It’s not just the “olds” who are confounded by technology these days, is it?
(“Olds” was the term my then young siblings used 20-plus years ago to describe anyone over the age of 25).
Ear buds, wireless headphones, laptops, smart watches, smart appliances, smart cars and, of course, smart phones are just some of the newish devices incorporated into our daily lives that are relatively more complicated than turning on and forgetting.
There was a time when a wrist watch required only the setting of the date and time, and off you went.
To operate a phone in the days before cell towers you merely plugged one end of a cord into a wall socket and the other end into your phone. The hardest part of figuring out voicemail of the day was what sort of clever greeting you would record and leave for callers.
But the world has moved on from the days of two-cans-and-a-string communication.
Our mode of reaching out and touching someone today is faster, more convenient, more expensive — at times — and cheaper — at other times.
And more complicated.
It’s not just the hardware that may give people across the ages a reason to pause and ponder, but the software as well.
With every new gadget we buy we’re instructed to connect to the internet and download instructions or click here for updates.
Device registration requires email addresses and in some cases a phone number for text messages. And though we give that information willingly and eagerly, we open ourselves up to the possibility of being scammed. Hacked by people with the intention of stealing our information and/or our money.
Is the text message with a link to our bank really an attempt to address fraudulent activity or is it a way some shadowy figure can gain access to all of our pass codes?
Is that harmless photo-taking app we downloaded onto our phone really just a way to jazz up selfies and family pictures or is the code written into the software tracking our movements and granting access to the microphones that eavesdrop on our private conversations?
You don’t have to be an old to be fooled by any of this. Being flummoxed and duped by technology can happen to anyone. In that way, I guess, it is the great equalizer.
