Featured Story: Why Baby Boomers Fear Technology
September 17, 2009
Today I got a Facebook message from an old friend who wanted to tune into my Radio Show but didn’t know how to get there. She said “Annie, I’m sorry to be such a lousy techno baby boomer.” This reminded me that folks of our generation are really intimidated by technology.
For a long time I never understood why, I just thought it was my own personal failure. But then I took a Blogging Course, by Bea Fields which taught me about blogging and social media and advanced me more than ten years into the future.
The irony is that after I learned all of this new-fangled stuff, I started talking to other folks of my generation and they looked at me like, “What???” They couldn’t believe I was using Facebook, Twitter, doing a radio show and blogging regularly. Many of my friends and colleagues were still back in the dark ages, where I had been only a few months ago.
That was when I realized that it wasn’t just me who had a terror of technology, it’s all of our generation and here for the very first time is the REAL STORY of Why Baby Boomers Fear Technology.
It has to do with the fact that us Ole’ folk are simple. I don’t mean that we are simple minded, we’re not. We do have the capacity to think complex thoughts. But it’s kind of like this – when we sit down at a typewriter we say, “Ahh.” We feel comfortable because it’s the known world. It’s simple. You tap a few keys and your message comes out.
But when we sit down at a computer we feel “Arrghhh.” You tap a few keys and your message may or may not come out. It all depends on a complex series of factors which we don’t understand. Tap a few keys and all sorts of strange things happen. Then some idiot comes along and says “Hey why don’t you use Facebook or Twitter?” and you just want to go hide in a cave somewhere. Some days it all feels like too much. We wonder, can’t we just go back to the simple life that we were used to?
Remember those days when your phone didn’t have an answering machine? Ahh, the good ole’ days. The days when you did NOT have a cell phone, no pager, no computer, no email, no fax machine. Geez, where have those good days gone? Now we are required to keep up with the Y Generation who honest to goodness have computer chips built into their brains. I swear to God they do, I’m not making this up!
These young chickadees literally have computers glued to their hands. That is how they were born. It’s not only easy for them to navigate technology, it’s impossible for them not to. They don’t know how to cross the street without a GPS system and God forbid they should lose their cell phone. That’s the equivalent of a lobotomy for our generation. The honest story is that they were born with a chip in their brains that makes life appear as one gigantic computer. Everything is easy for them.
So don’t feel bad Ole’ folk. We’re doing pretty good for our generation. In fact if you’re even reading this blog post then you’re not just doing good, you’re doing GREAT! Give yourself credit today for all of the techno-savvy stuff that you have embraced. You have a phone right? And you were able to make your way onto the internet correct?
Ok, that’s enough for now. It’s probably time for you to rest. This techno stuff is tiring. It’s time for our afternoon nap.
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Annie,
Your posts just make me smile and laugh…you are such an inspiration to boomers everywhere!
I learn every time I read your posts, and your photos are great.
Keep up the great work…keep blogging! You are great with this tool.
Bea