I totally get your point about security updates but maybe, making some generalizations here, it is not a terrible thing that the machine OPs parents use, doesn't get unexpected surprises - no unexpected family tech support calls. Us technology folks love the new and the shiny but predictability is a premium for the older generation (again generalizing - there are seniors who can run hoops around the average developer with their tech skills but thats not the norm).
Why is the technical crowd less in need of an upgrade? My proverbial “grandmother” only accesses her gmail and one news page. Arguably she’s at less risk than someone testing new software.
Older relatives aren't the ones complaining about auto updates and having full control of their hardware/software. iOS, macOS, Windows and the rest are in fact built with them in mind. This conversation is naturally about more technically inclined users.
I don't know about your parents, but my parents have low expectations on what a computer can and should do, and they are cheap.
My mom was doing real estate and the only software their stuff ran on was Windows (no, not even on a mac) despite the software being in Java (yeah, I know, WTF?). I can't for the life of me keep malware out of my parents computers and I live 1200 miles away. For further reference, my mom still refers to the internet, and her email (hotmail) as "the e" aka "the only button that works with my things" and asks "what is a browser" when I tell her to open one up.
-I've had no problems with wifi on my chromebook, I'm not sure what you are talking about
-My dad browses ebay and reads motorcycle forums, and that's about it
-My little sister mostly uses her iPod for the internet, which is on OS 2 I think still.
For the most part, Ubuntu works okay for them to fall back on, but even that gets annoying with all the updates, and I once had to talk them in to setting up a reverse tunnel so I could fix a broken video driver, which wasn't exactly a fun 3 hours. None of them deal with spreadsheets, and my mom's HP printer breaks half the time anyways, so that's where I'm coming from.
Will this replace their other computers? I wish, but no. At the end of the day, I'm confident it's still the most reliable way for them to get on the internet and stay on the internet without me intervening at all, and the utter lack of functionality is a benefit, IMO. I'm completely fine pulling an Apple and saying "Sorry, you can't do that with this computer, but here's what you can do."
Even if the premise of this article is true...being able to fluently use computers (even if you don’t understand their inner workings) is already better than what their parents achieve.
No one was complaining that mom and dad don’t know what defragmentation is, and why it doesn’t matter on an SSD. No one was sad grandma had no clue why changing the DHCP setting on her router made no difference when she was outside the house.
The issue was your mom calling for the 20th time asking how to rip a cd in iTunes, or dad not being able to attach a photo to an e-mail.
That issue seems more than solved by the current generation.
I am literally talking about my grandma though. All of the other grand parents are dead. Young people (wether male or female) that have had access to a computer are generally more familiar with tools they grew up with which was my point. A lot of people, not even just old people, are not ready to spend more than one second when something does not work and will just switch to what they heard was working. Consider someone who does not know the difference between an OS and a browser, between 5G internet and WiFi etc. Having those people in mind matters when thinking about mass adoption (which is the goal when your target is mass surveillance by big gov).
Seniors minds are less flexible to change so a consistently exact OS with exact functionality is best even it looks out of date to us. I had to hire someone to exactly recreate my mom's desktop and and find and install her 15 yo apps. This kept her going with searches and email for another five years when otherwise she would just have given up. Also in-home tech people who are very, very patient. I'd happily pay $100/hour not to do that.
Basic features on it only of course, but that's probably all they will use anyway.
That's a rather self-fulfilling attitude, and I hope that we as an industry try harder really soon.
My parents are in their late 60s, and are quite good with computers. I'm working on a side project with a woman in her eighties who started programming during the Eisenhower administration. And I know a number of tech folks in their 40s or 50s who have one form or another of muscular or nervous problem. None of them should have to compromise on features just because they want a more accessible device.
And then they'd get over it. Oddly enough, my parents upgraded this past week:
Mom: Honey, what's this thing stopping me from [shopping]?
Dad: Don't click the button!
Mom: [long lecture about how she's trying to do stuff for her grandkids].
Dad: Fine, just hit the damn button.
Me: DON'T HIT THE BUTTON! I'll walk you through it.
I proceeded to explain it to them. 5 days later they don't even remember/care. I guarantee you my grandmother doesn't give a shit either, nor do most of my siblings. So far, I'm at a 6:2 ratio of not caring (one of my brothers is a developer). My parents aren't exactly ignorant in regards to tech, but it simply doesn't effect them to the extent it bothers you/us.
> I tried to convert my 25 year old brother as well, but he switched back to Windows after a month. Despite being the youngest, he hated learning a new system and preferred Windows.
I've found this myself. My Grandfather loves Windows 8, my mother absolutely hates it. My Grandfather loves his new Android phone, my mum hates Android and refuses to use anything other than her iPhone.
Younger people may be more "tech-savvy", but at least anecdotally for myself they are the ones who hate change the most. Perhaps it's because the older crowd have fewer preconceptions about how things are "supposed" to work?
I think you raise some good points, as I've noticed that it seems like average people, decades ago, used to be a lot more capable of handling various things that today it seems like they're not. I think personally it was because, back then, they were basically forced into it, or just didn't have so many things distracting them.
Still, when Grandma won't update her computer because clicking a few buttons and typing a password is too much work, we can't point to the past here: she wasn't updating computers in her younger years either, and usually wasn't using a computer at all. Even middle-aged people now are using computers and smartphones, when in their younger years they didn't have those things.
People are just stubborn and creatures of habit, and they dont want to expend energy on a change that is difficult and unimportant. That is the crux of it.
I have family that wont tolerate any changes on their smartphone, wont create or use an email account and such... they arent even very old. But it kinda reinforces your point: they dont really take power user advice either, especially if it conflicts with something they already know.
Also, I think computers used to be more enigmatic to the non techy, but now they are very accessible. People dont feel like they need help.
> Adults (moreso as we age) are scared to press things they don't understand.
I have one outlier in my family. He's old, understands less and less about tech. like while ten years ago he was still able to understand how there are multiple Windows open on his laptop belonging to multiple apps, nowadays he starts confusing minimizing and closing apps, can't tell apart wether a program is running or it's just the pinned launch-icon, uses edge, Firefox and chrome interchangably and gets confused.... But at the same time, he still wants to figure everything out himself on both laptop and smartphone which resulted in hilarious mess-ups sometimes. I don't know if it isn't worse than a child. At a certain age a child might still get scared by some of the prompts, I've seen firsthand an 8yo going "oh no this costs money, abort" in panic. I'm not so sure my relative would do that when they think they know what they're doing...
Well, these computers and email and messaging apps and web browsers -- they use the same ones for years, without really ever "getting it".
It's not as if they're saving time, when they need to knock on my apartment door, and ask what's happened with their computer (the browser window was 1cm to the right of the edge of the screen so some buttons seemed to be"gone").
it's instead that ... When using the apps, they don't automatically effortlessly learn how these apps work. Whist kids do
(I have in mind my 60-70-80 years old parents and neighbors)
That guy clearly has never been around 10 years olds, and vastly over estimates their intelligence.
I'm fact, all evidence points to younger generations being less tech savvy because they don't have to troubleshoot like the older generations did. Everything works, and almost nothing requires any technical configurations.
Here are some of the problems my 60-65 year old parents struggle with, despite living in the US for over 30 years and being highly educated:
Computers:
- Navigating the file system is confusing, esp on a PC with a lot of default folders that don't need to be touched
- Drag + Drop relocates local files, but copies if you're uploading to the web/external device. Same action but different results --> requires contextual awareness
- Setting up a new device with the essential software
- Debugging printer and wifi problems.
Web:
- Password recovery/management
- Figuring out google drive
- the concept of shared files vs attaching everything in emails
- using anything aside from google search, youtube, and gmail
- using product reviews to identify the best product is not how they shop in real life.
Smartphones:
- discovering your own number
- making text larger
- managing notifications / changing settings on an app to app basis
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