Technology in older generations

Who else is essentially their family’s personal IT consultant? I know that I feel that way sometimes, especially when coming home for a break such as Thanksgiving. While home for this break I fixed my grandma’s wireless router, set up my aunt’s new printer, and fixed my mom’s phone that she had been living without since FEBRUARY. Can you imagine? I imagine this is a situation that I share with a lot of other Stevens students whose families are older and therefore not as competent when dealing with matters of technology. During freshman year I would get frequent calls from my mother asking how to work our Bluray player, though these have since stopped (I think she’s learning!).

                I think this poses an interesting question, which is why older generations are so resistant to learning new technologies. I also think the answer to that question is there within the question itself: they have to LEARN how to use every new technology that comes along. Our generation is the first to have really grown up with computers our entire lives. Therefore we never really had to “learn” anything, it was always a part of our life. When we see a new gadget, such as a smartphone or even something as simple as a television remote, we have an intuitive sense of how to use it.

                This is not true of older generations. Their brains have adapted to technology differently, and therefore they have to “remember” how to use each new piece of technology they come across. For example, when we use a computer we can basically figure out whatever we need by clicking through menus because we know the basic systems of a computer. We know to right click on something for more options, to drag and drop to move files around, and so on. However, older people often see computers very differently. They see everything as a series of steps that they have to remember, and often think that anything they click on outside of these steps will somehow break their computer. Furthermore, they are not wired to Google something when they have questions, they will either look in an instruction manual or call someone who is more experienced (me). This fundamental difference in the way we use computers spreads across all areas of technology, and it probably will always be that way.

                What is interesting to me is that in a few years, this problem will not exist. I would say that most people below the age of 40 today are well versed in technology, and do not suffer from these problems. Therefore, in roughly 30-40 years, almost our entire society will have grown up with computers. No one will have to call their grandchildren for help with reading their email, or working their new smartphone, because we will all know how to do that. There may even be less of a need for real IT consultants, as less people will be calling to solve simple issues. As technology evolves, we will learn to keep up with it as we have been doing our entire lives. We had an early start, whereas older generations did not. This, I believe, is the reason older generations are resistant to new technologies.