Quote from NightShift :

Of course there are. Don't you think you're being a little disrespectful here?

Just because a person is 70 years old it doesn't mean he/she is a moron or has never seen a computer in his life. Even before the PC (which, if I may remind it to you, it's already 30 yo) there were terminals and a number of people who worked with computers in business and academical environments as well.

I set up a linux box for a relative who's approaching 70 and another one keeps asking me and he's well in his 60s...

OTOH when I was a kid there were high hopes that all the new generations would learn to use a computer in the future.

Nowadays we are left with a bunch of teens who are not any better than their grannies! They can go on all day long tinkering on their iThings and electronical gadgets but using a computer is often a challenge to them beyond the most basic tasks.

Technically savvy people are a transversal group, age means relatively little to them.

Hey take it easy !

I didn't mean to often your mom/granny, it's not the point.
My point is that when you are not born in an environment possessing a specific technology, there are great chances that you will learn to use it with greater pain.

E.g. my dad is good at computers, I am better than him, and my little sister than is 11yo younger than me is more proficient than me.
Did I say that no person aged 60 or older will never use a computer? No, I didn't.

So stop taking the piss and get some fun.

Well, my grand father recently acquired a lap top (from Dell, I believe). He doesn't seem too bad at it, but he does encounter more problems than the average user does. Learning a new technology or ability is much harder when you're old. Not only because your brain isn't as fit to learn as a young person's brain, but there's also something quite intimidating in learning a completely new technology at that point in your life.

Most of us were born with all those technologies already available (or in the process of emerging), so it doesn't pose that much of problem to us. However, think about this: new technologies will be developed in the next decades, and will you really be willing to learn a completely new thing when you get older? Something you've only heard about, but never touched? It must not be encouraging.

Quote from boosterfire :

Well, my grand father recently acquired a lap top (from Dell, I believe). He doesn't seem too bad at it, but he does encounter more problems than the average user does. Learning a new technology or ability is much harder when you're old. Not only because your brain isn't as fit to learn as a young person's brain, but there's also something quite intimidating in learning a completely new technology at that point in your life.

Most of us were born with all those technologies already available (or in the process of emerging), so it doesn't pose that much of problem to us. However, think about this: new technologies will be developed in the next decades, and will you really be willing to learn a completely new thing when you get older? Something you've only heard about, but never touched? It must not be encouraging.

That's exactly true, as it has always be true and will always be. Think about it, our grandparents were very skilled in the typewriters, but their grandparents might have prefered writing. So when the next generation of hologram communicator operated by thoughts will become available (I guess we'll be super old), we will struggle to use them.

That was my point, and I was stating this as a fact without any rudeness intented, sorry if someone took it like this.

Hmm. I think the people who are really into technology, will really embrace the innovations of the future. For example, ca 5 years ago, suggesting that mobile phones could have touch screens was pretty outrageous, and now I'm enjoying it, as a really convenient way of operating the UI.

So when the time comes, and we are on the verge of holographic technology becoming common, I will most probably be very excited to get my hands on that. Obviously, I'll nostalgically remind my childhood when we had huge CRT monitors, and three button mouses, and obviously have an emotional connection with the past, but being able to experience something totally new will make up for it. Big time.

And I don't think we'll be super old by that time
The progress of technology isn't linear, it goes up gradually, so it'll be here sooner than you think

Quote from Zen321 :

So stop taking the piss and get some fun.

Quote from NightShift :

Don't you think you're being a little disrespectful here?

...again?

Quote from Zen321 :

Hey take it easy !

I'm taking it easy, but are you? You should follow your own advice instead of overreacting like that. It only shows that I was right in the first place.

Let's face the reality, your tongue has outpaced your brain in that other post of yours, and for a moment you thought LFSforum is all about kids.

To err is human, but to recogne the misstep is a much wiser strategy rather than dragging other people's mothers into a discussion just to argue in vain.

Quote from boosterfire :

Learning a new technology or ability is much harder when you're old.

Sure it is, having taught to people 50+ yo, I can say they will never be as fast learners as interested kids, but they still beat the crap out of brats who think they know it all already and don't need an education