Why do older people have a hard time using technology?
Why do older people have a hard time using technology? – They usually struggle with technology so much because of one or more of these reasons: I can answer this for two “old” (over 65) people that I know. They are both women, both retired, both widows, and both empty nesters.
They were forced to upgrade to a different form of technology. They didn’t want to upgrade, but the tech they were using was either no longer supported, no longer available, or obsolete for some other reason. They are of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, and they hate how everyone seems to be “fixing” things that aren’t broken in their minds.
The technology they’re forced to use has multiple functions, only one of which they actually need, but they can’t buy a thing that does just that one thing. One of them had to get a new TV recently, which came with a Bluetooth sound bar. The sound bar can play the sound from the TV, OR music from her phone, or a radio, and has voice commands, and all other kinds of bells and whistles. That just makes it too complicated for her. She literally just wants to hear whatever show she’s watching.
They’re used to physical plugs/jacks. The idea of connecting things through the air isn’t necessarily too complicated for them to understand, but it just seems unnecessary. If the headphones are on my head, and the iPhone is in my pocket, why can’t I just plug the headphones into the iPhone? Why must I connect them through the air?
They’re used to a tactile response when pushing buttons. This is why some older people enable the click noise when they tap on their phone screens. What they’d really like is to feel a button go down and come back up. The click is just the next best thing.
They’re concerned (I would say to the point of paranoia) about their privacy. They prefer buying things with cash for this reason.
Buying things with credit just means that “they” can trace your purchases. Giving the grocery store your phone number for some sort of reward system? Using a thumbprint to unlock a device? Having a computer that’s online at all times? No thanks. That’s how “they” get you.
They prefer human interaction over A.I., but so much new technology is designed specifically to limit human interaction.
