We’re a desensitized society. We watch prime-time news of drive-by-shootings or full-out war activity – complete with spattering blood, cries of pain and wailing sirens – without feeling a thing. We view horror movies for pure enjoyment. We read novels of frightening tales or biographies of graphic abuse.
That desensitization is comparable when we take our views of the virtual world. We surf using Google with ease. We view complex websites and navigate social media as easily as we breathe. We land on a site and know exactly what to do at a glance.
We’re so used to the virtual world that explaining to someone how to turn on a computer becomes challenging. Try to convey the concept of search engines and finding reliable information to a first-time Internet user.
You’ll be met with blank stares and a mildly horrified expression. This is not good for business, people. Is your site contributing to this sense of stunned incomprehension?
In our race to keep up with technology, we’re unknowingly creating a divide so wide that we’re cutting people off from the products and services we offer. We have websites so complex that newcomers are paralyzed on first sight.
They don’t know what to do. They don’t know how it works. They don’t understand; this is foreign territory. We’re losing potential clients every day.
The New ‘Net User Experience
Recently, I helped two people come online after over five years of stubborn protest on their part. I urged them to shed the dark ages and get with technology until they finally gave in.
They each bought computers and signed up for Internet access. I had to convince them that the cheapest option, dialup, was not a good deal.
Enter the learning curve. It took each person hours of one-on-one training to understand how to operate their PC (the basics), learn to connect to the Internet and how to reach Google. Multiple breaks were needed, and so were multiple explanations.
It took more time to explain how to search, how to avoid bad sites and how to reach the information they wanted. More breaks. More explanations. I even drew some pictures to help with the visualization of how the virtual world works and wrote down systematic instructions.
But these people weren’t embracing technology, no matter how much they tried. They couldn’t. Every website they reached became an obstacle to overcome. Each one had different navigation, different options and different ways of maneuvering.
I received panicked late-night phone calls that went something like, “A big box popped up in my face and it’s asking me something and I don’t know what to do and how do I make it go away?”
Think it’s easy for a newcomer to handle this barrage of challenges? Not at all.
Both people grew frustrated within minutes each time they tried to use the Internet. They shut off the computer, vented in a huff and complained heavily. They wondered what the fuss was about and why they needed a computer in the first place.
They’re not alone.
Widen the Divide?
For all the people are getting online every day, many others are turning their backs to technology. The young, skilled youth that embraces electronics is on one side. The aging generations stand on the other. Some cross over… many don’t.
These older generations are made up of people that grew up without the Internet. They lived and worked without gadgets and gizmos. They know that none of this crazy world is necessary for survival.
This matters. Yes, there are plenty of young entrepreneurs hopping online and yes, there are some ‘net savvy seniors out there, but there is a huge group of people who have money to spend and needs to fulfill who can’t get what they want.
Take a good hard look at your website. Is it simple to use – I mean, really? Is it clear? Would a first-time Internet user become lost and confused? Could that person find information easily?
Ask yourself these questions with an honest eye and a good dose of sensitivity to other people’s needs. What you see and what I see about our sites is not at all what many people in the world see when they arrive.
More importantly, should we narrow the divide to make our websites more accessible? Or should we carry on, because these aging generations aren’t part of our future?
@James I agree with you 100%. My husband grew up loving computers, web sites,etc.. For him to fill out a form a paper is…..archaic. I knew nothing about them until I married him and I see myself in the eyes sometimes of the “non-tech generation.” Both of us have had some difficulty in navigating web sites. My husband,because he knows that it could have been made better and easier to navigate. Me…because at first I was too scared to “click” on the wrong thing. I’m much better now. Why do some websites have to be so difficult to navigate? They’re losing any potential readers or clients by making them that way.
Jenny Burr’s last blog post..First Time Parenting
James,
Oh dear I have a bit to say. Sorry in advance!
I don’t think I’m as old as we’re talking about, but somedays I feel like it…
Three years ago I touched my first PC since, well, since they weren’t called PCs and we had to learn to code in Basic (high school). For days I had to have a note next to it that read, “To turn it on, use the Pac-Man-looking-thing on the front of the tower.” (I still have the note. IT cracks me up.) Yes, someone with a very strange face on did have to show me how the first time.
