It is sad that so many senior citizens, including friends of mine, have never used the internet and do not know the whole new world at their fingertips! Thought I would check recent (January 2014) statistics from Pew research to find out how many of us older adults - and every other adult age group - used the internet in the United States.
All adult ages: 75% use the internet
Ages 18-29: approximately 90% use
Ages 30- 49: approximately 85% use
Ages 50-64: approximately 65 % use
Ages 65+: 50% use the internet.
Anyone reading this blog would not, obviously, fit into the percentages that do NOT surf the net. Do you know an older person who is 'afraid' of the internet? Perhaps if you gently encourage them, they would give it a try. Libraries everywhere offer classes in learning how to use the internet and some (most?) provide free use. Senior citizen groups also offer classes.
What about I-phone use? I'll admit to never wanting one and not having one because (1) it's more than I can afford, (2) I'd have to stretch my poor brain even more to learn lots of new stuff, (3) I tried one of my daughter's phones and was very, very slow, (4) I don't want to do what everyone I know does and seem to be playing with it every other minute, and (5) it bugs me that everyone I call who has an I-phone/smart-phone hardly ever answers it! 99% of the time I never get to talk to a real person!! Is that rude or what?!
Not having an I-phone means that I don't text and don't tweet. Today, my son-in-law, Dave, has given me a new perspective on this. He feels that it is rude to actually CALL a person and expect them to interrupt their lives to take time and talk to you; you could usually send them a quick text which they could answer very quickly and immediately. That makes perfect sense to me! I'm going to probably check out my options to get an I-phone fairly soon. Of course, I'll have to have at least one of my daughters and/or grandchildren to teach me how to use it!
Oh, my Lord, help bring me into the real world of today!
I disagree with your son-in-law. What is wrong interrupting your day to talk with another person? Why *wouldn't* we make such an interruption -- are we so full of ourselves that we are too busy to be interrupted? Maybe your son-in-law is a busy bank president, but most of us are not. This is a problem today -- technology is stopping human to human contact. I'd much rather talk to someone live on the phone, than text. And FWIW, I don't have a smart phone either, you can text with the old flip phones...
ReplyDeleteMy prayer: Oh Lord, please help us regain the wonderfulness of human interaction.