Are we being left behind with technology?

S

silentgen46

New Member
Why do many older people refuse to use the internet and apps to buy travel tickets for trains/buses, I always like to buy at the station but don't know why that is
 

Well, I have no strong opinion about the specific preference for in-person purchases of tickets. But I can say that the older generation probably values in-the-flesh encounters & interactions with other human beings. It is something I very much value in the community and region I live in. Too much of modern life seems to be going toward electronic/digital interfacing between mere facsimiles of human beings.

People's lives can seem to drift into a world of brief entertainments, sound bites, online-expressions of gripes, and all that. Generalizations about younger generations are hard to make, there are always exceptions. But it is very common to encounter young people who don't seem to know how to relate interpersonally, face to face with other people.

This forum offers a kind of social medium that I definitely value, but for me it does not replace relating with people 'in real life'. By the way, I bought a ferry ticket for my return trip southward in the Inside Passage (coastal British Columbia) from a ticket agent who was not only friendly but great fun. Don't believe I'll ever forget him.
 
People are lazy. Why go through learning about sites, logging in, all that complicated computer stuff; when we can keep things simple and easy by doing what we used to do.
Some day, someone will be using an iPhone, and people will be rolling their eyes, wondering why would he still be using such dated stuff.
 

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silentgen46 said:
Why do many older people refuse to use the internet and apps to buy travel tickets for trains/buses, I always like to buy at the station but don't know why that is
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Many oldsters are stuck in the past, expected everything to remain as it was in the 50s~60s. Fear of things different. shrug.gif

WE the Boomers & before created the internet and modern technology, why "we" are afraid of our own creation...I have no clue.
 
hollydolly said:
Why have you asked this question twice on the forum ?...
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My answer is the same as ever, I might have repeated it a few times. The reason that I don't buy online is because I can't pay in cash. Therefore my purchase is not anonymous. On the contrary it is recorded, profiled and bought & sold.

Actually that's not quite true. I have just bought a new pair of made to measure shoes, not exactly on line but still used the internet. I asked the vendor, who I know well, how much the total charge was, including any carriage costs, he told me the price. On his website, under terms and conditions, method of payment reads:
Payment Methods:
Credit / Debit Cards
PAYPAL

Yesterday I bought a postal order from our local post office for the full amount for my shoes. Earlier today I texted the vendor:
"Has the mail arrived yet?" His reply was: "It certainly has, thank you for your order."
Holly, you are going to love my new shoes.
 
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horseless carriage said:
My answer is the same as ever, I might have repeated it a few times. The reason that I don't buy online is because I can't pay in cash. Therefore my purchase is not anonymous. On the contrary it is recorded, profiled and bought & sold.

Actually that's not quite true. I have just bought a new pair of made to measure shoes, not exactly on line but still used the internet. I asked the vendor, who I know well, how much the total charge was, including any carriage costs, he told me the price. On his website, under terms and conditions, method of payment reads:
Payment Methods:
Credit / Debit Cards
PAYPAL

Yesterday I bought a postal order from our local post office for the full amount for my shoes. Earlier today I texted the vendor:
"Has the mail arrived yet?" His reply was: "It certainly has, thank you for your order."
Holly, you are going to love my new shoes.
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Very nice shoes... that colour is very on trend too...(y)
 
Nathan said:
Many oldsters are stuck in the past, expected everything to remain as it was in the 50s~60s. Fear of things different. View attachment 350800

WE the Boomers & before created the internet and modern technology, why "we" are afraid of our own creation...I have no clue.
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I'm a Boomer, and I'm not afraid of it...even tho' I may not be very techi minded, and no grandchildren to show me.. but I'm very ready to search for answers on how to do things when I don't know myself..
 
hollydolly said:
I'm a Boomer, and I'm not afraid of it...even tho' I may not be very techi minded, and no grandchildren to show me.. but I'm very ready to search for answers on how to do things when I don't know myself..
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Yep, same here. I recognize the benefits of tech, rather than regarding it as a stumbling block.

I remember hearing about how my grand-dad loathed the new fangled cars that had an electric starter rather than a hand crank. I guess he eventually got over it... ;)
 
Trains busses? Expect few members regularly use trains or buses. And neither do I. For the SFBA I have the rf scanable Senior Clipper Card. Only tend to use it in San Francisco where it is difficult, expensive, and dangerous to park about many areas and the public transportation system is vast. In the past decades only used it when my vehicles were in the shop.
 
Nathan said:
WE the Boomers & before created the internet and modern technology, why "we" are afraid of our own creation...I have no clue.
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And some of us were actually in the room.
https://www.merit.edu/about/history/

Does anyone here even remember Gopher?
Gopher is a protocol. It was designed for distributing, searching, and retrieving documents over the Internet. Gopher represented an early alternative to the World Wide Web.
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Or even the influential futurist Ted Nelson?
... information technology, philosopher, and sociologist. He coined the terms hypertext and hypermedia in 1963 and published them in 1965. According to a 1997 Forbes profile, Nelson "sees himself as a literary romantic, like a Cyrano de Bergerac, or 'the Orson Welles of software'."
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Who else here had an MCI Mail account in the 1980s?
MCI Mail was one of the first commercial email services in the United States and one of the largest telecommunication services in the world. Operated by MCI Communications Corp. from 1983 to 2003, MCI Mail offered its customers a low cost and effective solution for sending and receiving electronic mail.
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And on, and on, and on.
 
