What is your reaction when someone says they "don't do computers?"

In My Humble Opinion
21

My mother, at 81, uses her computer for research, to pay bills, to display her many vacation photos, and to play Scrabble. She’s comfortable doing what she knows how to do, but she freaks out when something unexpected happens. To be fair, she’s the same way with pretty much anything, electronic or otherwise. I’m glad she’s not afraid of the technology, but I wish she’d just pause a minute and think things thru when she encounters a glitch. Instead, she’s quick to reboot, smack, or reach for duct tape.

My MIL, on the other hand, uses their computer to play spider solitaire. Period. She refuses to do any online banking. In fact, she won’t do anything online. Even my FIL, who worked for Burroughs for his entire career (even after it became Unisys) seems to be afraid of their laptop. They were without internet access for weeks until we happened to visit, and my husband figured out that somehow, they’d switched off the computer’s modem. They won’t use email, they won’t shop on line, and frankly, I don’t know why they bother having a computer. They’re not stupid, but they’re convinced computers are mystical, magical contraptions that exist to confound them.

22

They are not “ubiquitous”. It only seems that way.

You think your lawn service people use computers to trim your bushes and mow the grass? My current job has me almost never in front of a computer - generally only when I’m called on to back up the cashiers. People doing housekeeping work at a hotel. There are still a lot of jobs out there where computers are not a mainstay. Granted, they tend not to be the prestigious jobs, and tend to be low pay, but for a lot of people that’s what most of their working life is or was.

23

Huh, interesting question. I guess I don’t socialize with anyone that fits the OP.

When my mom died two years ago we gave her desktop/printer/etc to one of the nieces so she could upgrade.

24

This topic is interesting and relevant to me.

Both my parents (mid 80’s) have their own iMacs; mom does genealogy, dad does research & daily updates of their portfolio. I provide the occasional tech support as needed. Both are still quite sharp despite the years.

My uncle (mom’s brother) was an engineer in the Navy Department and assisted in the development of the Polaris missile systems back in the day. Though quite intelligent, today he is practically a Luddite. Though younger than my mother he’s now in a home confined to a wheelchair. His day revolves around mealtimes, and one channel on his TV. He also has memory issues.

I’ve been told numerous times that the brain is a muscle requiring exercise. This is a real example of this.

There was once a day when I would have honored a Luddite for keeping true to their nature. Today I am more likely to feel pity for the person who hasn’t expanded their mind.

25

Pretty much this. And no, I don’t really excuse anyone for being old, either. My mom loved the Internet and if she was alive right now she’d probably still be on it.

Computers open the door to a huge world and to just totally shut it down seems odd to me. And if it was a coworker who kept asking me to do simple things, I would definitely go to the boss and ask, nicely, for the coworker to have some formal training. I cannot wipe their ass, too.

I do not like Luddites. Oh, I’m not saying I leap onto every technology that comes along. But I look at them all and decide what I need and what fits into my life. I don’t just shut it down. Now if you decide a computer is not for you, fine, but I think you should at least be able to do do simple things like get on the Internet, look up a business, etc.

Lawn service people and the like may not use computers, but you bet your asses their bosses do, and anyone who runs their own lawn service has one, to keep the books.

26

1) Do you encounter this attitude often? No.

2) What are the reasons someone would not use computers, aside from a disability or just plain old stupidity? At this point, generally just old age, and a lack of opportunity or need to use computers when they were young enough to get the hang of it.

**3) Would you be irritated if a person who did not use computers was constantly asking you to do computer related tasks for them, things that they could easily do themselves except that they “don’t do computers?” ** Depends. My MIL is the only person that my wife and I get requests like this from, and we just take that in stride. At this point in MIL’s life, the learning curve for her to get used to computers is just too damned steep, so we’re not going to try to push them on her.

If we got this from someone younger, we’d be irritated, sure.

4) And what’s a good snappy comeback when someone tells you they don’t do computers? Who needs a comeback? Sure, at this point, not doing computers is almost like not doing cars or cell phones. But as long as they aren’t imposing on me, I don’t have a problem.