/story 1
Multiple lessons, so true. The anguish that comes over people as they try to understand (but really don’t want to) is awful to watch. Many older people are great with the Internet, and folks who aren’t definitely know somebody who is. It’s like there’s a longing to be part of something larger, but the longing to just wait it out is stronger…
Thirteen years ago, I taught my Mom how to use the fairly fladgling internet, showed her that chatrooms could introduce her to friends and keep her from feeling isolated. These lessons led to meeting my (now ex-)husband in one of said chatrroms. Neither one had a happy ending, as the ex was a monster and my Mom (a zillion lessons later) still insists that blogs are porn and that the hokey website her sister set up for for the motel my parents run is working fine, dear. Dad is a bit more progressive. If only Mom were Internet proficient, it wouldn’t have been a wasted marriage…
/story 2
Should my site be usable for dial-up? Do I care about people who can’t wait for Flash to load? What if my navigation isn’t in the usual places? Can’t I be artistic and make all my buttons invisible until moused over?
Your site should be as simple, usable, accessible, and conventional as the growth you want, if you are in business. If it’s a personal site then only you and your friends give a fig. There’s an old saying: You are not like your customer. You know things they don’t, you do things they don’t during your day, you are in a different business than they are. Otherwise, they’d be the competition, not a customer. So treating customers and prospective customers in a way that works for you is crazy.
This happens in the real world, too. Places that can’t be bothered with a ramp because their building’s too old to “have to” comply with the ADA (is there something similar in CAN?). Yes, you may not “have to,” but are you in the business of shutting out dollars? Don’t think only walkers and wheelchairs–there used to be a bakery in Philly where mothers with strollers would shout their orders through the door because they couldn’t make it up the three steps, nor in the too-narrow door. Clubs with no signage where your friend has to tell you it’s the third black door on the left. Stores you go in to get the latest “it” gift for a niece and the clerks definitely can’t be bothered to help you (even though you’ve got more brass in pocket than all the other customers they’ll see that day) because, man, you’re too old to belong in here. So they watch you wander back out. Is that what your site is doing to visitors?
Same on the ‘net. It’s not just the elderly, but moms who never had time to figure it out and are just trying while baby’s at kindergarten; execs who are far too busy to wait for your annoying Flash or to guess where you’ve hidden the nav; the less fortunate among us, who’ve just been given a cast-off computer by the church, school, or family and are eager to find out what they’ve been missing; and the millions of invisible people with disabilities, who need accessibility just to function at all online.
Two years ago my own bank decided to upgrade their website so that people with OS 9 (Mac) could no longer do their banking online. [At the time, OS 9 was not even cold in the grave.] I owned newer computers, but had years of Quicken on my old one and always synched to the bank on it. I called, was told they were working on getting that function back; two months later, I was told that as it turned out, they didn’t care. In fact, they were surprised that it worked on a Mac at all. Boom.
/story 3
Three books folks who are considering this topic must read: Homepage Usability, Jakob Nielsen (lots of pictures); Don’t Make Me Think, Steve Krug (funny, yet serious); Bulletproof Web Design, Dan Cederholm (more advanced, but necessary). Read ‘em and make your own decisions.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
Hehe, my grandma spends ALL day on the Internet. She watches eBay like a hawk and you can only get hold of her through email! She bought herself a laptop for Christmas and I spent 2 days teaching her how to use it! She’s 78.
My father-in-law, on the other hand, thinks the Internet is what’s wrong with society today and will NEVER go online. But then again, he refuses to go along with the direct deposit account his boss set up for him too, because “that electronic BS is what’s wrong with the economy. No one keeps track of their money anymore because they never see it. ”
I write for the Internet professionally and I have a hard time with some website, so I can only imagine how hard it is for older adults. Heck, as I get older, it gets harder and harder to find my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, let alone navigate the Web!
I love this topic! Part of what I do is design websites, and the way I learned to do it was the *simplest, easiest way possible.* In order words, yes your site can be attractive, but it should also be clean and easy to use. People expect to see navigation at the top or at the left of the page. You should use arial font as a sans serif is easier to read on a monitor than a serif. It should be easy to read (i.e. no white text on a black background for miles!). It should be easy to get from one page to another without someone having to hit the back button repeatedly (they shouldn’t have to use the back button at all). It should load quickly – especially for the people who are (yes they’re out there) using dial-up. It should not have all kinds of things whizzing around the page (annoying!), nor should it have music load – something like that can scare somebody have to death – not to mention alert their boss they’re on a website instead of working! :-0
My mom, 74, is very web savvy – my father however, is not, and resents it. He has the patience of a gnat. If it takes him more than two seconds to figure out a navigation system, he’s out of there. That’s who designers need to design for!
Great topic, James, thanks!
Great topic, James. My mum is pretty internet savvy, but she gets flustered by sites that do unexpected things. When I moved to the tropics and had to exist on dialup for a while, there were a number of sites I never went to, because I just couldn’t wait for all the bells and whistles to load. Instead, I looked for the information somewhere with a quicker, easier interface.
