How technologically adroit/inept are your parents?

Jaguar · January 17, 2003, 18:49

My dad is okay with stuff he's learned to do by routine (like MS word, email, search engines, that sort of stuff.) He knows how to delete files, and he understands the concepts of "folders" and using different drives. He is still working on the concept of "downloading."

My mom can access MS Word (because I put an icon for it on the desktop) and she can type. Period. To give you an idea of how helpless she is, she centers titles for things she writes by pressing space bar until it looks right.

I brought this subject up because my dad just paid $50 to get a CD copied twice. Both my sister and I have CD RW drives.

reds4ever · January 17, 2003, 19:20

thats nothing, my old man calls me up when the batteries in the TV remote run out (i kid you not) thinking the TV is broke ( this has happened more than once), it's not is if he's losing it or old (well he's 60, not senile and has got a great maths brain) it's just he retired in 1990 JUST before you needed know more than just how to opperate your brain and a pen

He still doesn't quite 'get' who i'm 'talking' too when my phones engaged when he calls. ie i'm on the internet

reds4ever · January 17, 2003, 19:26

Jag

i think you hit the nail on the head with the term 'to do by routine', some oldies can't seem to make the logical leaps that seem obvious to us. give it 40 years we'll be in their shoes but with different technology

Asher · January 17, 2003, 19:27

My mom is totally clueless with the stuff.

My dad I'd classify as "above average". He can reformat drives, reinstall windows, troubleshoot, set up a home theatre, etc.

cavebear · January 17, 2003, 19:32

My parents are pre-computer. Both are past 75. Even though my father was an engineer and analytical math type of person, he won't even consider trying a computer. He worked in a mechanical and electrical world, not an electronic one. If it doesn't operate in a tangible physical manner, he is lost at sea.

But even my brothers and sisters are computer-illiterate. One can do email and word-processing, but she wouldn't even dream of trying to use a spreadsheet.

reds4ever · January 17, 2003, 19:33

asher

anyone above 40 who isn't int he IT business and feels confident formating and installing windows is doing pretty good IMO

Asher · January 17, 2003, 19:36

Quote:

Originally posted by reds4ever
asher

anyone above 40 who isn't int he IT business and feels confident formating and installing windows is doing pretty good IMO

A long long time ago (with our 386) he was the computer guy in the family. I've taken over the role.

He's been using computers since the late 70s, so he's doin alright...

reds4ever · January 17, 2003, 19:37

heres one for you all....

a 27 year old friend of mine (ie not senile) moved housed just before christmas, the guy asked me weather his incoming emails would still be going to his old house address!

ixnay · January 17, 2003, 19:37

My mom can work with FTP to update her website, deal with Windows fairly adeptly, and play games. My dad uses a computer at work, but other than that he doesn't really use one around home.

loinburger · January 17, 2003, 19:48

My dad's an electrical engineer, so he's pretty adept at technological mumbo-jumbo by necessity (though he doesn't much care for computers -- when I said that I was going to major in computer science, he rolled his eyes and said "Why don't you become a real engineer instead?). My mom's mostly clueless, partly due to technical ineptness (math etc. was always her weakest point in college and beyond), but primarily from lack of trying (why bother learning computers when there're three engineers in the house? Or two-and-a-half, depending on who you ask).

My Grandpa did pretty well to learn computers for being a 80-year-old who never used a computer up until five-or-ten years ago (he was a mechanical engineer, but he stuck to slide rules and let the "propellor heads" handle the mainframes). My Grandma's pretty hopeless, but she's also the stubbornest person alive, and doesn't know how to deal with something that is even more inflexible than she is.

Ishtar · January 17, 2003, 20:29

My parents won't touch 'em. When I got a new one last year, I gave them my old one. It's still sitting there..not even plugged into the wall.

I tried to get my mom to play Solitaire on one in a store once...she's scared to death she's gonna break it.

But...hey...what can I expect...they don't have cable tv... and won't even let me "give" them an answering machine for the phone.

cavebear · January 17, 2003, 20:37

Quote:

Originally posted by reds4ever
heres one for you all....

a 27 year old friend of mine (ie not senile) moved housed just before christmas, the guy asked me weather his incoming emails would still be going to his old house address!

Technological stupidity is evidently not limited to the senile. LOL! That one made my day...

Um, maybe you should have told him that he needs to bring his computer over to the old address and set it up there once a week to get his email. Think of all the hilarity you missed out on!

cavebear · January 17, 2003, 20:42

Quote:

Originally posted by reds4ever
asher

anyone above 40 who isn't int he IT business and feels confident formating and installing windows is doing pretty good IMO

I'm not in the IT business and I'm over 40. I'm not too sure about installing operating systems, but I've never met an application I couldn't wrestle to the ground in about a week.

General Ludd · January 17, 2003, 21:01

My mom is clueless.

