Are we keeping up with technology?

Culture | July 7th, 2016

By Chuck Solly

I am very happy to join you and tell you about many tech subjects near and dear to my heart and hopefully yours.

HPR wants me to keep you up to date and share my opinions about computers, hardware, software and the Internet community in general. So stick around and let's see if we can unravel some of the hard things and some of the newest WOW! projects on the Internet.

This week let's take a look at what seniors have been doing with computers and the Internet. Are we keeping up with technology? No we are not…

About four-in-ten adults ages 65 and older (39%) do not use the internet, compared with only 3% of 18- to 29 year-old’s. According to the Pew Research Center (who keep track of such things), there are several reasons why such as Age, education, household income, race and ethnicity and community type.

I hear from a lot of seniors that they wish they were still living in the '50s. The computer has changed all that. There is so much information out there that we never had access to in the 1950s, information that is free and useful, information that can save your life and make your life easier and more pleasant.

I have friends that use Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). 65% of adults now use social networking sites – a nearly tenfold jump in the past decade. Social media has had an effect on every facet of American life. This is a great place to start using a computer.

What is that you say? You don't know how to type?? You know there is free software to teach you to type! The new Windows operating systems have their own built-in voice recognition systems. A set of headphones with a microphone is all it takes to get your thoughts or that book you have been meaning to write committed to your hard drive. With voice recognition you don't even have to type much any more.

What is that you say? Where do you start? There are many places to start. Buy a computer, laptop or desktop, get hooked up to the Internet. Find a comfortable chair and desk next to a window not too far from the coffee pot and maybe get a friend to help you get started. This friend can show you the operation of the mouse, how to use the keyboard and some of the other basics.

And here is the big news: You don't even have to be a senior to do this. All of you 30 and 40 Somethings can do the same thing!

Notice that I have not been too specific when it comes to brand names, types of computers, hard drive size, and many other specifics. We'll begin to cover some of these things in future columns. Suffice it to say now that you should spend $500-$700 for a desktop computer and $800-$900 for a laptop. The price is higher for portability. This is a good place to start for a beginner.

The computer can be anything you want it to be. My wife started using it for email and Ebay and now she is an Internet Wizard. I have friends who spend 4 to 8 hours a day on the computer talking about politics, religion, the weather and everything in between.

All hobbies are represented there including some that I'll bet you have never heard of. Don't believe me? People collect everything. Try this site when you get your computer: http://www.candywrappermuseum.com/. What did you do with all those old nasty candy wrappers when you were a kid?

Got a question? When you get set up on email, send me a note at rcsolly@gmail.com. I would love to hear what you use a computer for and even some problems you have.

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