27

Unless that person has a lifestyle/occupation that wouldn’t lend itself to being very connected to the Internet (and modern world), I’d think that it shows a profound lack of curiosity about things, and if they’re proud of it, a high degree of willful ignorance.

I mean, if I met a 55 year old shrimper working out of Port Lavaca, I wouldn’t necessarily have expectations that he’d be a big Internet user. He might well be, but it wouldn’t be expected. But if I met someone who was my age (42) who just claimed that they don’t do the internet, I’d wonder just what kind of Luddite or kook they actually were, and think that they’re pretty ignorant in the bargain.

You just can’t really function effectively and independently in modern urban/suburban society without being at least minimally connected to the internet for stuff like finding addresses, getting emails, etc…

28

The people I described certainly have experience, or at least the ones who had a working life do, but they have chosen to completely eschew having one in their homes. It seems odd to deliberately limit one’s world, and then to act all superior for having done so. Some are older women who never worked and whose husbands are gone, and who are just apprehensive about computer use; and I get it somewhat, but there are lots of free computer familiarization courses for seniors.

29

Once upon a time, I was part of a team investigating why a major IT project in another department failed. We interviewed a number of people as part of this investigation, and the head of the department made a point of claiming not to be “one of the propeller heads in IT”. I pretty much figured that explained everything right there.

30

Apart from the really elderly (after I turned 65, the label “elderly” moved waaaay down the road…), and people who are just plain afraid of technology or really, anything electronic, the ones who get to me are the people at work who use computers every day and just barely know how to turn them on.

Email is a mystery…saving it, forwarding it, changing the subject line, grouping contacts, even “reply all”… no, nada, nope.

And I admit MS Word is a cumbersome monster, and after decades of making peace with it and its descendants, I’ve never used every tool it offers, but, people, grasp a few basics, why don’t you? Like at least keeping the formatting consistent within a single one-page letter. Copy/paste is a foreign concept–let’s just retype everything! And add typos that weren’t in the original! And if, by some chance, you do use copy/paste, did you know you can choose to match the formatting of the destination document…hmmm?

My good friend does a lot of editing of online manuals and she has to go in behind her colleagues all the time and make the fonts, outlining, bullets, formatting, etc. consistent, as others apparently don’t notice or don’t care.

In conclusion, to answer the OP, when someone says, “I don’t do computers,” I either shake my head gently or I want to slap them into next Tuesday, depending on who it is. But when they work with computers every day and haven’t bothered to learn (and seem afraid of) anything beyond the most rudimentary basics, I want to scream.

P.S. And the whiny lament, “My computer just DOES that-- for no reason.” :smack:

31

“Don’t you know how much porn there is out there?-- and you’re missing out on all of it” :slight_smile:

32

I think there’s some distinctions to be made here. There those who really don’t have any use for computer-ish devices or their connectivity; while these folks may appear to be from another planet and/or elderly, they do exist. Power to 'em.

There are those who have no use for a “computer” but can or would make good use of a modern info and comm device like a tablet. Maybe they don’t understand the difference, maybe they’re answering the question in that narrow “no, I don’t sit at a desk with a computer console and a gazunda” sense. But they are or would happily be connected to all the things a handheld “computer” does.

And then there are those who think it’s some badge of honor to “not do computers.” This is bad enough when it’s a family member, neighbor or other inconsequential person you can nod-and-smile at. But when you run into corporate employees, especially managers or department heads… yow.

33

As a technical support person, it’s a big pet peeve when it’s used by an end user to avoid learning something that can minimize their time spent calling tech support for basic things, or help me out in some way during troubleshooting. Like not knowing how to cut/copy/paste or that the first thing to do if things are acting weird is reboot.

Me: Can you send me a link to the website you’re having trouble with?
Them: How do you do that?
Me: Ok, at the top of your Internet Explorer window you should see…
Them: Oh, I’m not a computer person, that’s too technical, can’t you just come to my desk??

