Many boomers have grown up I have met a variety of boomers and made a few observations. The range of interest with computers goes from the enthusiastic Facebooking blogger to the fearful technophobic. I am not sure why the technophobic boomers have their fears but I suspect it maybe fear of any change or of making some mistake that will cause a costly disaster with post Great Depression parents which have ingrained in them the need of thrift, making things last and not wasting money. The fact that computer technology is very expensive and is outdated very quickly flies in the face of this attitude and many, especially older, boomers resist the expenditure. Other boomers have been forced to use computers at work or have been displaced by them and resent computers. To yet others computer jargon, terms and ideas are like learning a new language, if you have grown up with the language it's not too bad but to jump into it now is near impossible. Embracing technology for the fearful, for whatever reason, is delayed and the longer the delay the harder it is.
For the enthusiastic it becomes an obsession. This group has the newest techno-toys on the market because they are in that demographic that has sufficient funds or credit to buy them. These people have time and desire to learn new ways to make the computer useful and fun in their lives. This can cause some rifts in their relationships if their significant other is in the aforementioned group.
For the most of us Boomers we have watched the growth of computers as they replaced slide rulers in our school classes and rejoiced. We have seen our Commodore 64 bit computer replaced by 32 Gb tablets, transistor radios change to Ipods and wall phones transform to Bluetooth earpieces. We have watched "Dick Tracy" and "Star Trek" technology become our reality and just went with it.
Now here are some of the challenges in this rapid growth. Our mental dictionaries have definitions that don't correlate to the modern usage, the Internet is so vast that we can't keep up with it and our experience has made us distrustful of that which we don't understand. Our younger peers are flying about on their devices and our older brains are struggling to get booted up.
We need a filter system to sift through the mountain of material geared for younger demographics, find trustworthy sites that will give us good information which can help us explore our interests without making us feel inadequate, exploited or stupid. Hopefully some our peers will strive to understand our needs and seek ways to help us embrace new technology.
Ken Curran, Digital-boomers.com
We have the best information on Boomers using the internet to expand their interests and meet their challenges.
Click here now and visit our site.
http://www.digital-boomers.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment