Computing for Geezers

Here's a piece written about the challenges that computers bring those those of us of "a certain age."

Those of us over the age of forty remember the good old days, when Rapunzel was a prisoner in a tower, an apple was red and delicious, mail came with a stamp, not a chirp or chime, and a laptop was the cushion where we cuddled our toddlers. But by the late 1980s, home computers made their presence known, and geeks and nerds began to make their living introducing new uses of words into our vocabulary.

While my mother and father may have shared the joy of a bowl of ice cream every night, they had two different views on the home computer. My mother wanted nothing to do with it, not when my dad first purchased one nor when her grandkids wanted to introduce her to Facebook. But oh, how my dad enjoyed his computer. He loved surfing the Internet, and would often pass along the joke of the day so prevalent in the early days of e-mail. I’m not sure he ever fully caught onto the intricacies of the computer, and I can only guess what he might have done had Facebook been around before his death.

Unlike our children, those of us in our golden years didn’t grow up using computers, and so we had to learn “on the job,” so to speak. As a writer, I spend a great deal of time at the computer screen, but I feel technologically challenged as I watch my seven-year-old granddaughter, the lovely Madelyn Simone, navigate on her tablet and my laptop and cellphone screens.

I believe I’ve crossed the line of knowing just enough to be dangerous, but there is such potential in the world of technology that I’m just not adept enough to access. And I’m guessing I’m not alone in this among my over-sixty friends. So what do we do to catch up?

A first step is to acknowledge that we’ll never catch up. An understanding of how to operate a computer wasn’t injected into our DNA at conception. We didn’t learn this in elementary school, so it’s not our fault. I still may not “get” Twitter or LinkedIn, but I’m not the only one.

If we appear technologically challenged, we come by it honestly.

But we can experiment. Nowadays, the early dangers of losing an entire document are less likely, as there are automatic save and recover functions, not necessarily true in other avenues of life.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. In lieu of paying a real expert, there’s lots to learn on the Internet. Make sure you’re using reputable sites if you’re googling. The “help” function in many programs contains exhaustive information about how to fix page numbers in a document or how to change note values in Finale. And there are limitless videos posted as tutorials or trouble-shooting sessions available at our fingertips thanks to YouTube. There are helpful “for Dummies” books out there as well, often found at the library book sale for $.25. As the proverbial saying reminds us, it’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks – it just takes a patient teacher.

It also helps to talk with friends. If you’re a photographer, talk with other photographers; if you’re a writer, with other writers; if you’re a grandparent, talk with your grandchildren (they’re much more patient with us then our children are when it comes to computers). Other fellow wanderers may not have all the answers, but at least they can commiserate with our sense of failure. Do you know how good it is to hear: “Gee, I thought I was the only one who couldn’t figure out how to crop a picture, center a column, or edit a Facebook post.”

Here are a few helpful hints. Look for reviews that repeat the words, “user friendly.” Beware of “reply to all.” The “find” function in Word is a life-saver. Learn to report offensive content and to block insistent game invitations on social media. Become best friends with the “unsubscribe” click on e-mails. Spammers are required by law to have a “remove from mail” function, although sometimes it’s hard to find. Be persistent. But don’t sweat it if you get ads for Russian brides or certain medications to improve performances of many kinds. Just delete them and send them on their way back to Russia or parts unknown.

When I was an active Salvation Army officer (pastor and administrator), I understood that my job would never be finished. I would never study enough, organize enough, learn enough, visit enough, or pray enough. Nor could I please those who saw those deficits in my performance. There is a similar thing going on with technology. We’ll never fully get it, especially those of us who’ve come to the world of computers after high school graduation. When you’re frustrated, remind yourself that even the computer geeks can’t always figure out the technology.

I fully understand my mother’s hesitancy toward the computer age, but I’m glad for my dad’s genetic influence and example that encouraged me to befriend Google. It’s no coincidence that the www prefix in websites stands for the “world wide web.” There’s an amazing world out there in the land of computing, available at the touch of a fingertip in the comfort of our own homes. And just think – we can access it all in our pajamas! Happy computing to you.