Should people over 60 Join Facebook?

[pierrelebel]

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter. I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, my 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space. 

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.  

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud. 

I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-u-lating." You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship... 

When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me. 

To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how I lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions, checking bathrooms, and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings. 

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them with me. 

Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, No, but I do fart a lot." 

P.S. I know some of you are not over 60. I figured your sense of humor could handle it.... 

We senior citizens don't need anymore gadgets. The TV remote and the garage door remote are about all we can handle.

[lovbugshop]

why not?  ITS GOOD TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH FAMILY.

[mmarway]

cumos55, if you are going to the Auction today, my dad Wayne, is bidder 17. Stop by and say hi to hi...

[valve37]

Yes by all means, great for finding old friends.

Oh by the way Pierre what was the name of your company? Out of 1800 I may even know someone that worked for you.

[cumos55]

Already know bidder 17.

[mmarway]

Be sure to tell him not to buy any more "crap" then ; )

[rose-dee]

I do wonder whether technology is creating a generation -- those now in school -- who will have both soft bodies and soft minds.  Both could be very serious issues in the future.

Soft bodies for the obvious reason that kids no longer spend the majority of their time running around outdoors or learning new motor skills, building bodies that are healthy.

Soft minds, because the tender and malleable brains of children are now being "plugged in" to all manner of electronic gadgets and virtual realities very, very early.  Perhaps no one has stopped to ask whether once set, those pathways may not be so easy to change. 

Will these children be capable of regaining the flexibility of thought and mental adaptability should they need it someday?  What happens to a human being whose mental training consists of infinite bits or bursts of excitement, with little depth of thought and no physical skills to balance the frenetic mental activity?

Will they be capable of forging meaningful human relationships (or even understanding common courtesy and friendship) when most of the leisure time they had as youngsters was spent tapping on a plastic communicator that communicates very little of substance or depth about life experience?

Perhaps a less immediately likely scenario, but what will happen if the energy that all these devices run on becomes economically unavailable to the masses -- will they have the psychological tools to cope with a "quiet" existence?

I worry for this youngest generation now growing up.

I sometimes think we Baby Boomers may be the last generation to have had a firm foot in the "real" world of face-to-face human interaction, and also of interaction with the natural world.  Perhaps we're the last to be even capable of choosing to unplug this or that device from our lives, to be able to discriminate between a useful electronic tool and one that provides just more mental or emotional "noise".

A few years ago, when I still had an office position, we hired a young university student for the summer.  She seemed bright and eager to learn.  Yet day after day, every time I approached her desk, there she was, "thumbing" wildly on the Blackberry in her lap.  She made only feeble attempts to bother to hide her compulsion as I went by.  I finally had to remind her that she was being paid to work, that the device was distracting her, and would she please put it away.  She would stop, temporarily, until she figured I was out of range, then half an hour later she was at it again.  So it went until I eventually felt I couldn't give her any further leeway, and I had to recommend that she be let go.  I felt sad about it, she seemed likeable, but so completely hooked on her device that she was totally hopeless as an employee.

Another anecdote: Two summers ago, on a grand road trip across Canada, my husband and I stopped at a park on the shores of Lake Superior near Wawa, Ontario to walk the beach and marvel at the great lake and the beautiful tranquillity.  Suddenly I heard the familiar chitter-chatter of a one-sided conversation -- a young woman was standing right in front of us, on top of a sand dune, effectively blocking our view of the lake, iPhone to ear, pacing back and forth gesticulating and talking loudly to someone who-knows-where.  I was so dismayed.  Here we were in a pristine setting, in front of a bold and deeply affecting natural scene, and what do we have instead -- someone yakking on a damn cell phone!  She wasn't about to stop, so we left in disgust but also with some sadness that that person obviously felt it more urgent to engage in a mundane conversation while standing in front of one of the most majestic scenes on earth.  What can I say?

Young people, whose brains are being trained up on every electronic device available, may not learn the simple pleasures of peaceful time without interruption, will not know what contemplation is without the constant inane chatter, won't experience the quiet self-satisfaction of working with the hands, may never develop the capacity of constructive solitude, and may not learn what it means to hold onto anything lasting.

The experiential gulf is wide, and widening.  I fear that by the time this new generation reaches adulthood, we at the other end of life's spectrum may seem like beings from another world...

Should people over 60 join Facebook?  I doubt there's really anything important for us to learn there, but it may be a useful tool in the hands of those who are able to see it for what it is - a promiscuous, free-for-all social monster created by the mind of a self-absorbed 20-something college student.   

