OldShacker

My Uncle rides about 20+ miles a day at the age of 82. He just had bypass surgery and is working on getting back on the bike. I told him about the BF and others at his age still ride. He told me that computers are out for him. He said that he has about 6 other older riders and they never had a PC. No computer on the bikes as well. My Uncle wears slacks and sport shirts with black shoes. His water bottle is a glass jar. He does joke about his gang of 6 other riders. His Bike is a new comfort bike. He just started to wear a helmet after I told him it is a must.
My neighbor at 85 rides his bike about 5 miles on good days and he will not use a PC for the life of him.
Now both guys are busy with the church they tell me.
I wonder about all the experience that is being missed with a generation that will not use a PC.

Lonestar1

Yeah, I can appreciate where I think his mindset is. I believe it's probably like "why bother at my age to learn how to use a PC". Something else to have to buy & upkeep. Maybe if you took a laptop with you on a visit to him & logged onto BF, you could show him the joys of cyberspace/talking with his "gang of 6". But it's also like telling an 80 yr. old they should really quit smoking. If their hard set in their ways...

DnvrFox

I have a bunch of computers - laptops, desk tops.

But, lately, I have been passed totally by the wifi and MP3 and Blackberry revolution. I used to pride myself on "keeping up." But now, I just can't seem to get there.

Perhaps I am held back by reams of knowledge in my head about MSDOS and writing batch files?

Anyway, I sympathize with this guy. Each time I open the latest edition of PC World I feel farther and farther behind.

I remember my uncle, who was always "up to date" on all electronic stuff. He was a HAM radio operator, worked technically for a phone company, bought stock in the latest "color tv" scheme - before color tv.

Last time I saw him before he died, we were talking about computers. He had no clue that there were such things as floppy and hard drives on which to store information.

The revolution is VERY fast, the learning curve is slow, and there are a lot of other things going on in life to detract from learning about computers. I am the ONLY one in my immediate family who has a computer.

HELP. WHO CAN TELL ME ALL ABOUT WIFI? SHOULD I GET ONE MORE COMPUTER TO STAY CURRENT? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO TAPE CASSETTES YOU PLAY IN A WALKMAN? Losing ground fast.

FarHorizon

Is there a local computer club? In my city, the local computer club (www.clickers.org) has over 2,000 families as members and teaches MANY older users all about the newest technologies. One favorite class is "Computers for the Dumb & Dumber."

No reason not to get a newer computer (you'll probably also get enough security and convenience features to justify the cost).

As to tape cassettes, they've been replaced by optical mini-discs and CD-R technologies. You can now burn your own audio directly to disc and skip the tape stage entirely.

DnvrFox

Jeez, and my current Dell laptop and Desktop are only 2 years old, using XP home and SP2!

Just don't have time for a computer club. Too busy, but thanks for the suggestion.

The turn around technology time must be down to about a year!

Wow!

Blackberry

I wouldn't worry abut losing ground. Technology, like money is a good servant but a bad master.

DnvrFox

Sorry I came across so seriously. My posts were with tongue-in-cheek, but obviously, that did not come across!

boyze

I bet he isn't into Carbon Fiber either

Blackberry

I hear ya. I've made a few attempts at irony, even poking fun at myself, and often enough it just doesn't translate well online. Maybe there's something about body language that makes jokes go over better.

Gordon P

I am startled at how many people in this world are illiterate. The other day, for example, I over heard this man in his mid 30’s explaining to a police officer that he could not fill out a police report because he did not know how to write. So just maybe your uncle is illiterate and too ashamed to admit to it. About 4% of Americans cannot read or write and many more can only function on a very basic level.

OldShacker

Not my uncle, he is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel that loves to write all his correspondence in longhand letters. He just feels that PC's are something new to learn or something. Now my Aunt loves the PC and emails us all the time. What I like about him is that he loves to ride and never made a big deal of it.

FarHorizon

I'd opine that up to 40% of our population can't write well enough to do standard business tasks. This is a crime. Suspects include "don't-care parents" and non-English-based education programs. IMHO

wpflem

Many highly educated professionals (I'm speaking mostly of doctors) shun PC's.

Hey, I love the story about your Uncle especially the glass jar as a water bottle. A decade ago I hired a young Navajo guide to take me up to Hunt's Mesa so I could get a beautiful overview of Monument Valley. Well, I don't think he knew a safe route. I found myself very precariously climbing up an extremely steep sandstone cliff trying to balance myself, my tripod, and large format camera; but it was the glass bottle of Gatorade in my pants pocket that really bothered me. My guide had one also so situated. I could just see one of us falling and bleeding to death from a femoral artery puncture. So I called off the shoot.