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I think what bothers me the most about advancing technology is that it is often foisted on us, and we are expected to adapt to and assimilate it, often without training or advance preparation. This can leave you feeling lost, stupid, and hopelessly out-of-date. Computers and computer programs arrived at my workplace in the 1970’s, and we were expected to adapt to them and use them immediately, all without training! This was in an office that previously had used typewriters and rotary phones… 📞

Yes, I learned by myself, but it was a piecemeal process that could have been handled so much better and with much less distress to the workers. You can teach an old dog new tricks, but the key element is to teach the old dog rather than throw technology at them and expect them to immediately use it without assistance, presumably by osmosis…
 
Tommy said:
I haven't ridden a on a train since the 1950s, nor a bus in . . . decades. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
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Oh wow...I just realized I have NEVER ridden on a train!
I'd better hurry before "this train is bound for glory" :giggle:

Here's one close to where one of my daughters lives!
She's been wanting me to visit.

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. Um this one might be too smokey.
Look where the passengers are located. It must be enclosed.
Great-Smoky-Mtns-Railroad-365x300.jpg
.
 
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I think it is people in their 80's and 90's who are most likely to fall behind as far as technology is concerned. When we are younger, working and often learning new systems at work, it is easier to keep up with things and to understand them but, for those who are out of the loop, how will they learn and adjust?

I like technology and used it throughout my working life but, my nieces think I am a technophobe because I won't have a banking app on my mobile phone, I don't have an Uber account and I don't order fast food deliveries. I understand that it is convenient but, I just don't trust the security. I also seldom use cabs and do not eat junk food and it annoys me that, if I want to buy a cup of coffee, I cannot pay with cash 🤷‍♀️ There may well come a time when I will have to adopt the cashless society but, in the meantime, I will stick with what works for me.

As for trains and buses, I use them all the time. In a City, it is the best way to get around and, fortunately, we have good public transport. I know it is not so easy for people in the suburbs or rural areas.
 
Trish said:
As for trains and buses, I use them all the time. In a City, it is the best way to get around and, fortunately, we have good public transport. I know it is not so easy for people in the suburbs or rural areas.
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DW & I have driven a lot of places, including through much of the American southwest & down into Mexico from there. Also eastward in Canada. But we both enjoy train travel. Have gone coast to coast in Canada by train, and travelled in a lot of western & Northern Europe that way. It's great!
 
Trish said:
I think it is people in their 80's and 90's who are most likely to fall behind as far as technology is concerned. When we are younger, working and often learning new systems at work, it is easier to keep up with things and to understand them but, for those who are out of the loop, how will they learn and adjust?

I like technology and used it throughout my working life but, my nieces think I am a technophobe because I won't have a banking app on my mobile phone, I don't have an Uber account and I don't order fast food deliveries. I understand that it is convenient but, I just don't trust the security. I also seldom use cabs and do not eat junk food and it annoys me that, if I want to buy a cup of coffee, I cannot pay with cash 🤷‍♀️ There may well come a time when I will have to adopt the cashless society but, in the meantime, I will stick with what works for me.

As for trains and buses, I use them all the time. In a City, it is the best way to get around and, fortunately, we have good public transport. I know it is not so easy for people in the suburbs or rural areas.
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That's exactly me in Bold... ^^^ I'm no luddite, but I flatly refuse to have banking apps on my phone, or apple pay etc... nor have I ever used an Uber and don't order fast food.. ..it used to irritate the soon2bX because he uses all the banking apps ...and my DD has fully embraced all that malarkey but not me.. not until and I hope it never is.. forced upon me ..

On the odd occasion I have a Chinese take away.. I drive to the restaurant and order and pay by card or cash...
 
hollydolly said:
I'm a Boomer, and I'm not afraid of it...even tho' I may not be very techi minded, and no grandchildren to show me.. but I'm very ready to search for answers on how to do things when I don't know myself..
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A tale to tell...back when Rick was around, his dream was to own an electric car. He spent hours/days/weeks watching tech videos on You Tube, doing lots of research. He was not really computer savy, but we had a Smart tv where he got you tube.

For myself, I am like you...I do a lot of research on things I want to learn about
 
hollydolly said:
That's exactly me in Bold... ^^^ I'm no luddite, but I flatly refuse to have banking apps on my phone, or apple pay etc... nor have I ever used an Uber and don't order fast food.. ..it used to irritate the soon2bX because he uses all the banking apps ...and my DD has fully embraced all that malarkey but not me.. not until and I hope it never is.. forced upon me ..

On the odd occasion I have a Chinese take away.. I drive to the restaurant and order and pay by card or cash...
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I think we are more cautious about security plus our generation does not like to feel forced to do anything :)

A recent victim of an iPhone snatching incident said this "I always thought I was safe with Apple Pay because of passwords, Face ID and all security these devices have in place but it's not enough. They also had access to Paypal credit etc". Her unlocked phone was snatched out of her hand in the street. The thieves were able to access all of her info on ApplePay and change her Apple ID so she could not access it from other devices or track her phone. In the time it took to contact her bank to cancel cards and ApplePay, it was too late, all her accounts had been completely emptied and her credit cards maxed.

I used to have two phones - one was a personal phone and the other was a cheap phone which I used if I had to give a contact number when buying things etc. My family laughed at my two phones but, that is what I shall revert to when/if it becomes necessary to have banking apps etc. :)
 

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