# Too old, so I'll just stand in the dirt with a stick **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557 "2011-12-27T20:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/41 "2011-12-28T20:58:55Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > I’m pushing 50, have a smart phone, laptop, Roku, etc. > > Don’t have trouble keeping up with technology. > > But have never understood texting. Even why it exists. Maybe before portable email it had its place but I cannot think of a single use case for it now. I know there are millions of people out there pounding away on tiny keyboards with their thumbs, but I have no idea why. If it is important enough to communicate then send an email. If it isn’t then don’t waste people’s time. I mainly text my kids. It consists of usually short question/answer/statement stuff, and it’s usually when I’m busy with something, or they are, and a conversation (even taking the time to answer the phone) isn’t an option, or when I know they’ll respond when they can get to it. (We don’t text when driving and don’t text when in a meeting/in class. Hallboy will text when he’s in the bathroom, while I won’t.) It’s easier and faster to text, “Do we have milk, or do I need to get some?” when I’m at the grocery store, than it is to call. “I got my progress report” as a text is a nice reminder for a follow up converstation later when I’m at home, whereas I’ve forgotten about it until the text reminder from my son. Last night, I installed a new light fixture in the bathroom and texted it to my (adult, living in a different city and state) daughters. Their response? “Pic?” Texting a pic, even if it’s of the bathroom light fixture, allows us to stay in touch with some of the everyday stuff that happens in our lives. I’ve gotten more pics texted of my grandson than my mother ever received of her grandchildren. I also communicate with my kids a lot more than I did with my mom when I was living out of state. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/42 "2011-12-29T00:27:09Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > But have never understood texting. Even why it exists. I don’t understand why people email on their phones - they can call if it’s complicated, text if it’s simple, and save the email for when you’re at your laptop. I guess it’s how we progressed through the technology. I do love mobile technology. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/43 "2011-12-29T01:08:58Z")
55yrs, got an e reader for Christmas, which I am enjoying, but haven’t yet hooked up the wi fi thingy yet. I’m not getting a cell phone though, thanks anyway. Every year at Christmas time I remind my husband I do neither need nor want one. The way I see it, there’s a lot of technology out there. Ever more, every day. It can be hard to keep up, and you can reach a point where you think, ‘Y’know I see what you mean, I understand the cool, but I’m happy with what is still working for me, so I’m just going to leave it till later!’ I reckon technology is like hiking in the mountains, everybody has their own unique pace that suits them, and that’s the ideal speed for them. Attempts to make them speed up or slow down are fuitless and pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/44 "2011-12-29T01:34:44Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I have the most basic freebie Nokia phone because I don’t want a smartphone. I refuse to be tethered to a phone number. But using a dumb phone instead of a smart phone, how are you _not_ tethered nevertheless? That is, unless you mean that you usually have your phone turned off, which owners of smart phones are probably far less likely to do. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/45 "2011-12-29T01:36:17Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > But have never understood texting. Even why it exists. I find it very useful. I was meeting a friend at the railway station and sent her a text ‘on platform 5 - which end are you?’ I could have rung her, I suppose, but I wouldn’t have been able to hear her, nor she me. In the supermarket yesterday ‘bought rolls, fish, olive oil - anything else we need?’ I don’t text madly back and forth the way a lot of teenagers do but it does come in handy on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/46 "2011-12-29T01:38:33Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > For certain things, I reached this point long ago, my mantra being “Sometimes the best tool for the job is a checkbook.” \ Agreed. We’re planning to paint the ceilings in our whole main floor - we could do that (Jim was a professional painter for years), but we’re probably not going to - it’s a miserable job that will take us days, and leave us crippled with neck and back pain, or we can pay someone to do it in an afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/47 "2011-12-29T01:54:50Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > I hear you. I’m 59, and if I could afford a smartphone, I’d have one in a heartbeat. If it’s the expensive data plan that’s holding you back, and if you have wireless Internet access at home [sup]1[/sup], at least consider picking up a used smart phone. AFAIK you can’t buy them from traditional stores, but you can find them on EBay or Amazon. Obviously without the data plan you won’t be able to use the device except when you’re at home, or in range of a network to which you have access. Even so it can be very handy to have an extra network-capable device at home for streaming audio, or just looking up something online when you don’t want to use your regular computer. I use my old smart phone for that sort of thing all the time. [sup]1[/sup]Based on personal experience, you need download speeds of at least 2 megabits per second for this to work. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/48 "2011-12-30T17:33:31Z")
> [@phall0106](#): > > In a few days, I’ll be 45. Not young, but I don’t consider it old either. I’m not freaked out by my age (there’s only one option to getting older, so I’ll take getting older), but I am starting to get frustrated by what I’m seeing with people my own age and slightly older. > > I have a friend, who is about my age (maybe a year or two difference). For Christmas, her boyfriend got her a Kindle. I thought this would be a great gift for her, as she reads all the time. Her reaction? First, she couldn’t figure out how to turn it on. Then, she couldn’t figure out how to connect wirelessly (it’s not a 3G). Finally, she just put it back in the box, stating that it was “too complicated” and she wasn’t going to use it. It’s not the first time she’s done something like this, although she is a very intelligent and educated woman. Geez. I just turned 63. SWMBO is in her 50s. In our house, we have three desktop computers, five laptops and four Kindles (we both had original Kindles and gave each other the new Fires for Christmas). We are both high-magnitude geeks. How can someone not figure out how to turn something on? That just astounds me. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/49 "2011-12-30T19:20:27Z")