Sharon Hurley Hall’s last blog post..Adding Some Glue To Online Relationships
Definitely. As much as I may know (or think I know) about the world (and though I’m only 38, I’m “old” to a lot of other people out there), there is so much that I *don’t know* that I can learn from my parents and their parents. If they want to come online and interact, we are all richer for it. The more ways we can learn from the experiences of the generations before us, the better.
(For instance, and here’s my “farming” theme again – I couldn’t grow crops if my life depended on it – but I plan to learn how to do this. And guess who will teach me? Probably not Gen Y…)
As well – if we can identify a niche market that targets the older generations, if we can provide a service, we can benefit from it financially.
I had a friend complain recently about an elderly person who couldn’t read the numbers on the debit card machine at the grocery store. I suggested to my friend that instead of complaining, maybe he could start a company that made debit card machines that catered to the aging population – e.g. with larger, easy to read buttons…
Opportunities are everywhere, and we can learn from everyone, if we have an open mind. Also, sometimes to learn, we also have to teach.
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
PS – *great* post James… once I learn how to farm, I’ll come and clear your woodlot and get to it…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
Chad,
I love your Grandpa and your Granny stories. Anybody who can design for them wins. Ha! My parents used to buy electronics for my mother’s parents, and complain that they never used them (unopened CDs of their favorite singers becuase the CD player was “too difficult,” etc.). Now it’s their turn to get stubborn (and they’re only in their 60s). The swath of consumers some people are willing to give up on is larger than people realize.
Amy,
That conversation is brilliant. I deal with a lot of small business owners and it is the same thing.
James,
Wow, I never heard of the car designers in lead suits. Really, really cool. Just what we all need to do (walk in the other guy’s shoes), taken to extremes. I adore that.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
James, I laughed at this, because this is what I have to do with many of my clients. It goes something like this.
Me to attorney: Your firm could benefit from a blog.
Attorney: What’s a blog?
Me: Here, I’ll show you one…
Attorney: Why is everything backwards like that?
*five hours later, gets them the blog, promises to do everything so they won’t have to touch it*
A few months later…
Attorney: Maybe I’d like to try it. Do you think I could do it?
Me: You passed the bar exam. You can do this.
*secretly goes in behind them fixing things so they’ll feel proud*
All of my clients except one have been able to catch on and do it. And they get excited about it. Sure, I’m putting myself out of long-term work some of the time, but I would rather have the satisfaction that comes from teaching someone independence. But I do think too many people/websites/businesses/etc assume that everyone knows everything they do about technology, when they could reach a broader audience if they kept in mind that not everyone is on their level. (Obviously, this wouldn’t apply everywhere, but for online banking, etc., you’d think that would be something they’d want everyone to be able to do.)
I just recreated my website (as a blog) for lawyers who want to hire a blogger. I’ve done very well without such a site bringing in business, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do and finally had time to play around with. One of my friends looked at it and asked “why do you say “click here”? doesn’t everyone know that by now?” Seriously, not everyone does. I’ve explained hyperlinks to dozens of people who do go online (they can find google) but don’t know how to navigate. These are the people I want as clients, so I’m trying to make it easy for them while at the same time not sound like I’m treating them like idiots. It’s a fine line, but I try.
(Kelly, I think I beat you lengthwise? Let’s see…
)
I use my Mom and Dad as guinea pigs all the time, either literally asking them to take a look or just hearing their voices in my head, sort of like putting on the lead suit. It’s well worth it, because 60 ain’t that old anymore, folks!
I was watching The Lion in Winter this weekend, for the millionth time. (Katherine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole. Super film.) There’s a scene where O’Toole, as Henry II, says at 50 he’s the oldest person he knows, even older than the Pope. Now, at 60, people have still got a lot of living to do. Make money online? Find a way to get granny, grandpa, my Mom, and Amy’s to embrace you. There’s one frontier for innovation.
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
Nez,
How about the bride’s mother? Her father, grandma, and three aunts who want to be involved?
2 more cents…
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
My Dad bought my Grandpa a computer 5 years – and returned three months later to find it in the trash.
My Granny received some Penis Enlargement emails and immediately considered technology to be evil.
I personally don’t think we need to make our websites for 70 year olds, but easy navigation and no pop-ups seems obvious enough to me. You don’t want to hassle your readers no matter how tech-savvy they are.
The simpler your design is the more effective it will be – with everybody.
Heck, I’ve had a computer since I was 8 years old and still come across some sites that confuse me…
Chad’s last blog post..Everything You Need to Be Free
My mother has a PC and the Win XP welcome screen says, “GRAMMA CLICK HERE.”
One day, three months down the road, I removed that. Bad move.
“What’s going on with this thing? Where am I supposed to click? It doesn’t say anything!!”
“Just click on the butterfly, Ma.”
