With technology becoming more advanced every day and people becoming more reliant on computers and cell phones, many different people are trying to "catch up" on all these new advances. A problem that these advances create is that older generations are not able to follow along with new technology. They are confused on how to text and on to use or set their computer or laptop. Do you believe that older generations are having a harder time with these advances? Why is that? How is this affecting the way they live? Do these advances make it difficult for people to do the simplest task, such as using a cell phone or using a computer? Why do you think older generations are not as accepting to these advances as newer generations? Also is technology taking over the way we live, whether it be learning, communicating, or socializing? And are they damaging or enhancing or both? How?
-Josue
17 comments:
The nature of technology is that it moves fast. The problem with this is not that some people can't learn it but that that some people assume otherwise. I remember being so mad at one of my teachers in 08 when she assigned a extra credit question. I answered it when I got home but she would not give me the points because I did not give her the answer before the end of class. She assumed all students had web enabled phones. At the time I did not even own a cell.
Technology has help is some areas and hurt others. For example online medical charts reduce the risk of deadly interaction and assist people who cannot communicate(sound boards). The also cause harm. Voy boards have become the new place to bully because there is no face to face connect and the idea is you can say whatever you want because your not responsible. Young people are so connected to technology social skills are beginning to fall by the wayside. Rebecca Spellmeyer
Technology is improving and advancing at an unbelievable rate. I read in a magazine that Microsoft release an additional feature in every six months. Computers, cell phones, tablets, and more digital gadgets are advancing very fast that it had for older generation to catch up. The problem is that companies are giving people so many items to choices. One kind of laptop has different so many different software or features and they are updated monthly, that it is hard for older generation to catch up. It true that technology has changed the way of thinking, learning, socializing, and communicating. This change has it’s own pros and cons. People and businesses have become dependent on technology, which again has its own pros and cons. I think that technology has made human lazy. Some people get fired or does not get a job because they cannot use Microsoft powerpoint, or excel.
-Nilay
I think that it really depends, considering I have seen some old people grab on to new technology with ease, while some elderly folks are having a hard time grabbing on to the new fangled devices. It might depend on the era from which the elderly person has come. For instance, the closer a person’s birth is to the creation of the piece of technology, the easier of a time the person will have with accepting and learning to use the technology. I also feel that it has something to do with someone’s willingness to open up to change in advances in technology.
I think that older generations are having a harder time adjusting to new things because they are content with the way they have learned to deal with certain tasks. For those who don’t embrace technology, communication may be limited. For instance, a person might miss out on the opportunity to receive email messages or photos. Others function quite well without the distraction of the devices.
The goal of technology is to make hard tasks easier and more efficient.
However, I believe it is taking over our lives. Yes, a lot of good has come from the advancement in technology, but we also have to be prepared if and when technology fails us; part of me things that we aren’t. If we become too reliant on technology and no longer use our brains, will we know how to function with out it?
-Sam
I think technology is moving too fast for the older generations to keep up. There should be some kind of program that can help educate these older aged people with the information they need to understand this new technological age. With the way we use technology to interact with others, is good but also bad I believe. I think the way we are able to send educational information over the internet is good, but the way we try to send meaningful things over the internet is bad. We just can't put the feeling we want in a text, like we can in real life. The way we are trying to express ourselves over technology is bad, it's starting to make the emotions we experience fake, because everyone is getting stuck on the way to express yourself through technology. The speed of technology seems very useful though. The way we can send information to someone on the other side of the world in less than a second is quite amazing.
Julie
Okay, here is the thing: different people adapt and adjust differently. I know some really tech-savvy older people who are just as into blogging and playing computer games and such, as the rest of us! And also, my dad, though not old, works with computers every day. He has taught me so much about them, from working with Microsoft Word to writing computer generated scripts that make small word games.
So, different people handle technology differently. And while it is true that some of the elder generations have trouble with it, anyone can learn something if they open their minds. All these gadgets and widgets are just items that we use every day.
Lauren Smith
I like Sam's comment: "The goal of technology is to make hard tasks easier and more efficient." I think this is often the way improved technology works: the better the technology, the easier it is to work with, to the point that not even old or inexperienced people have a problem learning to use it.
You hear "you can't teach an old dogs new tricks." What that means is that older people are often more stuck in their ways than younger people are and thus less open to learning, less able to adjust. But I think the rapid rate of technological advances is taking some truth out of the "dog' cliche: Old people, because they are forced to learn new technology if they want to keep up with everyone else, are adjusting to new learning patterns and are now more able to pick things up more quickly.
As an aside, I admit I cannot use a smart phone, but I am confident I will learn to use one once I have to (that is, when someone gives me a smart phone as a gift, which is bound to happen). I choose to allow new technology into my life more slowly than others because I'm already satisfied with the pace at which my life moves. I don't feel the need for things to be faster or easier. I wonder how many old people are the same way. I wonder how many young people are the same way.
James Burke
Yes depending on the persons age old people have a hard time keeping up with technology. That is because growing up with things like computers and video games. I personally believe that for the most part technology is good, however facebook is perhaps the most evil invention in the world that destroys both some peoples social skills and others social lives.
