New PC for Oldies!

[talos]

There are a lot of "silver surfers" out there, in fact I am one and I'll bet many of us on here are,  we are the ones with the time and patience to interact properly. Friends who are not computer litterate, see what can be done and always ask " can I do that"

[Gary]

That's just what I was going to say Talos.  I don't agree with the dumbing down for anyone.  We don't do it with tiny tots who soon become familair with computers.  With any computer, you only have to do as much as you want to.

Ther are those that find video recorders hard to use and they are out of date now, those who are maybe a little beyond learning new skill sets, and these machines would help them communicate without being blinded by terminology, and antivirus issues and UAC controls and updates etc, like mobile phones with big buttons, there is a place for the very basic, my Gran could not operate a remote control when she was alive, but six panels on a machine would have been simpler, and she could have kept in touch with relatives in Australia then.

[john]

Ther are those that find video recorders hard to use and they are out of date now, those who are maybe a little beyond learning new skill sets ...

I don't think everybody has the ability to learn new skills but what many lack is the will to learn. I think this new PC will help many but there will still be a lot who will not even bother to consider it even though they would probably find it quite useful if they did.

My brother installed a freeview box at my mum's a couple of months ago ready for the digital switchover but despite being shown many times she has never managed to use its remote control to access the EPG to find the programmes. It all seems to be a bit too daunting for her and she just uses the buttons on the TV remote to watch the analogue channels. Maybe when the analogue is switched off and she is forced to use the Freeview box remote she will eventually learn how it works. She has absolutely no chance of using a PC no matter how basic.

There is also the cost of getting an internet connection, when my dad was alive he was still going to a local computer class at 90 and had learnt to use MS Word and to browse the internet. I fixed him up with an old PC for free and suggested he got an internet connection but he always declined to do so. Although he could easily have afforded it I think the cost to someone from his generation seemed not to be justified.

[Sebby]

I was visited by a 78 year old friend yesterday, she has to use a stick for walking. On the bus there were no available seats and she eventually had to ask a young lad (about 12) if he would give up his seat for her to sit down. His reply was "Why?" and she then had to say that she couldn't stand, he reluctantly then stood up. Later she told me that she felt like hitting him with her stick.

If she had, she'd probably have got a criminal records. It's a crazy world.

[talos]

I was visited by a 78 year old friend yesterday, she has to use a stick for walking. On the bus there were no available seats and she eventually had to ask a young lad (about 12) if he would give up his seat for her to sit down. His reply was "Why?" and she then had to say that she couldn't stand, he reluctantly then stood up. Later she told me that she felt like hitting him with her stick.

There's a lot going on here, courtesy is not a right, because the lady is 78 years she has no more right to a seat than the boy, did she ask anybody else, did she thank him for giving up his seat, I suspect not,  thus reinforcing this young lads attitude towards the elderly, her attitude is obvious because of her remark about hitting the boy.
                                Perhaps if on boarding the bus, she had announced to all on board that she had difficulty standing and would somebody give her a seat, she may have been surprised by how many offers she may have had.          I suspect this lady is living in the past when men would doff their caps , stand when a lady entered the room or even hold doors open, alas times change

[Noreen]

I don't agree at all, Talos. This lady is normally offered a seat when necessary without ever needing to ask and as I said I have never needed to ask either. I would have thought that the fact that he said "Why?" is explanation enough of his attitude.

[talos]

But she needed to ask this time Noreen, sign of things to come perhaps,  and the question "why" is not sufficient to judge his attitude, he was after all 12 years old, and I ask why did she ask him above a busfull of passengers,   none it would appear volunteered their seats either, perhaps he appeared an easy target?.  If she is normally offered a seat without asking,  what happened this time?,  what was the "attitude" of her fellow passengers?