“What do you mean, click on the butterfly. That picture? Click on it? Click on it how, James. And why is everything changed now? What happened? Why can’t this thing just be more easy to use!”
@ Brett – I think you brought up something very, very important. For all that the Gen Xers and Yers rule the area of technology, the older generations have a wealth of knowledge that we need. And we do need it, make no mistake of that. These people can train us, can teach us, and can guide us to take over once they’re gone. If all we are is a group of electronic wizards, we’re useless.
Catering to the aging population is another important issue. No one’s getting any younger.
The best example I can think of is the car company currently building a senior-friendly vehicle. The 30-something engineers dress themselves in lead-weighted clothing and restrictive gear to replicate lack of mobility and flexibility that older people suffer from. They wear filtered lenses to obstruct vision. Then they try to get in and out of cars or reach for seat belts or adjust the steering – and they’ve said they can’t believe how difficult it is.
So why are we making our virtual world so difficult? Where will these baby boomers come when they retire? Here, of course. Where will they spend their money? Investing in businesses, one would hope. But if they can’t access these locations and opportunities effectively, they’ll take their dollars elsewhere.
Perhaps setting up bungy-jumping outfits.
@ Jenny – Fear of breaking something often touted as delicate or complex is normal – and we perpetuate that fear. “DON’T TOUCH THAT! Oh, whew… okay. Hey, get your fingers off my screen. Watch out with that coffee! Whew, that was close… Okay, so now you want to click here…”
“Uh, no thanks. You’d better do it. I might break something.”
@ Christie – Yes. All the way.
@ Jamie – I just spent a weekend on dialup. I could access 3 sites out of 20, but it took two to three minutes for each. 7 sites were completely inaccessible – one took over 20 minutes to load. The average loading time for sites with too many graphics was about 7 minutes.
Hey… 7 minutes to access this business, 3 minutes to access this one… HMMMM! Wonder which I’ll choose?
@ Kelly – You too bring up an interesting point: The perception of websites. Porn. Sleaze. Advertising. Useless. Complex. Unnecessary. Try telling people that have that perception that they’re wrong when you plug “real estate contracts and forms” into Google and the first three pages are garbage sites.
Kelly – you just made me think of something. My mom’s company sends her 401K and benefits information via disk. One day I was rummaging through her end table for something, and I found this stack of CDs.
“What’re these, Mom?”
“They don’t send paper anymore. Only disks.”
“But you don’t use a computer. How do you know what your current benefits are?”
“I don’t know. I just hope when I go to the doctor that they’ll pay it. I asked them for paper, but they’re worried about trees.”
My mom is almost 60. She is the oldest person in her department and the only one who doesn’t own a computer. But other branches have folks older than my mother, so this was a bit discouraging to me.
I got on the phone to her benefits office and explained that they are obligated to provide benefits information in paper, if someone requests it that way. I’m all for trees, but come on. Sure, I could look up this stuff for my mother via the disk, but what about the other folks who don’t have computer-using daughters to intervene?
They also make them do their benefit elections online at year end. That website was a challenge even for me to navigate. Color barely readable (white type against dark background), tiny fonts, navigation drop downs that made no sense, links that only worked in IE rather than Firefox. It took me about an hour to find the one small thing my mother wanted to change on her plan.
I hate to think what things will be like when I’m older.
Certainly food for thought, James.
Although the type of business — and the targeted demographic — would play into your site’s design.
I would think health care and other informational sites would do well to have simple, obvious navigation, easy-to-read font, fast-to-download-over-dialup, etc., while a wedding vendor would probably have design sensibilities geared toward the prospective bride, with fancy flash okay, as most brides will visit the site on their work computer.
It’s akin to whether a site should have swearing
Nez’s last blog post..Dealing with Pressure Situations
Kelly – that’s so true. 59 seems older to my mom than it does to me I think.
Most of the lawyers I work for are somewhere between 40′s-60′s, and a few of them are more tech-savvy than I am — which really isn’t saying ALL that much. The majority of my clients though are somewhere in between. They get online to search for information. They know what a website is and that they should have one. They get frustrated when it takes them more than five minutes to do something, because it makes them feel stupid, and they quit.
I think the targeted demographic is certainly important. But I also think it’s a good idea for site designers/developers to keep in mind that not everyone of any demographic will be able to go with the latest trends. I’m 28, and I hate flash. I don’t do video. If a site is all in flash or I have to watch a movie, and I don’t get a choice to skip to a text version of that same information, I’m hitting the back button. I know plenty of folks who feel the same way — some older, some younger. If people don’t care that they’re losing business, then that’s cool by me. I’m happy to shop elsewhere. But I think a lot of people don’t realize they’re losing business. They’re just doing what they think everybody wants, because it’s the latest thing.
