# Right wing/old people ignorance about technology? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 20, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383 "2022-03-20T13:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/21 "2022-03-20T18:54:55Z")
I’m a member of the “old” generation, apparently anyone born early enough to think that _Star Wars_ is titled _Star Wars_, period. We’re not all alike. Looking back over the decades, I see a line drawn even within the Boomers. People born before 1950 seldom seem to have taken easily to computers, while people born after 1950 adapted well. (That’s not the same as saying that they’re all on Tik Tok today, of course. And that’s a small sampling. Add on qualifiers as you choose.) Nevertheless, that distinction was noticeable among my friends and the people at work when we got our first computers in 1985. I don’t know why, although I blame it on the Beatles. The pre-1950 crowd stuck with Elvis and folk music and that’s apparently antithetic to computer lore. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/22 "2022-03-20T18:56:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > My in laws OTOH seem to invent ways of fucking up the laptop my wife gave them, at which point I need to spend an hour figuring out how to fix it. I used to try to unfuck my elderly cousin’s computer for her. She had an antique that was running on a version of Windows that was not only no longer supported, but needed to be intubated just to stay alive. I finally gave her my gaming computer and a decent printer so she’d stop calling me every other week. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/23 "2022-03-20T19:18:54Z")
Huh, if old people don’t know shit from computers, how come my kids are always asking me how to fix their computer issues? I argue that from some standpoints I AM a digital native–my father worked for IBM so I was aware of computers back when they took up entire floors and had no screens or keyboards, learned programming on 8088 and 8080 8 bit processors and have been upgrading and learning new shit ever since. My kids stubbornly remained technotards who use computers but don’t understand a lick of how they work so my revenge is making sure my grandkids fucking well know how to manage their technology and how it works in the greater world around us. Then again I’m a pinko progressive so maybe that’s the dividing line. New things don’t scare or affront me and if I can adapt to my city becoming Homeless Shooting Range Central With Attendant Zombie RV Meth Labs as a major business sector I can definitely figure out how my Android phones work. Of course, being employed by T-Mobile for quite a few years and being a very early adopter of the smartphone probably worked in my favor. I don’t think age is nearly as much of a factor as people make it out to be. I mean, my 85 year old mother refuses to deal with computers or even cell phones but then again she managed converting not one but two enterprise level companies from paper to computer accounting systems–she CAN use them, she just doesn’t WANT to. A little frustrating when I want to share cute animal videos with her but there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/24 "2022-03-20T19:22:35Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m sure the language is fine for a programmer, but I was taking the class as a requirement and all those punchcards took a lot of time away from other studies. Get one letter wrong and your whole program failed. Punched cards! Thank dog I started when they were beginning to go out. I liked to listen to the old guys tell stories about programs that required two-tiered shopping type carts to move the cards to the card reader to run. I actually had to use a punch card machine, but it was also in a class. I remember when we got the first TSO terminals. There were about 8 in a room (the TSO room) for about 15-16 programmers, and you had to limit your time to be fair to the others. I “liberated” the official sign from our TSO room that asked that people limit their sessions (when we each got our own individual TSO terminal on our desks!). > [@Chefguy](#): > > I used to try to unfuck my elderly cousin’s computer for her. My sister always ask me for help…for her Chromebook. I don’t mind doing it, but she refuses to even try to figure it out on its own. I get tired. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/25 "2022-03-20T20:11:24Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > …I don’t want Bill Gates injecting ME with blockchains! Not that this was a worry, but, hey, I don’t either. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/26 "2022-03-21T02:00:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s kind of like my dad is always giving me stupid outdated advice on working in corporate America… > …maybe consider that the business world may have changed a bit in the almost two decades since you retired… 'Zat you, son? I asked my kid if he wanted me to ask my contacts in his field about his job-hunting. He laughed “Next, I suppose you’re going to tell me to print my resume on a good rag bond paper…” Sigh, I tried… but I’ll admit, all my perspectives are decades out of date. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/27 "2022-03-21T02:16:48Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “It’s a series of tubes!” “My God! It’s full of tubes!” ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/28 "2022-03-21T03:52:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I think people believe that folks my age have never worked with computers before, which is odd. I’ve owned a PC since the early 80s and have used them in offices from the time when they were just dumb work stations with little functionality. I have a smart phone, an iPad, a desktop, and a laptop. I was trained in MS Project, PhotoShop, and AutoCAD, and I can troubleshoot most computer issues, but occasionally need to consult with the Dope or other online help. Moi aussi. I’m 67 and have been working with computers since the mid 70s, doing hardware and software support at various stages. I’ve had an Apple ][e, the first Mac, several PCs, you name it (I mostly use an iMac now). I have installed Windows 1.0, NetWare 2.15c, various Dos versions, and numerous Linux versions; never did any programming though. Teens and 20s come to me for help and advice! My father, on the other hand, was so thrown by the update from Windows 95 to 98 that he stopped using his computer altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/29 "2022-03-21T04:35:41Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > One commonality I’ve noted in several different RightWing LoonyTunes ConspiracyTheories is some omnipresent vague stuff about technology. I’m not the most computer-savvy guy myself, and far from the youngest, but it seems to me that the words “server” and “laptop” and “hard drive” and “e-mail” are tossed around in most RW LT CS because computers scare old people—they didn’t grow up with the technology, they don’t understand how it works, and they do understand that it can do strange things that affect their lives, so all nutters have to do is mention anything technological, and attribute it to Hillary or Hunter Biden and voila! That might have been true 20-30 years ago but I don’t think it’s true today. Granted they may get confused about things like the cloud, apps, social media they’re not a part of. But computers have been commonplace for more than two decades now. Even my mother, who is in her mid 60s, has a smart phone. I’m not really convinced older people are scared when we invoke those technological buzzwords. On the flip side, at work I often assist retired employees with accessing our HR information systems. This allows them to access paystubs, W-2 forms, and some other information they might need. And, well, despite having used computers at my company for the better part of 30 years, holy shit do some of them not understand the most basic of instructions like how to enter their username and password. Hmmm…I’m going to have to reconsider your thesis. