Software designer NATHAN GOMES tells seniors how they may use technology to advantage to make their life far more exciting and adventurous, as long as they don’t give up!

I’VE always had a morbid fascination with old people and technology. In the deepest recesses of my dark heart, I find a cathartic euphoria in seeing these titans that have weathered through the worst experiences life throws at them, only to see them crashing down by the modern features of one of today’s New Age watches.
Once I remember sitting with my grandmother and patiently explaining to her that her phone is not spying on her, it is just that her front camera is turned on! It is something which has been floating around in my head for a long time. Why do seniors struggle with the new technology equipment which I take to like a duck to water and work with such ease?
Listening to various stories of seniors with new-fangled gadgets (as they are perceived) I’ve gained a few insights into the way seniors think. It is true that technology in the past 15 years has taken a giant leap forward. In the early 2000’s some of the most complex pieces of technological hardware put together is perhaps a computer, a dumpy Windows Vista which seems clunky in comparison to today’s sleek sophisticated laptops. Go back a little further and we see that technology was so much simpler back then when our grandparents and parents’ generation were younger – there was the easy entertainment of news value radio, signal based television which was once the most exciting acquisition in the house.

INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY
HOWEVER, nowadays almost every electrical appliance can be integrated into a larger electronic system to do with smart watches, smart TVs and even smart refrigerators. I find the last a bit to do with refrigerators comical since I doubt if I’m ever going ask my refrigerator what 2+2 is! However with the huge progression in software and hardware to contain it a bit of unfamiliarity and learning is mandatory.
Why can’t seniors adapt quickly and jump ahead with the mod cons of today’s new generation? Well, it isn’t that simple is it? Most technology in the past was for real conveniences, to help make tasks easier or to while away the time. However, in recent times conveniences have luxuries and these luxuries are perceived as necessities!
Once upon a time phones were simply a way to talk to others, but now we can not only follow live updates from our social circles and people’s known and unknown en masse, but also run a business, have all manner of knowledge in the palm of your hand – and at the same time in between multitasking we may buy our groceries from the comfort of our bedroom. Our lives have become intrinsically tied to our devices and that’s a drastic leap to take for the generation which has lived life mostly away from a screen big or small.

SMART EXPLOITERS!
IT IS a fact smart people intentionally take advantage of senior people when it comes to selling them some product about which they lack fundamental knowledge, this is a hurdle on their path when deciding to buy or not to buy the product concerned. Trickery is not limited to technicians scamming the elderly by asking them what they want exactly, be it computer parts or something to do with installing time bomb viruses. It can be a lot more insidious.
Social media is a mass media which isn’t regulated by government bodies, and for good reason. The issue begins with false advertising. If an advertisement were to be published in the newspaper or showed on TV, it would have to be reviewed by a board and fact checked to prevent any spread of misinformation. Whereas when it comes to social media sites there is a lot more laxity and the problem doesn’t just end with advertisements.
My mother got a video of fringe pop star from the 90’s predicting how the Internet would be used in today’s times with “startling accuracy” and this is going to be the downfall of civilization! I can’t speak for the downfall of civilization part but I knew the predictions were hocus-pocus, especially since I thought the video was filmed somewhere post 2019 as opposed to in the 90’s as the video stated. What tipped me off? The video quality was too good to be early 90’s while accounting for the budget the interview segment would have!

WHAT’S FAKE, WHAT’S REAL
FALSE WhatsApp forwards are spreading rampantly and the older generation seem to be lapping it up eagerly. The few who don’t are simply mistrustful of everything found online, to the point where a few of them still believe the recent moon landing is fake! In an ideal world people would respect the sanctity of online spaces and not post blatantly untrue material but this isn’t the old world we lived in any more. The only cure I can think off is higher online literacy across the board to easily spot fake and frauds and nail them as a warning to similar tricksters and con people!
I do believe there is still hope out there. One doesn’t have to know the latest new application in the world of technology or high technology to live a more comfortable life. All one needs a trustworthy source of information, which may be found in younger generation family or friends who are more clued up on the subject. One of the main issues I face in helping out in technological situations is that often there are so many preconceived notions about technology, that it stops being a matter of simply spreading awareness – but more about clearing up all the misconnections, before showing them how to use various gadgets.
When I was getting my grandmother to understand how the camera works, she kept alluding to the inner workings of refrigerators (which was wrong again). There is a stigma in the elder generation that technology is inherently evil, which is demonstrably false. For every case of online phishing and pyramid schemes, there are lives being saved and being made better through tech itself. The very infrastructure of countries these days is run on technology applications.

THE KNIFE ANALOGY
THINK of it like this. A knife isn’t inherently evil, it just depends on who is holding the knife. A chef or a murderer! At the end of the day technology is still just tools, it all depends on the people using it. And with enough knowledge anyone can use it to their advantage. Look at my grandmother now that I’m done with showing the way! She spends her days happily taking selfies with herself or with her grandkids. Say this is a real victory in helping seniors to use a little bit of technology to brighten up their life. If you’re a senior citizen, my advice is just stay in there, don’t quit, you’re not from the quitting generation, are you now?