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.