TCS members who are 50+...

I think whoever has mastered online searching (and TCS!) and are over 50 (perhaps even younger), deserve a big round of applause.

I'm from the first generation who was raised with computers at home (albeit the clunky and archaic Commodore 64 ), but at 32, I'm still somewhat computer illiterate, and I have NO excuse.

I just think it's absolutely amazing and so progressive that generations born prior to the 1970's have embraced technology to the degree they have and possess such internet/tech savvy!

You'd love my mother-in-law, then. She's about to be 85, and is having an absolute ball with her computer.

I don't really think it has all that much to do with age -- except inasmuch as we old fogeys didn't learn these skills as kids. But in all age groups, I see those who have an affinity for the technology, and those who are complete techno-peasants, and everything in between.

Don't be too quick to berate yourself about not having taken to the technology to the same degree as others of your generation. Clearly you have embraced it to the extent that is necessary for you to function in today's world. That's great. And I'll bet you have other skills that leave the rest of us in the dust.

BTW--thanks.

Here here!

Fran your MIL sound brilliant!, good for her

I'll be 50 this year, . I've played computer games since the original tennis ones, and had different consoles in the early days. But learnt computer skills as my son grew up, he had a Sinclair Spectrum that I used to make programmes with (only little ones). When we got him his first computer I had to learn how to do things, there was no Windows in those days, and no support, so it was learnt from the manual. When it went wrong we had to figure it out for ourselves.

I've told the kids, when (if) I get old and decrepid, just put me in a home with a computer and a games console and I'll be in my element

I think also that for those 50+ who were around and working when computers started to really take off were probably filled with an enthusiasm for something new that gets lost if the things have always been there for younger ones.

Hubby is 56 and was responsible for computerising a previously manually held record system in the early 70s. I was trained by him too and many people we know were caught up by the excitement of something new.

Fran - your MIL is fantastic!!

My dad is 60 and just bought his first computer about 6 months ago now. It is amazing how much stuff he has picked up considering he had never surfed the net in his life! He has already booked holidays and flights as well as ordered stuff for his car

Sometimes though, he will have a bit of a glitch and ring me to ask a really dumb question.... like the other day, he couldn't remember how to forward an email! It was really hard to explain to him, he kept saying, "won't I lose the attachment though?" I said that he would only lose it if he deleted it! lol

my mum is 54 but she still doesnt get how to use computers and mobile phones!

Aww FrAN! thats soooo wonderful about your MIL!

wow, fran, that's cool! I am closer to 50 than I wish I were, but I am pretty good with it. Fran, your mama in law is amazing!

Fran, that is absolutely amazing to hear about your mother in law! And thanks for the vote of confidence... Perhaps battling the traffic in downtown Toronto on a scooter could be considered a skill.

Actually, my dad was the one who bought our Commodore in 1981, and he would be 53 now, and I'm sure he would be programming at IBM or something if he were still alive. So, most definitely there are many people over 50 who've taken to computers like ducks to water.

Nevertheless, I think taking the initiative to master technology is fantastic, particularly when it wasn't something they were exposed to a youngster!

Almost everything I've learned about surfing the net I learned from sis - who 10 years older! I didn't get this computer -my first and so far only - until 2001. (It's sis' old one.)

Mom is 76 and refuses to touch my computer ever since the old monitor blew while she was sitting next to me as we did genealogy. I keep trying to tell her it was the monitor's time to go.

Luckily if I need "tech support" I have my niece and 2 techno-geek cousins who can help.

My husband is 50 and never touched a computer prior to me, that was 6 years ago. I recently bought a new notebook because we were competing for the computer and now he has his own to tinker with.

How cool is that!

I had my mom who will be 76 play some computer games on my PC. I don't know if they will ever buy one-which could be good as my mom would probably email 800 times a day (with attachments of course!!)

My oldest sis, who will be 80 this summer, got her first computer a year or two ago. She's doing fairly well with it, though she does have to get her daughter-in-law over periodically to get her out of some kind of mess she got into. But she is one spunky lady. She even still gets up on the roof and shovels the snow off several times a year in her northern Minnesota winters.

Another sis got her first computer about a month or two ago at age 73. She's having a harder time, as she had not even used a typewriter since high school, and she says she wasn't very good at it then. She never did learn to drive a car, which tells you something about her mechanical skills.

The neat thing, though, is that now all six of us siblings have computers and can keep in touch by email. Since we are spread all over the country, that saves a lot on telephone bills, and we are just more likely to send off a few-sentence email than we ever did call or write. I think all six of us were over 50 when we got our first computers.

My Nana who is 53 is doing well with her computer and surfing the internet. Of course she has me here if she gets herself into any difficulty. Her late husband was 77 when he died and he refused to touch "the machine" as he called it.

Good to hear about your nana, Sam. BTW, I love the new sig, with the Exotic! Very cute kitten!

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

My Nana who is 53 is doing well with her computer and surfing the internet. Of course she has me here if she gets herself into any difficulty. Her late husband was 77 when he died and he refused to touch "the machine" as he called it.

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Originally Posted by vespacat

Good to hear about your nana, Sam.

BTW, I love the new sig, with the Exotic! Very cute kitten!

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I also taught Nana how to txt in December. She txts like a pro now. I am so proud of her!

Thank you. I just love him to bits, and decided it was his time to shine.

My dad is 88 and he loves his computer. Because of the internet he has been in contact with the grandson of a man he served in guadalcanal with. The boy is so taken by my father that he wrote this really touching poem about my dad and his grandfather (they were good friends in the service) Interestingly, his grandfather's name was Hugh E and my dad's name is Huey.

Wow, very interesting. Personally, I don't know how I lived without a computer as long as I did, having just bought my first one EVER a few months ago. Though of course I have my own PC at work, it's just not the same.

Originally Posted by hissy

My dad is 88 and he loves his computer. Because of the internet he has been in contact with the grandson of a man he served in guadalcanal with. The boy is so taken by my father that he wrote this really touching poem about my dad and his grandfather (they were good friends in the service) Interestingly, his grandfather's name was Hugh E and my dad's name is Huey.

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I don't think people in their 50's are that old, that they should have trouble using the computer. After all, Paul Stanley is 53, and he's not an old man by any means. I could see finding it unusual for people in their 80's getting comfortable with the computer, but 50's, they are still part of the electronic age.