50 yo - I feel like I spend so much time staying on top of technology, rules, laws, regulations, trends, etc for work that the last thing I want to do is go home and do it all again for fun. I can text, e-mail or phone as needed, can use a Kindle but prefer books whenever possible, and generally avoid the internet as much as possible. Like others, I can learn it if I need it and I work hard to stay on top of the curve work-wise, but I don’t want to do it for fun. I even prefer board games at the table to anything on a screen anymore. Who knows, in another decade I might be reading by candlelight and beating my clothing on a rock to avoid the washing machine. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/50 "2011-12-30T20:04:12Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > But using a dumb phone instead of a smart phone, how are you _not_ tethered nevertheless? That is, unless you mean that you usually have your phone turned off, which owners of smart phones are probably far less likely to do. My phone lives in my car, unless I need to charge it. And when my contract is up next month, it will cease to be mine. I got it because I had a fairly long commute on country roads, so it was insurance. Since I’m retired and do most of my driving in civilization, I don’t see the point any longer. My husband’s phone is available when we do long trips. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/51 "2011-12-30T20:56:32Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \ > How can someone not figure out how to turn something on? That just astounds me. In most cases I imagine it’s learned helplessness, or ignorance on purpose - they don’t want to make any effort at all to learn, so they just don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/52 "2011-12-30T20:57:58Z")
I know someone who is 1/2 year into a **computer science degree** … Who has never owned a computer…doesn’t know what Firefox is…and couldn’t operate my laptop to access their email account…even after it was turned on and on the Google home page. What the hell are they teaching in _Computer Science_ these days? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/53 "2011-12-30T22:28:00Z")
> [@](#): > > What the hell are they teaching in _Computer Science_ these days? Back in the Dark Ages, when I took CS, they taught computer science just like they taught driver’s ed. In Driver’s Ed, we learned how an internal combustion engine worked before we learned anything that might help you actually, you know, DRIVE. Because apparently some people feel that it’s essential to know how pistons work if you need to steer out of a skid. I’ve been driving for over 40 years now. I’ve never needed to know when the gas fumes are introduced into the piston chamber in all this time. I think that it would have been helpful if we’d been taught how to gas up the car, how to check the oil and air, stuff like that. But instead, we were introduced to the wonders of the IC engine. In CS class, we learned what a CPU was, and various other bits of hardware. Now, if we had been taking a computer assembly or repair class, this knowledge would have been useful. But what we DIDN’T learn was how to USE the damned computer. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/54 "2011-12-30T22:40:01Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > In CS class, we learned what a CPU was, and various other bits of hardware. Ouch. When I took CS, we learned what magnetic cores were. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/55 "2011-12-30T22:53:19Z")
Back when I took CS, we didn’t learn about email or browsers, either. This is because it was in the very early 80s. I SAID it was in the Dark Ages. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/56 "2011-12-30T22:57:34Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > What the hell are they teaching in _Computer Science_ these days? :dubious: What I’m wondering is how this person ended up pursuing a computer science degree in the first place. “To learn about computers” - yeah, sure, but I’d think a \*bit \*of background knowledge would be expected. If I’d never kissed a girl, my first inclination wouldn’t be to enroll in a gynecology class in order to find out how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/57 "2011-12-30T23:00:12Z")
Child. I programmed BASIC on a teletype, and FORTRAN on punch cards. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/58 "2011-12-30T23:11:59Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > I know someone who is 1/2 year into a **computer science degree** … > > Who has never owned a computer…doesn’t know what Firefox is…and couldn’t operate my laptop to access their email account…even after it was turned on and on the Google home page. > > What the hell are they teaching in _Computer Science_ these days? :dubious: OK, now that is just weird. Why is this person even pursuing a CS degree? 😕 I don’t get it. I’m almost 54 and while I tend to come late to technology, I’m usually bashed into accepting it one way or another because most people I know are doing it. I didn’t “get” texting until several of my peers and friends got smartphones and started texting instead of calling - I resisted, but now I can’t imagine not having a smartphone. I’ve come to realise that the learning curve can be steep for those of us who didn’t learn how to text at three years old - but that with a little patience I can figure it out. I got my first Android phone about a month ago and while I still occasionally want to throw it in the toilet and flush multiple times, I’m starting to love it. Have a Kindle, don’t like it, however. I like books. With paper pages. I think I always will. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/59 "2011-12-31T00:26:53Z")
Seriously, the number one thing for resolving issues with your technology? _Read the entire fucking error message_ Oh sure, there are plenty of cryptic error messages out there, but the one thing that drives me absolutely batty in tech support is people who call up and say it’s giving them and error and they’ve tried this and that and it isn’t working. And then they can’t tell me what the error message said. So I have them to it again, READ me the actual error, and then they either go “Oh, that’s what’s wrong” or I have to explain something really simple to them, like “Ok, it is telling you that your password is wrong. Try a different password or we’ll have to reset it”. I tell people who say that they don’t know anything about computers that the only difference between them and people who are good with computers or kids who pick this up fast is that those people are more willing to try things, more willing to explore their menus, and more willing to read and follow what their computer or software is actively telling them to do. I’m not trying to rant, I’m trying to point out that if you pay attention to what it is really telling you, or you just play around with your programs and computer, you can learn a whole lot and become better at working with it. Just please don’t tell me you’re afraid to click a button. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557/60 "2012-01-01T01:54:36Z")
My parents are complete technophobes. My mother still uses a vcr, and I have to program it for her. They have a dvr on the television…they will not use it (so, basically, I am paying an extra 12$ a month for an expensive paperweight). I have a dear online friend who is in her 80’s. She keeps us “younger girls”, as she refers to us, up to date on the latest technology… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-old-so-ill-just-stand-in-the-dirt-with-a-stick/607557.md?page=4)