My dad was a complete geek, and a high-school computer teacher. I've been using computers since I've been about 4 years old because of him. I'm not so sure I'm happy about that, though.

reds4ever · January 17, 2003, 21:19

Quote:

Originally posted by cavebear

Technological stupidity is evidently not limited to the senile. LOL! That one made my day...

Um, maybe you should have told him that he needs to bring his computer over to the old address and set it up there once a week to get his email. Think of all the hilarity you missed out on!

youre right, i didn't think of that, as soon as i started laughing at him he realized it was a stupid question..if only i could have kept a poker face....

Lord Merciless · January 17, 2003, 21:23

My grandpa is approaching 90, can type, move and delete files, and play games. He's still competitive in setting high scores in Tetris.

My mom is close to 60 and uses computer for her work every day. Word, Excel, Email, and watching DVDs are her most common computer tasks. She even knows how to run simple Unix commands.

My dad only knows how to surf the web and use simple Word and Excel features.

Datajack Franit · January 17, 2003, 21:26

My mother crashes her computer every damn month after installing all her stupid stuff on it

My father doesn't even know how to switch on a computer

Caesar the Great · January 17, 2003, 21:26

my mom has a hard time operating an electric stove

monolith94 · January 17, 2003, 23:53

my dad works for the lotus division of ibm, he's pretty adept, and much more knowledgable than I.
My mom uses the computer for pretty standard things - email, typing, internet news, etc.
My sister is about the same as me, only a little less resourceful.

KrazyHorse · January 18, 2003, 00:49

My father can click on icons and install things if there's a step-by-step setup process. He uses email and the modem to receive faxes on his computer. Can use a search engine adequately. Other than that he's pretty useless at it.

My mother is a mess. She can't even type faster than 3 or 4 words a minute (that's a serious estimate). Never mind actually opening Word herself...

KrazyHorse · January 18, 2003, 00:50

Quote:

Originally posted by Caesar the Great
my mom has a hard time operating an electric stove

Same here. When you get to the subject of the remote control, the VCR and the TV/VCR input selection button she's completely lost...

Asher · January 18, 2003, 00:58

In order to help my mom out with our home entertainment system, my brother and I devised a really stupid naming scheme for the controllers as a joke.

We said stuff like:
"We SHAW it on TV" --> The remote with the Shaw logo on it is for the TV
"PIONEERS use soundto capture their prey" --> The remote with the Pioneer logo on it is for the audio receiver.

It was so utterly stupid it stuck in her head, and to this day that's how she remembers what remote does what...

On how to operate the DVD player and the VCR, I printed out a "task list" step-by-step explaining how to do it.

The Mad Monk · January 18, 2003, 01:34

Mom, who is in her late 50s, uses the computer fairly well, even though she is practically on a first name basis with the HP support people. She writes letters, organizes things, uses quicken and online investment services, and make us all these nice personalized calenders every year. She also has no problem programming a VCR. All this from a high school grad who insists she isn't technologically savvy. Coulda fooled me...

My Dad is a chemical engineer who worked with (programmed) a few mainframes in the seventies, and has worked with databases, spreadsheets, email, etc. in the course of his business.

That said, eight years after I bought them a component stereo system, he still can't figure out the remote.

Skanky Burns · January 18, 2003, 02:00

My parents are way above average compared to others here. My dad set up our first home network, installs OS's (even back in the DOS days), uses the internet, etc. He used to even program in basic. He doesn't know quite as much as me, but then he isn't in IT.

My mum is less adept, but is known at the hospital she works at as the "computer expert". She understands files and folders on different drives, uses email, the web, icq. She even can do limited troubleshooting when things go wrong (ie: the program isn't working, reset the computer). Not bad at all.

Ramo · January 18, 2003, 02:38

My dad's an unretired electrical engineer, so he knows an unusal amount about working with computer interfaces relative to most people his age (pushing 60). I know he can use programs like Mathematica, which require fairly adept intuition about how to work with computers.

My mom knows basically nothing about computer interfaces. I have to explain to her, step by step, how to use her e-mail program every once and a while. She hasn't figured out how to program the VCR either.

David Floyd · January 18, 2003, 02:43

Well, I'm OK with computers in the sense that I'm good with the Internet, I can install/uninstall/format, etc., and do basic troubleshooting, not to mention run most common programs and play games, but I'm totally useless for most other electronic/electrical stuff. I'm totally useless in terms of programming TVs or remotes, messing with the wires behind the TV, stuff like that.

Jon Shafer · January 18, 2003, 02:44

My mom is pretty good (above average). She knows how to use Windows fine, word, the internet, etc. She also knows not to click anything when the virus warning goes off.

My dad is a computer programmer for United, and he knows more about computers than anyone else I know...

cia · January 18, 2003, 02:54

My mom's last job was as a key punch card creator (enough said). My dad designed systems like the current US Post Office (macro scale) but couldn't really program. Just dealt with large computing systems.