Don't believe I've ever seen a biker use a glass water bottle. I would love to go riding with your Uncle and his friends.

khuon

I am all for technology but at the end of the day, a computer is simply a tool. Some people have turned computing into a lifestyle and while I may not agree with that particular lifestyle for myself, I also cannot fault them for adopting it either. I personally chose to incorporate technology into my own lifestyle and not use technology as a lifestyle. It can be said that some people find they can do without a certain technology... without a certain tool. There's nothing wrong with this assuming they have taken the time to analyse their situation and the cost-benefits of it all. Hopefully they haven't just offhandidly dismissed something without at least first understanding what that something can and can't provide.

To the original poster, if your uncle is happy and fullfilled with life without computers then I would say to let him be. He's a grown man and he probably knows what's best for him. If he's technophobic then that's a different story.

Blackberry

Are you still shooting with large format? That's the real deal!

wpflem

Not anymore, I used to shoot everything up to 8x10 negatives & transparencies, but now I mostly shoot digital. I miss the large format picture clicking, but I sure don't miss the wet darkroom work.

Marge

Say what!!! sounds like these dudes don't need a thing! I would tell him to give up the glass
water jar in favor of plastic.

Travelinguyrt

I have a lot of respect for folks who have turned their backs on some of the "new" tech stuff.
It was "spozzed" to save us all time and money by doing things so much faster and cheaper. Guess what? It really hasn't happened. Super market scanners were intro'ed with the idea they would save, save, save.Save what? Now the home improvement stores have self serve registers. No cash savings there that I have noticed, 'cept for they cut down on another salary. Course the upper level corp. types still have gargantuan platinum salaries, savings for shoppers? not Bl==dy likely

I'm curious what biographers and historians will have, 100 years in the future, to research when there are so few WRITTEN letters? E-Mails?

I write letters to friends when I travel. Sure it takes time, but its pleasurable for me to do it, and the response I get from those to whom I write delights me.

It may be called snail mail but it serves my purpose, plus its so much more personal than putrs

I have a bud who calls putr screen names and profiles "phantom friends", they come and go so very fast


Get on a fone and try to talk with a humanoid; keep hitting the buttons and they all direct you to another button and you are left with no answers, and at the end if you wait long enuf u finally get a human who can answer a direct question.
Sure I have a putr, but I don't allow it to command my free time and I certainly have a life beyond the tech stuff.

The idea that to be comfy I must keep buying upgrades to keep abreast of modern tech seems to be self defeating

jppe

Great story here about my Mom and PC's. She is 84 years old and very sharp-also persistence as hell. My dad died 4 years ago so we gave my Mom a laptop to email and keep up the rest of us (we're pretty spread out). It took a lot of time and patience to get her up and going-just turning the laptop on and getting logged on was a major feat in itself. Four years later she is extremely proficient and does a LOT on the web. She is really into genealogy and has researched our family back to the dark ages. She has also been able to meet some distant "cousins" across the US via the web and uncover even more family information. I assist her with her financials and last week we were doing a 3 way conference with the bank and I was able to email her info as we were talking.

There are 4 of us kids plus other relatives in other states and we all have PC Cams (courtesy of Mom) and will conference in live from time to time. Mom is able to get pulled up an online and thinks it's a hoot. I've been amazed at her openess, willingness and persistence in learning some of this new technology. She's an amazing lady!!

DnvrFox

Hate to ask, but given your statements and attitude, why are you posting on an electronic news group using technology?

Wouldn't a letter written personally to all 10,000 members be more personal?

norton

Woo hoo!.....Successful irony....Denver!.....

norton

Perhaps your Uncle & his gang of church-going bike-riding buddies are wondering about the experience you're missing while you're using your PC.....

I'm not wondering....I'm only 67!....


When I'm 87, I'll get back to you!.....

Travelinguyrt

Quite true, quite true, but the irony is that while I DO use a putr, It doesn't rule my life as it seems to do the 15-40 year olds
And it isn't likely given the paranoia our generation seems to enjoy and engender that I have to worry about even ten let alone 10K sending me an address to which they may be written.

My point was that I use the tech for my benefit when I can, don't like it but recognize the limits and the benefits thereof

Velo Dog

Had the same experience with my dad about five years ago. My stepmother got her first computer at 75, and in a few days she was e-mailing everybody--her kids, my brother and sister, old friends from school. My dad wouldn't have anything to do with it. He even had her print out my e-mails rather than read them off the screen.
One thing I did that turned him about halfway around was show him how quick and easy Google was. He was on the USS Birmingham, a heavy cruiser, in WWII. One day when I was at their house, I did an image search for the ship and found several pictures, including one that showed some guys he knew (there were more than 1,000 men on the ship). He died last year at 83, and he still wasn't a regular user, but he was headed in that direction.

blandin

1. You need highspeed internet service, either DSL or Cable. 2. A wireless router. 3. A wireless PCI card(s) for the remote desktop(s) and/or a wireless ready laptop or one fitted with a wireless card. 4. Install proper driver if the card(s) isn't/aren't plug and play. 5. Enjoy yourself.

This reply is being made from a desktop in my living room connected via my wireless network.