@Amy: I’m totally with you there on Flash. I do think it’s almost universal: we want things FAST, FAST, FAST. However, that’s something that Flash usually isn’t — especially the ones with the super long pre-loader-percentage-bar-thingy.
I prefer substance over Flash.
Nez’s last blog post..Dealing with Pressure Situations
Hey, James –
Great post! Thanks for bringing this topic to light. Usability guru Ginny Redish recommends that, when building a new site, you create “personas†that embody the characteristics of your users. When writing for the Web, I create multiple personas, including one of an elderly user who is not familiar with the Internet, and then I write to how I think “she†will look for information. The result is a usable site that’s accessible to all visitors.
- Rebecca Smith
@James: Sorry to hear about your trip back to the Stone Ages! Now you know how I live! I actually had one client scoff at me when he wanted to send a huge file complete with graphics and I had to drive to the library to access it!
My grandmom has finally decided to switch to broadband after 5 years with AOL. I told her it would be cheaper. That was all it took!
@Jamie – I still use AOL. It’s faster than the cable connection (and cheaper) in my town. I don’t even have cable tv. But I do have a netflix addiction.
@James: well, that’s just it, and so much more also – how we treat them will be reflected in how we ourselves are treated when our children rule the world, and while we may *think* we are technical wizards, I wonder if we may feel a bit archaic in 30 years…
(Keyboards! Mice! Bah! Neural interfaces or virtual retinal displays for me!)
The older generations can learn, if a patient teacher is there to guide them. Much like my kids show me how to enjoy life every day, again and again. They are patiently waiting for daddy to put down the computer and follow spiders around the back yard…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
@Amy: I’m with you too on that. I like a nice looking site for sure, but I want to get to the information, to the interaction – never mind “punch the monkey and win $1000″ or “watch this video first then I’ll show you the article”… ick
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
Ellen,
*blushes* I did go on just a little. Afterwards, I thought, I really should have cut, pasted into blasted TypePad, and called it a trackback. Afterwards is a useless time to think that.
My Dad had all the same (well, trucks, not the horse, but the icebox and all), in Waltham, MA, at about the same time. My Mom’s parents (the same ones who wouldn’t use the CD player) were all into gadgetry, and before she was born they bought a refrigerator, which everybody in rural Connecticut where they lived came to gawk at. Some of my Mom’s cousins still remember that! What did happen between refrigerators and CD players? I guess I’ll find out, soon enough.
BTW the real irony about my tech-averse parents is that they both were computer programmers for a company that worked for the gov. back in the 1960s (my father continued in programming until the early 90s). They had a hand in inventing the stuff that baffles and frustrates them today.
RLD,
Believe it or not, “click here” has been shown in study after study to increase clicks by 50% to over 100%, no matter the intended audience. If clicks are what you’re after, why shoot yourself in the foot? It isn’t dumbing down, it’s making it obvious. What’s mind-numbing to the creator who looks at it every day (simplicity, conventions, ease of use) is a relief to the casual visitor. Even your most engaged visitors are busy people, for whom a few conventions are a time-saver; none of them look at it as often as you do.
Text can be simply presented and beautiful. Not that I’m against images, but text-only does not have to be a bore only suitable for the old fogeys.
James,
39 is young? I’m as rockin’ as all hell but young is a bit of a stretch.
Until later,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
Never, never, never getting a phone that texts. Well, never using it, if I have to. I want voices in my life. Present company excepted…
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
Hmm, I can skate, I prefer not to swear, and I fondly remember when the creaks were just starting. I enjoy watching my daughter sled down the hills. Harry, my cane if you please. On the other hand, I love a pickup game of basketball, at which I am terrible but enthusiastic, I still look great in a skirt and heels, and I still see the point in both, which some of my slightly older friends do not.
Snowballs roll downhill mighty fast.
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
Hello James,
Thanks for this great article.
Our generation has to keep one foot in the future and one in the past, and our future success rides on the ability to harness technology to our benefit. We just have to. So I got off my **** and got me a new site. I had to. And oh man, it was a steeeep learning curve. But I’m glad I did it. Thanks for the inspiration. That’s what I come here for. Oh, and the company and the good content also.
But we also need to learn and hold sacred the wisdom of the generations before us.
For the older gen, of course this applies too, they also a steeeep learning curve. Everything new we learn has this bell learning curve built into it (usually). But it keeps our neurons snapping. It keeps us young. But I think that the learning curve for the older generation has them flummoxed. Technology is increasing at a pace that baffles them.
When my dad was little they had their milk delivered via horse and cart.. They had an “icebox,” and the iceman would come and deliver ice for the box. This was only 65 or so years ago in Milwaukee.
