Friday, May 23, 2008

"Shut Out: the Musical"

So, my mother came to visit a few weeks ago and we started talking about music. I made a suggestion that maybe she should get an MP3 player of some sort so that she can bring her music with her now that she spends several months of the year overseas. After all, since I love having an MP3 player, why wouldn't she?

Then after she left, I got to thinking about it. I'd made the assumption that my 70-something year old mother would have no problem with an MP3 player since she owns a digital camera, e-mails, shops online, and does all her banking online. I now think that I was wrong about her potential enthusiasm for embracing new technology. As it turns out, she doesn't know as much about technology as I thought she does. The majority of her computer use consists of forwarding jokes from her friends, while the "how" of doing a lot of things like checking her e-mail on a computer that's not her own (I tried to walk her through the homepage thing), or how to download her photos to her computer are difficult for her to "get", even after mutiple lessons. Period. Yes, after trying several times to show her the uses of copying and pasting text, I got to realizing that this whole tangle of technology is pretty overwhelming to her at this point, even if she is more savvy than most of her friends. She finally told me that she doesn't enjoy dealing with technology, even going so far as to say that she actually hates it. She doesn't often use that word.

Then I got to thinking, we get to an age where it's infinitely harder to learn things; technology is coming along at such a clip that people like my mother and even people younger than my mother are having more and more trouble learning even the most basic skills. Heck, my 60-something mother-in-law flatly refuses to even sit at a computer. I think that ATM's are about the top of her technology limit.

Anyway, what dawned on me is that my mother, given her difficulty in using the majority of the functions of a computer, is on the brink of being shut out. CD's and DVD's are on their way out and are predicted to be very scarce if not obsolete in the next few years. That's nothing new since technology is always being phase out for something else... it's been happening for ages. Record albums, eight-track tapes, and cassettes were killed by CD's; VHS tapes went the way of the dinosaur for DVD's. Big deal... all an older person had to do was buy a new player, buy the new new CD or DVD, pop it in the new player and VIOLA! there was their music or movie. But nowadays? We're heading towards having all that phased out for MP3 music files and downloaded movies.

Everything will require computers.

"Yeah, so?" Well, it may not be anything to most younger people, but it's a really big deal to someone who isn't that computer savvy like my mother. In another 10 years, if my mom wants to buy a new movie or some new music, she'll be, well, screwed. And if she lives as old as her father did, can you imagine not being able to buy new entertainment for over 20 years?

I can't. It boggles my mind that we'll be shutting out so many older people with "progress".

12 comments:

thisisme said...

It's funny - I've been talking to my mum about this a bit lately. She and 2 of my uncles are online and use it a lot, but her oldest brother doesn't have a computer at home and therefore no internet access. She is getting really frustrated because it is harder to keep him up to date with everyone's lives, especially as they live on the other side of the country in a different time zone. She struggles with some online stuff, but has the basics and is happy to learn more.

velvet said...

thisisme-
It's good that your mother and your two uncles are computer savvy. It'll serve them well.

It's amazing how much is shifting to computer dependency and the potential to get shut out of being able to do things is astounding. Hmm, and what about people who can't afford a computer or an iPod? Ugh, that's another can of worms, isn't it?

Bernie said...

You've definitely exposed a scary scenario older people are facing. Even older Boomers are struggling with technology. Entertainment isn't the only issue; can't you see a day when something as basic as writing a check and mailing it will be nearly impossible? We can't stop progress but I hope that our society is ready to assist those who can't keep up.

velvet said...

bernie-
Good point! I only really started thinking about this now and frankly I'm kind of worried about what this is going to do to the mid-aged to older population. Why aren't more people talking about this?!

And I'll be honest with you (looks left, looks right) I think that computers and other technology aren't always an improvement where quality of life is concerned.

Jocelyn said...

OH. MY. GOD.

We're sisters.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Velvet, I haven't seen anyone else even address the issue of technology and the effect it will increasingly have on older people.

I am in that age group and so far I'm holding my own, but I have friends who cannot even deal with email. I secretly think of them as luddites, but your post made me realize that it's just a matter of degree.

My cell phone has many functions that I cannot perform, and I don't have an iPod or MP3 player. I'm still watching DVD's through my TV.
(I could watch them on my computer, but prefer the larger screen.)

Since I am lucky enough to find delight in technology, I really need to up my savvy quotient or I could be left behind, too.

Thank you for a most insightful post.

thailandchani said...

Even at my age, I've found that keeping up with a lot of the new technology is obnoxious and I simply don't care enough to keep up. The computer is okay... but the DVR, TiVo, etc. etc... who cares?