THAT is when I hate it. When my 86 yr old grandma who loves her iPad and Pinterest says it, it’s just false modesty because she’s more of a computer person than most of the 30 somethings that I have to support from day to day.

34

I don’t get twitter or hashtags. Reddit AMAs, wikis, imgr - all those “new internet” systems I get. I just don’t understand the value of a stream of 140 character messages that have to eschew the grammar and complete words we were taught in school. These messages become ambiguous because they have to contain so much shorthand that they can be read multiple ways.

So I’m in my 30s, and I feel like an old fogey because this twitter and hashtag thing seems like total garbage. Or instagram. I don’t get that, either. Why would you deliberately take photographs that you then lower the quality of on purpose. Lolwat?

35

But you don’t have to “get” it, or like it. I wouldn’t expect that. I am not a big fan of Twitter* either, it seems stupid to me - 140 characters is not enough - and it has a big misogynistic component. I’m not on Instagram, though I love taking photos.

This is the kind of thing that annoys me and what I am talking about: When I went back to school, one of the components of one of my classes was to have a Twitter account and post a technological related article every class day so we could discuss it (that would be twice a week).

Oh my god the bitching and moaning. I couldn’t believe how much people complained about this small requirement.

I would expect of most computer users that if need be, they COULD get onto Twitter, create their own account, and submit two freakin articles a week without it being the End of Days. I don’t mean you have to. I just mean you retain the ability to learn about new things. So this involves:

  • getting on the internet
  • navigating to twitter
  • signing up
  • posting two articles (so you have to google for articles)

All skills that are useful, even if you never use your twitter account.

*That being said, I still have my twitter account and just use it to follow funny people like SarcasticRover.

36

We were given online communication, so that we can have extended discussions like the thousands here with people all over the globe, asynchronously, with persistence of decades, and maybe do something about that Ignorance thing.

And since the fall of Usenet, this approach is one with the dinosaurs, replaced by a welter of “communication” tools based on the fastest, briefest, least persistent, least nuanced and most easily co-opted channels. Someone wise once said, “We can put television in its proper perspective by assuming that Gutenberg’s invention was never used for anything but comic books.” Given a tool that dwarfs the possibilities of old, dull tee-vee, we… decided comic books were just too hard for us.

Next up: rains of frogs and blood.

ETA: Sorry. #FrogzLOL #IckyBlood

37

These days, I have some sympathy, because I recently crossed the Old Fogey Horizon. I have a smart phone, but I haven’t bothered to figure out how to do anything with it. I use it for phone calls and text messages, and that’s it. I might as well have a stupid phone. I pay every month for internet access on my phone, that I never use. I had a quick look at some of those newfangled apps that the kids these days are always talking about, and it all just gave me a headache.

A little while ago, I got the icon on my desktop with offer to upgrade to Windows 10. I used to click any upgrade icon at the first opportunity. Now, I’m thinking: “Nah, it’ll just be a hassle, and what I have works.” I’ll never get Windows 10 until this computer breaks and I buy a new one that has it pre-installed.

I’ve never gone near Twitter, Instagram, etc, etc. It all just looks unnecessary and annoying. I did try Facebook a couple of times. Now I hate the thing with a passion.

Thirty years from now, the kids will have computers implanted directly into their brains and do all their twittering by direct thought commands, and I’ll be telling them: “I don’t do those implant things. Get off my lawn.”

38

I can see it. I love computers, I’m in awe of the almost unlimited knowlege that is immediately available to me. I also understand, though, that 99.9% of it I will never need in real life and there are other ways to get the info I really need. After all, cars have been ubiquitous for over 50 years but there is still a large number of people who only know enough about them to get by - crank it and fill it with fuel (and they sometimes forget the latter). If anything goes even a little bit wrong they are clueless.

To which I would reply “Don’t you know how many real girls/guys there are out there? And you’re missing all of them!” :stuck_out_tongue:

39

#iknowright
I keep assuming there’s this deeper “meaning” behind tweets, etc that I just don’t get. That I’m like a caveman still using pictograms when they invented words and punctuation.

40

That’s what the Internet is for! :smiley: