Self service in supermarkets

[melthebell]

13 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

 

But then why are you saying in your earlier post that MOST older people will not be able to learn how to use the apps or have online banking or have smartphones....

 

If they are in the minority then clearly that's not the case then. Plenty of older people have all those facilities and are perfectly capable of using them. Have done for years.

ok my bad, ignore the word most, maybe the term "more than you imagine" might be more suitable, my point was its not a perfect storm regarding older people and technology, its not as simple as you make out, no idea on actual figures unless you ask every single one (i dont trust polls and how that works, guessing and mathmatics (but thats a different thread)).

[melthebell]

1 hour ago, Slighty batty said:

Say for instance you’ve got an ex-soldier, fought in Afghanistan. Got PTSD, mental issues, now living on the street with his dog. He might still have a valid debit card and an account that’s in the black, then again he might not. People have given him a few coins, he wants to use that to buy food for the dog but the shop will only accept cards. Isn’t that policy going to make him even more marginalized? 
 

Or say someone is in financial difficulties. Their bank account is overdrawn up to the limit, so they can’t use their debit card, but they’ve still got a little bit of cash left in their purse. Why should the supermarket dictate that they aren’t allowed to use it? 

since homeless veterans were mentioned can i take this opportunity to post this bloody great and emotionally poignant song?

 

[crookesey]

Well I’m age 77 and am quite happy with my debit and credit card, I don’t have any ambitions to master every aspect of technology. I drive to the supermarket in my dashboard on wheels and have my phone for emergencies. My grandad wouldn’t have understood a word of this, however he did manage to master most WW2’s communication devices.

[Gormenghast]

1 hour ago, ECCOnoob said:

 

 

1 hour ago, ECCOnoob said:

 

For the next generation of retirees, the use of online ..... and smart enabled ...... will be absolute second nature. 

 

That may well be true, but how will you cope when you reach your older years with whatever new technology has appeared by then, something that maybe you couldn't imagine ever existing at the moment?

[geared]

47 minutes ago, melthebell said:

ok my bad, ignore the word most, maybe the term "more than you imagine" might be more suitable, my point was its not a perfect storm regarding older people and technology, its not as simple as you make out, no idea on actual figures unless you ask every single one (i dont trust polls and how that works, guessing and mathmatics (but thats a different thread)).

 

Depends on your definition of old though.

 

I know plenty in their 70's who are perfectly proficient with tech, and some are former IT teachers or IT professionals.  If others in that age bracket are technophobes, that's a decision they've made themselves, as it's a skill they should have picked up.

 

 

[echo beach]

8 minutes ago, Gormenghast said:

 

 

That may well be true, but how will you cope when you reach your older years with whatever new technology has appeared by then, something that maybe you couldn't imagine ever existing at the moment?

Yes I’m looking forward to the Star Trek Transporter machine so that I can go to a local hub and be disassembled and reconstructed on some faraway exotic place without all the hassle of airports.

I hope too it can reassemble me as I was as a 10 year old. With my luck it would have all the right particles but it would hit the wrong sequence and I’d emerge as a 110 year old!😆

 

echo.

[ECCOnoob]

35 minutes ago, Gormenghast said:

 

 

That may well be true, but how will you cope when you reach your older years with whatever new technology has appeared by then, something that maybe you couldn't imagine ever existing at the moment?

I am already reaching my older years and I've had to adapt with embracing change. 

 

I admit. I'm not proficient in the use of every single new development. My phone doesn't have every single social media, lifestyle or utility application. I don't follow every single trend. There are some aspects of the world of the younger folk that I happily don't understand nor I want to. 

 

However, that is not an excuse for not keeping up with mainstream advances and changes in the way that the world develops.  For example, during covid times I never previously used QR codes or really knew of them - but I adapted. I got used to the process and now as they have being embraced by other aspects of the world such as hospitality, restaurant menus, airports, hotels, it's almost second nature.   Similarly, train tickets or airline tickets. I always used to be a man of contingency.  Constantly liking that physical paper ticket in my hand as reassurance. But then as I realised that the majority of my fellow passengers were simply waving their phones at the conductor or scanning themselves in through security in airports. I realise they there was no need. So tried it a couple of times, got used to the BA or Trainline apps and now have no problem at all

 

In my working world I started in my profession in the pen and paper and typewriter era. Paper files, hundreds of dusty pages stacked up on cabinets or shelves. I remember handwriting my briefs to pass over to the typing pool in the world of carbon copies, telex and fax machines.  But again, I've had to adapt. I'm now in a world of e bundles, hyperlinking auto pagination, data transfer room,  electronic post, live captioning, video calls....

 

Is it easy to learn these things constantly - No.   But it's part of life.

[Gormenghast]

2 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

Is it easy to learn these things constantly - No. 

 

Totally agree.

 

I started the same, in a world where a photocopier was some sort of magic trickery machine.

 

I then had to contend with a computer, and really enjoyed learning what it did and what it could do.

Next came lots of analytical equipment and laboratory work etc. etc.

I loved it all and enjoyed it.

 

BUT, that's because I could. Some people can't. Similarly some people can't pass exams. I could. That doesn't make me any better or any worse than anybody else. Lots of people can do things that I wouldn't have a clue how to do.

 

What I'm trying to say is that people have different skills, and forcing people to use technology they don't understand is not the way forward.

 

[cressida]

I find that unless I'm doing something regularly  I have to relearn it.