That's the good part. While younger people might be concerned about this issue, lots of us older folks are thinking "who cares?"

:)

If I do learn something new, I do it more slowly than before.. but it can be done, just the same.

velvet said...

heart-
By the fact that you're an active blogger, you definitely have a leg up on many people and it's great that you embrace technology. It's true, though, that it's so easy to get left behind with all that's coming down the pike these days.

I don't take the time to get to know my computer as well as I do, but I'm thinking that I'd better get cracking on understanding as much about it as possible. I'd hate to get to the point where some tasks in life become impossible because I never took the time to familiarize myself with the basics concepts.


chani-
It does take longer to learn things as we get older and I have to wonder where the threshold of no longer grasping the concepts is going to be, like my mother is with much of it. Perhaps it's because computers came about relatively late in her life and she never really needed technology to function in life before that.

It's true, there is a lot of new technology that registers on my "who cares" meter (DVR and TiVo are spot on, but it's more because I don't give a snot about TV), but the majority of my social group is in their mid to late 20's... I've been learning because I have to in order to communicate with them e.g text messaging. I finally dragged The Mister into the texting realm and I hate to say that it can be really useful. Darn kids. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Velvet, you have no idea how challenged your mom is with a computer... I should know, as I am her technical support hotline. She still calls me every time she gets a message that pops up on her screen. After she calls me, I ask her, "Mom, what does the message say?". Her reply is always the same: "I didn't read it yet. I figured I should call you first". And the message is always the same one... "Click here to continue". I remember on one visit to her house I put a HUGE banner with "RTFS" over her monitor. (For those that don't know what RTFS is... it means READ THE FREAKING SCREEN.) I can just imagine trying to walk her through ripping CDs to her hard drive, and then uploading them to her MP3 player. She has to call me every time she wants to record a CD on her PC as it is. So please, if you haven't done so yet, talk her out of an MP3 player!

I remember I made mention to some friends a few years back that major grocery stores would start taking orders online, and delivering them to your house, and now, several in my area are doing just that. The only thing they didn't anticipate, was that the folks who could benefit from that the most were older folks who were having trouble getting around. The very same folks who don't know how to use a PC.

Wow velvet, didn't know you knew how to text. Your nephew (My son) and I text all day long instead of calling each other when he's out and about.

Nice blog btw. TTYL.

velvet said...

turkey-
Now, now, bro. Let's try to be nice to mom, eh? She calls you because computers are your field. All this stuff is obvious to us, but we should cut her some slack. She just wants to do the right thing and fears it getting screwed up beyond repair by the wrong mouse click. She would hate to have to face scathing criticism for that. Perhaps it would be helpful to remember it from that perspective, 'k?

You know that everyone has different strengths and she's the first one to admit that dealing with technology is sooo NOT one of them. You've been very helpful to her... just know that she really does appreciate it. I know that it can be hard, but we have to be patient as possible because being nice is the only way to make her more sure of herself.

I hear you about the grocery delivery system and the people who need it most... this is just the kind of thing that I'm talking about. We're at risk of completely isolating a segment of the populataion that is already marginalized.

And yes, I text. Most of my friends are in their 20's, so it became a necessity. It took a lot of pushing to get The Mister to sign up for a texting plan so that we wouldn't pay through the nose for the text messages that I was getting, but now he's really glad that we did. It's infinitely useful.

Tell The Kid that Crazy Aunt says "hey".

velvet said...

Oh, and don't worry, Turkey. Knowing her own technical limitations, she's not willing to tackle an MP3 player. We'll just have to figure something else out for her.

Anonymous said...

velvet, I didn't mean my comments to sound mean about our dear mother. I was only giving an example of how hard technology can be on some folks. Believe you me, she is 10 times better than several other folks who I provide free tech support for! Some of them are her age, and some 20 years younger too! I know she appreciates my help. I was just saying that an MP3 player would be frustrating for her, unless you or I were to manage her files for her, as well as uploading them to the player. Last time I had her laptop here, I tried to set it up so I could manage it remotely, but it looks like her ISP blocks the ports I need to use.

I guess you didn't get the text I sent you last week, as I didn't get a reply. :(

The Kid sends back a "LYL" to the Crazy Aunt. He and a friend have been working 12 hour days for the past 3 days for a local landscaper. This is their first official summer job. When I asked him if he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing this type of work, or if he wanted to go to College to be able to get a better job, he very slowly, and methodically, gave me the One-Finger-Salute, and asked me what I thought his response would truly be... I guess he's going to go to College. The boss they have must be really working them hard!