My dad hates computers.
@Kelly – thanks for your nice article imbedded in this post.
@Everyone else – for all of your knowledge. I treasure it and learn from you all.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..Moving from Blogger!
I actually have mixed feelings about this – mainly because I see the extreme worst case scenario. For example, when I first read the comment about the lead suits, my mind first went to the elderly man who slaughtered numbers of people walking in the parking lot, because he was no longer capable to drive. Or the elderly women who need to stick their heads out the window to line their cars up with the lane lines, because they can no longer see far enough.
I realize that old age is down the line for all of us and one day, we may be faced with age-related handicaps. It’s sad and horrible, but I simply can’t justify using size 45 font to accommodate the elderly. I’m all for usability, but if I were to put “click here” as a link, I would be talking down to everyone else who used my site.
The tech savvy the spectrum deserves to have an enjoyable surfing experience and if that involves flash, so be it. I would be lost without some of the “bells and whistles” on a web page, because I like to watch previews of new video games. If that site were to start catering to older generations and provided only text, I would honestly stop visiting.
I think that this is a great thought James, though I don’t necessarily agree. It does get me thinking about how to include the older generations in a capacity that they would feel comfortable in.
—P.S.: sorry for being a pessimist!
RLD: Taekwondo Happiness’s last blog post..Update
My dad struggles with the comp. My mom calls me for tech support and is so proud of herself when she learns something new.
@ RLD – Pessimism and disagreement is a good thing. You bring up excellent points and all sides have value to the subject. I’m really enjoying reading the well-thought-out comments going on here today.
(I’m also wondering where the hell everyone was this weekend! No comments!!)
I do think that one common thread that has come up throughout everything is the difficulty that the aging population has to embrace change. Change certainly is difficult and the Internet brings constant change at an extremely rapid pace. I wonder, had older generations been integrated into the fold from the start at a pace and with training that suits their needs, would thing have been different?
Even for the younger generations, like myself and Kelly and Ellen (hey, yes, we are young, dammit!)… were things not introduced so quickly with a “do this” tone, would we have adapted better? I’m not 20 and I can’t text message on a phone with my thumbs (GASP!). Would I be a thumbster today had the change not been so rapid or directed at youths?
Or maybe I’m just… ech. Not with the times and protesting change
@ Ellen – A WP BLOG!!! *dances with joy* I’m so proud of you!!
36 here and I’m young. I can skate, I can swear, I can play guitar and go sledding in the snow. I can build a fort and build a treehouse and I can roll in the grass for the hell of it. Ain’t nothin’ old here.
Though… I am starting to creak in the mornings.
I look terrible in a skirt and heels. But I do see the point in them… on someone else
It’s an interesting discussion. (The generation game and computer usage – not James in a skirt…)
I see this as more of a personality gap than a generational gap. Some people enjoy using the computer, others do not.
One of my closest friends from high school doesn’t even have an e-mail address and she’s an attorney. Also my sister-in-law, who is a nurse, is skittish about using the computer. My teenaged daughter has a friend (also teen-aged) who views the Internet as a “waste of time.”
On the other hand, my father-in-law, who is nearing 70, is an avid computer user. I regularly receive e-mail updates from my aunt, who is in her mid-70s.
Laura Spencer’s last blog post..Does Your Content Deliver?
@All: Aubrey De Grey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_de_Grey claims with his research that the first person who will live to be 1,000 years old is already 60. So we’re all pretty young, I guess…
Besides, old age and treachery always overcomes youth and skill.
@RLD: your points are all valid, I agree with James. The flash does have a place, as it is unlikely that my parents will go to that video game site. It is possible to help them, though e.g. get them a REALLY BIG monitor and make the text large by default.
It’s a big web. There’s a place for everyone and everything, and if you can cater to the largest population base with lots of money and time on their hands, you stand to make a bundle… food for thought.
(*runs off to start a blog catered towards greybeards*)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
@ Laura – I think that seniors embracing the ‘net are not the majority, but I think they could be if things were more user-friendly. Give them some confidence and training, and they could certainly surf.
But add in the fact that eyesight does diminish around 35 and onwards, brains start slowly shrinking and degenerating, forgetfulness occurs more often, hearing starts to go… age is what it is and the physical effects of it can’t be denied. Are our sites ready for that?
Gah! It’s not just for the elderly… a lot of UI in general just sucks. For example, my boyfriend works for an extremely well known web company, and when I see the projects that they launch I just shake my head. They have all the resources they need to make really good websites, and yet somehow every launch, there’s stuff that’s broken, or doesn’t make any sense. It frustrates me, because if they just had one day of user testing (seriously, I’d do it for free! They are in dire need of it…) then things would look and work so much better, and the media wouldn’t slam them every time they release something new! Oi.