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/30 "2022-03-21T05:53:03Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I liked Fortran. But my first job was writing in COBOL. > I’m 71. I’ve been working in computers my entire adult life. [BAL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Basic_Assembly_Language_and_successors) here and I’m a year ahead of you. It’s one reason I went to the hardware side of things for a long, long time. As I’ve said before, my first computer book had a picture of Grace Hopper in it – wearing an ensign’s uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/31 "2022-03-21T11:49:49Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > . . . all nutters have to do is mention anything technological, and attribute it to Hillary or Hunter Biden and voila! Proof positive that the evil libs have achieved their perverted goals in mysterious ways that can never be explained. . . . It’s all gotten so complicated. It was so much simpler in the Before Times, when all that was needed to commandeer the brains of our mindless population was to dump some fluoride in the water supply. (FORTRAN II programmer here since 1968. 4900796 forever!) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/32 "2022-03-21T18:05:38Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > As I’ve said before, my first computer book had a picture of Grace Hopper in it – wearing an ensign’s uniform. I remember that book! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/33 "2022-03-21T18:06:57Z")
I remember the picture of the first “bug” Admiral Hopper pulled out of a computer. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/34 "2022-03-21T18:07:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > FORTRAN II programmer here since 1968. 4900796 forever! I took an Assembler class as “enrichment” after I’d been a COBOL programmer for a while. It was cool to find out what IEFBR14 was! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/35 "2022-03-22T02:13:49Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I remember the picture of the first “bug” Admiral Hopper pulled out of a computer.   The picture is well-known and available on-line. The term “bug” for a glitch in a machine was far from new at the time. But it was the first real bug! (A moth, actually.) > **[Log Book With Computer Bug](https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_334663)** > > American engineers have been calling small flaws in machines "bugs" for over a century. Thomas Edison talked about bugs in electrical circuits in the 1870s. [https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=NMAH-92-13129](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=NMAH-92-13129) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/36 "2022-03-22T02:43:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Nevertheless, that distinction was noticeable among my friends and the people at work when we got our first computers in 1985. I don’t know why, although I blame it on the Beatles. The pre-1950 crowd stuck with Elvis and folk music and that’s apparently antithetic to computer lore. Interesting. My brother, born in 1942, was into Elvis and jazz, and ignorant of computers. I was born in late '45, and came of age in the '60s, and everything that implies, including The Beatles and computers. For the rest of our lives, there was a cultural divide separating us. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/37 "2022-03-22T03:15:44Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > So you probably don’t have to be especially old to get sucked into conspiracies about Hillary’s email server. I remember one of the allegations was that she used BleachBit to delete files from her server. A great many people, including the Orange Ignoramus, thought that she literally poured a bottle of Clorox over a computer. You don’t have to be especially old to get sucked into conspiracies, but you do have to be especially stupid to get sucked into that one. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/38 "2022-03-22T10:45:58Z")
Please note that there are no educational courses in most consumer electronics. If you do not have a large circle of friends who use _“Device A”_, you have little opportunity to understand _“Device A”_. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/39 "2022-03-22T11:17:58Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > Being an old fart who still uses a flip phone (and will soon have to upgrade to a 4G or 5G flip phone), I agree with the premise of the thread. > Dumbphones are continuing to enjoy a revival. Google searches for them jumped by 89% between 2018 and 2021, according to a report by software firm SEMrush. > > And while sales figures are hard to come by, [one report said that global purchases of dumbphones were due to hit one billion units last year, up from 400 million in 2019.](https://www.counterpointresearch.com/more-than-a-billion-feature-phones-to-be-sold-over-next-three-years/) This compares [to worldwide sales of 1.4 billion smart phones last year, following a 12.5% decline in 2020.](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-03-01-4q21-smartphone-market-share) > > Meanwhile, a 2021 study by accountancy group Deloitte said that one in 10 mobile phone users in the UK had a dumbphone. > **[Not smart but clever? The return of 'dumbphones'](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60763168)** > > Why sales of very basic mobile phones, without apps and internet connection, are increasing. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383/40 "2022-03-22T11:23:22Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > Being an old fart who still uses a flip phone (and will soon have to upgrade to a 4G or 5G flip phone), I agree with the premise of the thread. Use an old flip phone do do WHAT exactly? TALK on the PHONE to people?! Who uses a PHONE to do THAT anymore?!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-wing-old-people-ignorance-about-technology/961383.md?page=3)