Seemingly trivial things that elicit an emotional response of some kind

[briantrumpet]

?

I think FA forgot to add one of these: 😜

 

[First Aspect]

?

I'm not good with emojis

 

[briantrumpet]

I'm not good with emojis

I avoided them for years, preferring to leave my intention ambiguous, especially if in dialogue between very good friends and me we could get onlookers to think "WTAF!?" because we were so rude and direct.

I've been partially persuaded by the discussions of them as providing alternative paralinguistic clues in written exchanges, that they do have a value in signposting certain things (such as droll humour such as suggesting someone in their 70s might be forgetful).

 

[briantrumpet]

That said, I still prefer poker face humour, leaving people wondering whether I'm being serious (slippers, pipe etc.) or silly.

 

[Ian H]

My father was pretty good. He only occasionally confused the TV remote and his phone. My mother never learned to switch her phone on (except accidentally), but my sister insisted she should have one.

 

[Pblakeney]

The extent of Dad's IT literacy was something like one of these:

My Dad still hasn't got to grips with the DVD remote, or the on-unit buttons.

 

[icowden]

It was very much a mixed picture for my mum's circle of a similar age (b.1933) - she was OK, my godmother wouldn't touch them (as seems to be the case with most of the people I've known over 90), and others were just about OK with email and usng basic stuff like email and Google searches. Much beyond that, and it was very sketchy or non-existent. It was hilarious watching my mum use a keyboard... once she worked out where the space bar was, her left thumb hovered over that, and then she typed with the index finger of her right hand, wondering why the letters weren't in alphabetical order. She'd never used a typewriter (or learnt to drive).

My mum is 82 and can use her kindle fire despite being diagnosed with Alzheimers. My dad would have been the same age had he not died at 44, but by that stage even in 1988 he had set up his own very successful computer company and written bespoke software for Worcester Libraries for their new library computers. i think he'd have been fine with smart phones. He was already on the internet in the early 1980s with his 300 bit modem plugged into an RS232 port.

 

[Rusty Nails]

My mum is 82 and can use her kindle fire despite being diagnosed with Alzheimers. My dad would have been the same age had he not died at 44, but by that stage even in 1988 he had set up his own very successful computer company and written bespoke software for Worcester Libraries for their new library computers. i think he'd have been fine with smart phones. He was already on the internet in the early 1980s with his 300 bit modem plugged into an RS232 port.

Of course he'd have been fine with smartphones, and more, with his experience.

I am lucky in that I worked in computing and with computers from 1968 to 2012 so, even at my advanced age I have no problem with technology, other than a general lack of interest in it other than in the minimum I need to do to get by.

It's only in the last 20 years or so that tablets and smartphones have become widely used and there are still millions of people around with little or no experience of their use who have not felt the need to get them or feared it would be beyond them technically. This fear is probably misplaced, as you don't have to be bright to use smartphones/internet, but it does exist and is real to many.

 

[briantrumpet]

Ha, if I were to do a random study of how technology has shifted, it would be entitled "The phenomenon of the long press". It seems that these days if you can't make a new gadget do something you know must be a function, just try holding down each button until you find the function you want, which might be as simple as turning the sodding thing on or off.

 

[BoldonLad]

It was very much a mixed picture for my mum's circle of a similar age (b.1933) - she was OK, my godmother wouldn't touch them (as seems to be the case with most of the people I've known over 90), and others were just about OK with email and usng basic stuff like email and Google searches. Much beyond that, and it was very sketchy or non-existent. It was hilarious watching my mum use a keyboard... once she worked out where the space bar was, her left thumb hovered over that, and then she typed with the index finger of her right hand, wondering why the letters weren't in alphabetical order. She'd never used a typewriter (or learnt to drive).

The extent of Dad's IT literacy was something like one of these:

View attachment 15128

Your day will come (to be left behind by technology) 😂

 

[Rusty Nails]

Your day will come (to be left behind by technology) 😂

I was left behind by technology when they moved from downtube shifters to brifters.

 

[Pblakeney]

Your day will come (to be left behind by technology) 😂

I take solace that I was born early enough that I won't be replaced by technology.
There is a downside to that, but I ignore it.

 

[Ian H]

I take solace that I was born early enough that I won't be replaced by technology.
There is a downside to that, but I ignore it.

 

[Pblakeney]

View attachment 15168

Also old enough to see the relevance. 😂

 

[briantrumpet]

I can't think of any reason why trumpet players haven't already been made redundant.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fctULDctuA