@ Amy – I completely agree about the websites for health plans and 401Ks and stuff like that… I was helping my boyfriend do his, and it took me at least an hour to figure out exactly what we wanted to do! It’s so frustrating that they refuse to make the information harder to find.
Oh and I’m the same way about video and flash. I think it’s a waste of time for me to sit through it when I could read the same information so much faster!
@ Brett – Ick… spiders. Your family can have all mine!
@ Kelly – CLICK HERE! Hehe just kidding, but… did it work?
@ James – I’ve been creaking in the mornings since I was 16! Does that make me old?
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
Haha my comment is awaiting moderation… I suppose I deserved that!
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
@ Allison – You’d be surprised how many of you hit moderation despite being regular readers. I have yet to figure out why, because we don’t have this issue on other blogs. It’s a good thing I sit at my comp 24/7 just to bring excellent customer service to all my readers
Oh, and as for creaking bones… No. Let’s blame it on lack of liquid in our joints.
@ James – Oh good. I was afraid it was just me!
Oh yes. Of course! Injuries from all that dancing will do that too.
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
Allison,
Worked like Pavlov’s dogs, baby! LOL!
Y’know, I’ve been there, commented about that.
Actually I thought with the moderation it might be… well, you know my Ma keeps telling me there’s porn in these blogs somewhere… I thought maybe James was trying to keep you from making his blog filthy, so of course I had to click. Hysterical.
Later…
@ Allison – Not only did it work on Kelly, but it worked on me. Kelly’s right, by the way. Click here increases clicks – and adding please in front increases the chances again.
@ Kelly – My blog is all about porn. Why do you think we keep posting sexy pictures? To please our readers? Sheesh!
@ Allison, send them my way, the kids will follow them around and talk to them for hours… picture all the poor little spiders running for their lives, huffing and puffing… my kids are good, though, they don’t squish them
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
James,
You’re gonna have to get better on the sexy photo selection. I’ve said that before. Actually don’t get better at it or my cheeks will get all red.
Paragraph #1 is about the only thing I haven’t yapped about today (so why not?). Desensitizing is to an extent, a matter of choice. I completely avoid evrything you mentioned in paragraph 1, and so have most of my sense of “ick” intact. And the red cheeks and all. It’s a good thing.
Until later…
@ Kelly, I’m afraid to make a joke about fetishes, and no I’ve not been into the whisky today
(PS like your latest post Kelly, you must have worked where I work at some point)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
@ Kelly – Woohoo!
@ James – MWP: Your one stop shop for all your porn needs! I mean… porn? What’s that? *blushes*
@ Brett – Tons of spiders coming your way! Big ones, little ones, ugly hairy ones, and maybe a few earwigs thrown in for good measure! Don’t worry though, none will jump out of you when you get your shirt.
Your kids are so adorable… I wish I had that attitude about spiders! Instead, I squeak, jump, and drop a heavy book on them. Then wait for my boyfriend to come home to get rid of them. 
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
Brett,
You can leave cigarette butts near a nuclear facility? *delete, delete* There’s altogether too many smiley faces around here. I’m just not gonna do it.
I’m in for rum tonight. It’s Tuesday. (Except where James is, it’s Wednesday there.)
Fetishes? What fetishes? I’m just off to sew a miniskirt for little Pen right now, excuse me…
@ Kelly – We’re working on desensitizing you. Slowly, slowly…
@ Allison – Oh yeah, come on. What’s porn? This coming from a woman that makes SUSHI recipes? Mmmhm. Like I’m supposed to believe that.
Hey, does anyone here besides me know what Chinese spaghetti is or is this meal a Quebecois thing?
@ James – Oh, I am COMPLETELY innocent! I swear! Really!
Chinese spaghetti???? Unless that’s another name for chow mein… I have no clue what you’re talking about.
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
Damn, out of rum. *pours cognac*
I do not wish to be desensitized. Sensitive is good. My sister’s been trying to get me to see Jaws for… okay how long’s that been… just so she can convince me to watch something more awful… No thanks, I like being scared at Hitchcock films. No blood-guts-gore-shock value for me. I’m old-fashioned. Nuthin’ wrong with that.
Off for a sip.
@ Allison: all bugs spiders earwigs are welcome at our house, the cat will eat the excess…
@ Kelly: well you see, two years ago at Christmas the VP gave us all shit (like, all 2000 of us) because someone was smoking in a 50 year old reactor building and so instead of Merry Christmas we got “I’m gonna get you”… seriously… and we have a procedure for “not-my-jobism”, on the 9th revision.
