lead the way out of the mess. LOL.

CS Forrester wrote a short story long before computers, its called The Machine Stops and is about a future where the whole World is run by a machine and then it stops working and everybody is walking around in circles, trains stop running etc. etc. Makes one wonder eh? The whole World is running on a bloody machine right now and it's only going to get more so as we move on.

 

I can't see the use of calculating:12 things at a penny three farthings each.

 

Even the answer is no use: one and nine pence.

Thank you Miss Thearle, teaching 2nd year infants 1946-7

If I'd known it would go into the dustbin of historyI wouldn't have bothered learning it

 

---------- Post added 10-09-2018 at 09:59 ----------

 

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Don't get me started on new computers...

 

Each time I change computers I lose the ability to do something I probably took for granted on my previous one. At the moment I can't print anything out on my expensive new super-dooper printer which needs a pilot's licence and a degree in engineering to make work...

 

Because some software won't work on High Sierra I've had to partition my drive and install Mavericks on the second partition.

The next "upgrade" in OS will screw my expensive scanner and photoprinter.

I've even bought a laptop from e bay with XP on it so that I can run the LDS 1881 census.

I don't connect to the internet .

Edited September 10, 2018 by davyboy