[i*m-still-here]

When I see someone in public with device in hand or to the ear.......... 

It grates like socks and sandals.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Today one of the guys in the shop ......I called his name three times.....no significant evidence he heard me. So I walked over and he had two wires from his Blackberry in his ears. Vewwwwwy slowlyyyyyyyy I reached around to his clip on his belt and turned it up FULL BLAST!!!!!! I swear his eyes almost popped out of his head. Lesson learned and a new rule ........no listening on earphones in the shop.

[cumos55]

Many of the younger generation are making the adjustment... and not buying or turning off that new technology when it should be turned off.

My daughter has a summer job  and from 8:00 AM  until 6:00 PM that cell phone is off. 

Sometimes she forgets to turn it back on...

They learn what not to do.

Some  do turn things off or do not buy...

Others do take longer to learn... and as with that young miss that got fired....  Some learn the very hard way... or they blame it on the rules....

Our new technology was Television.... Imagine carry one of those old Televisions to one's ear... or on the bus... with a very, very, very long cord....Ouch....

[pierrelebel]

"Our new technology was Television.."

I still remember June 1953 when my dad purchased our first television for the Queen's coronation.

Back in those days in Montreal, we had access to one station, one channel: CBC sometimes in French, sometimes in English.

[weaversofspeech]

A Friend of mine in Peterborough remembers their first  Television in the eary 50's  They did not buy it they rented it It was cheaper than buying one

It was coin operated  They had to deposit 25 or 50 cents and it would operate for 30 to 60 minutes

His home became one of the most popular places in the neighbourhood

The Neighbors  would pool their money and gather there  one or two nights a week and watch wrestling The station that could be seen here (not sure where it was located) was only airing shows a few hours a night 2 or 3 times a week and most of the time wrestling wass the only shows avaliabe

He told me half the time it was nearly impossible to see  the images due to snow and static on the screen but people loved the new modern technology

My first memories of watching TV was watching the Soupy Sales Show in the late 50's in Toronto I think there were only 2 or 3 stations avaliable   Soupy Sales was on a TV station out of a Sudbury Station

As a kid I remember thinking Sudbury was the place to be  They had all the major stars there cause they were on that station

Never dawned on me till later that TV shows originated other places

weavers

[cumos55]

New technology for every generation.

[puckstopshere]

Due to my on again/off again status with this board, I have been unable to comment - until now.

Thanks, Pierre!  Happy to know that I am not alone. 

The worst thing for me is that everyone knows that I spend a lot of time on the computer.  What they don't realize is that I am almost always of eBay. 

Unfortunately, they think that all this time means that I must be a computer geek and can solve all their problems.  Not so.  I get lost really quickly when I am not in my eBay element.  I don't speak the computer geek language and I certainly don't understand it.

I also don't have a smart phone.  I have the cheapo phone for seniors.  It costs me 15 bucks a month and does nothing except the simplest "phone" functions.  It is only turned on when I want to make a call.  Otherwise it is off and nobody can call me. 

Technology is ruining this world of ours.  We old folks still chat - over a cup of coffee, not on a Blackberry.  Communication is mostly verbal - face to face if possible.  I don't Tweet.  I have a Facebook account, but t seems to get hijacked all the time and I have to delete a lot of crap that I don' agree with.

I watch the young folk doing thumb exercises on the latest communication device.  Lots of times, they are texting the person next to them.  My own son cannot go ten minutes without checking his Blackberry.  I think if he suddenly lost it, he would go into shock.

It was a wonderful world when people communicated with each other.  Now that they need an intermediary device, who knows where the world is headed. 

[puckstopshere]

And I can't type either!!!!!!

[cumos55]

As sellers on eBay we are the absolute ... in not dealing with our buyers.. face-to-face....

Rarely do we meet someone face to face... only with a local pickup....

Many times have I wondered what my buyer looks like.

Wonder what things would be like is we had video communication with our buyers... and how many would turn that video camera off.

Many sellers develop a measure of fear with a local pick up....  But then you never know who that buyer is....

The new technology means less face-to-face communication... and that is promoted everywhere....  with all of the new  little devices.

The most used camera is the one that comes with a telephone...

Have a riot and the police confiscate all of the cell phones....find all of the pictures and find the bad people... 

Something unique is happening  and out come the mini-cameras...

Someone over 60 should ... Keep it Simple... when working with computers.

The one things that is promoted with seniors is the playing of games on mini-handheld game systems  ... very good for keeping  the fingers active  and the eyes very active... with a resultant brain that is very much stimulated...