Hot and cold running rum at my house, come on over – bring Little Pen, I need to see this miniskirt, oooh, is it leather
@ James: and she makes Darth Sushi at that…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
Desensitized. Let us be aware of what we put in our minds. Really, it is such a pertinent topic.
When I saw Saving Private Ryan I had to leave the theatre. I started having a panic attack. I’m serious. It was that bad.
What we injest/digest through our minds is who we are.
Kelly, I’m on the Chardonnay tonight. Cheers!
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..The Birds Are Singing!
@ Brett – That’s what I need… a cat to eat the bugs! Too bad my boyfriend is convinced all cats are out to get him…
I’m working on the Darth Sushi… meanwhile, anyone interested in Halo 3 Sushi?
@ Kelly and Ellen – Yep, I don’t do scary/gory movies either… I get nightmares waaaay too easily.
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
@ Allison: go to Harry’s new blog and look up the Pixie Bob, one seriously cool cat http://thefelinepov.com/featured-breed-the-pixie-bob I don’t have one but I want one…
Now, Halo 3 Sushi – I could go for that right now (hungry!)
@ Kelly & Ellen: I hear you, stopped watching the news a while ago. The news programs don’t seem to realize that showing blown off limbs in the Iraq “thing” is not good at 5 pm. Kids watch TV at that time, sometimes…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
@Allison & Brett: Yes, PBs are seriously cool and mine’s a great bug hunter…except at night when he catches one and decides to bring it to my bed to play with.
Man, that’s so cool, someone linking out to my blog inside my blog!
@ Harry: hey, the least I can do for all the help you’ve been giving me…
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
Harry, I like your cat, and of course, you too. And Allison, your recipes make up for all the evil in the world. And Brett, maybe if we had more reality in this country (US) we wouldn’t be so stupid. I hate war. And how can I say hate? It’s what drives it all. And Happiness, your name says it all. Glad you’re back! Cheese head.
And Ellen, you have had enough wine for tonight, so give it a rest already.
Goodnight my fellow travelers in space and time. I really hope we can meet in person someday. E
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..The Birds Are Singing!
@ Ellen: I agree, I think everyone needs a reality check. Maybe an asteroid on a near-miss trajectory or something would do it…
(all this talk of booze tonight – oh well, I give in *raises his glass of Smithwick’s* – what is Smithwick’s, you say? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithwicks a fine Irish Ale)
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
@ Ellen: Thanks for the warm welcome back
RLD: Taekwondo Happiness’s last blog post..Update
The closest I’ll get in the near future is Hampton, New York, where I spend about 1/2 the summer. NO, not The Hamptons. It’s a little town on the Vermont border, about 200? miles from Quebec. My parents own a motel there, but I’m very shy and I never talk about The Panorama Motel, especially not at the MCE blog.
Is that within tossing distance? Close quarters with family does make one a bit thirsty.
Kelly’s last blog post..Lazy
Brett,
I love Smithwick’s! (Well, if I have to have beer… well, if I can’t get Guinness…) A fine Irish woman and a fine drink are not too long parted, unless you want a crabby Irish woman…
One cognac and I started to feel all mushy. I gave in. Little Pen whispered if it had to be mini, could it at least be wool? After all, I am sticking pins in a man from snowy Quebec. So a lovely grey wool it is. With fishnets, though. No voodoo doll is complete without a little *kick.*
Later, much later?
Kelly
Kelly,
Looks like we have a common ground
(I drank all of the Guinness already this weekend…) if you find yourself here then a fine drink you shall have!
Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
It’s about 7 hours from where I live according to Google Maps (if you go there and do a reverse direction map to Deep River Ontario you’ll see how far out in the boondocks I really am!)
Not impossible though. I have a fast car
and always willing to travel for beer!
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
@ Brett – I think it’s a beautiful cat! Unfortunately, that looks like the one that “attacked” my boyfriend. Long story short, the cat accidentally scratched him when begging for food and then slept at his feet, so he was sure the cat was out to get him.
@ Ellen – Awwww, yay! That makes me feel good about my self!
@ Brett again – Another drink I have never heard of… but I’m glad there was an explanation this time!
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6
@ Allison – hey, any time you want a Smithwick’s let me know
Brett Legree’s last blog post..the road ahead.
Allison,
1. Enter local Irish bar.
2. Say, “I’ll have a Smithwick’s.”
3. Look very in-the-know.
4. Repeat, while you can stand.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Change
@ Brett and Kelly – Thanks, but… I don’t drink. And to think, I’m 1/4 Irish! It’s shameful, I know. *runs away, trying to avoid having alcohol forced down her throat*
Allison’s last blog post..Taste and Create 6