Schnitzel
Our generation was born in an era of technology. We have become familiar with it because we are surrounded by electronics. Older generation have a hard time because they are unfamiliar with technology. The reason being that technology was still developing during their time. While it was being developed, not everyone had access to new things. As they grew older, the availability of new technology increased; but by that time, their mental acuity decreased. Since they are not as sharp as they used to be, picking up on new things became harder. Most people just give up, which is completely understandable. As a person born in this era of technology, even I find it difficult to keep up. Once you buy something, a newer version comes out in an extremely short time. Technology is now rapidly improving, which makes it hard for our generation to want one thing without wanting it’s upgrade that you know will come.
-Charlie
Older generations may be somewhat stubborn, or seriously do not think they need the technology. In reality, they probably do not. Most of the technology out there is for entertainment. Unless you need a certain device for your job (and many people in older generations are retired), you probably have it for entertainment.
i do belive that old people are forced to learn the new technology devices. In my argument, it isn't the worst thing thoguh. My grandme has an I-Phone and loves it dearly. it just takes effort, to be more technologically advanced. we had to learn these things, they should too, ya know? But then yes, there is the argument "Can't teach an old dog, a new trick". So its just a personal opinion i guess.
-Samantha
I think that older people can learn just fine what they need to when it comes to technology. My grandparents have no problems using their laptops to send Facebook messages or texting on their smart phones after a quick crash course on how to use it. Older people may not pick up as quickly but I think those who aren’t learning are doing so because they simply do not want to learn. Unfortunately, I do agree that technology is taking over the way we live and sometimes it is too convenient and cutting into a lot of important relationships that we have with people in life, but if all of the high tech things we had in life suddenly disappeared- we wouldn’t know how to act.
Elizabeth Luke
Yes technology is moving fast. However I don't think it’s moving too fast. Older people choose simply not to learn how to do certain things. They only choose to learn how when they have to. At that time it could be the latest version of that technology which would be hard to operate if you are not used to the original. Although that might be the case it is never too late to learn. It may take longer than others but it’s never too late. All you need is the will. As I said before, that is not the case here. Most of the time when it comes to the frustrations of learning new technology, adults are simply turned off and often quit trying. They go back to the old way convinced it’s the best way. I guess the only solution is for older adult’s to swallow their pride and try new things regardless of the old way, determination in learning it, and the consistence of usage with new technology.
missolo
I think that technology is moving fast period, if you don't keep up with any advances in modern technology you will find yourself in a world of trouble. Although elderly people tend to make learning more difficult than others because they are still stuck in the mental frame of the technology of their time. That’s why you always hear them say back in my day tis happened or we had this. The fact that they not willing to learn are the main reason they are falling behind not that it’s moving fast.
-Christopher Hodges
Of course older people have problems with technology. They learn at a slower rate and they are accustomed to different things. When our generation grows old, that's what our grandchildren will be saying years from now.
Technology is slowly taking over our lives because outside just isn't "fun" anymore. The younger generations have shorter attention spans because of the parents that subject them to television and video games. The brain develops until it can only deal with technology that is able to simulate the brain. Going outside just wont do that anymore.
Katherine
Yes, I think older generations have a more difficult time with technology than younger ones do. I was introducted to computers and cell phones at a pretty young age so I think it was easier for me to learn how to use certain things than say, my dad. Growing up where these things didn't exist and then suddenly having to adapt to all this high tech stuff must be hard. But younger kids have been doing it their whole lives so they don't know any different. I think that technology taking over is both good and bad. You can't deny that being able to communicate with people at all times is a great thing, especially in emercencies. But I do think they are socially damaging and allow people to be more anti-social than they would normal be if cell phones or computers didn't exist.
Andi
I think technology is moving incredibly fast, and it is not only effecting older people, but younger people as well. Yesterday I was eating at Buffalo Wild Wings, a place filled with technology, and I was sitting at a table across from two kids about ten years old. The boys were friends, it seemed, who had come to lunch with their parents, but instead of socializing and being rowdy like ten year olds normally do, they sat there sharing a pair of headphones and listened to something on an iPad. I don’t own and “i” anything, and I’m almost twice their age. I think that the older generations are having trouble staying up to date with these advances because they aren’t as interested in this technology, for one. For two, it’s quite expensive to keep up with it all. Since they have lived without this technology all of their lives, I don’t think it is affecting them too drastically. I don’t think the older generations are as accepting to these new advances as we are because they didn’t grow up with them like we do, so they don’t really care as much as we do to make them a part of their lives.
Yes, I think technology is taking over a lot of the way we live. It may be cool sometimes and it may seem to make life easier, but it isn’t always for the better, especially when it comes to socializing and things like that. I feel like we lose touch with reality a lot more because we are so worried about texting and Facebook, so we don’t really worry about picking up the phone and calling somebody just to see how their day was like people did a couple years ago.
Chelsey
Yes, technology is always going to move fast, thats just how it is. Many older people have trouble with the latest technology simply because its nothing they have every really seen before. I know that my grand father still uses this old cell phone that was made in like 2005 and doesnt want to get a new one and I think that many elderly people are just like him. I think that they dont want to learn how to use all of the new technology because they are just comfortable with what they know now.
Nolan
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