Internet Marketing Companies
Internet Marketing Company – Who is Majon International?
The Recent Initiative To Get More Elderly Individuals To Use The Internet Is Extremely Commendable, But Why The Need To Constantly Judge People Based On How Old They Are
For a lot of us who utilise the internet regularly, it is quite impossible to imagine spending only a day or two without all of the benefits it can give us. We are so used to being able to keep up with breaking news stories, contact friends instantly, find an amazing amount of obscure information in seconds using search engines and carry out numerous other things online that it seems unbelievable that quite a lot of people in the UK who have never even been near a computer.
A recent report suggests that there are about six million inhabitants aged over 55 in the UK who do not have access to a computer and consequently have never really contemplated joining the ranks of internet addicts. And now there is a big push to get the older generation signed up and surfing just like the rest of us.
It is very true that as people become older they are much more likely to become lonely, a problem compounded by mobility, vision or hearing problems. Clearly if they have the money for joint replacements, Laser eye surgery and a hearing aid, then their quality of life might change dramatically, but many may also have lived longer than a lot of their contemporaries, which lessens their social circle. So naturally, having the ability to go online and make use of instant messaging or Skype to chat to family or friends who live a distance away would have a huge impact on many people.
The campaign says that the younger generation who are computer literate should assist with this campaign by educating older relatives. This is a great idea and a noble intention, but I am amused by the idea that ‘the young’ are so much better with computers than others.
Right now, I will explain that I am in my late forties, and I am a total computer devotee. I ulitise my computer for writing, photo editing, audio manipulation, video work and lots more. I am permanently online and if I have to leave my laptop for too much of the day, I have to employ my mobile phone to find out what is going on in the world. I use Facebook, Twitter and emails for social contact with friends around the globe, I shop and bank online, I use the world wide web as my encyclopaedia, dictionary, atlas, telephone directory and newspaper. (I do question if there is a computer screen complaint similar to having ‘square eyes’ from taking in too much television. I definitely notice my eyesight changing and should probably think about Laser eye surgery as an alternative to having to keep spending money on new glasses.)
In any case, the inference in this report is that younger people should know more about computers than I will! Well, if that’s accurate, when I ask an eighteen year old which ISP she is signed up to, I wouldn’t expect her answer to be that she has no idea what I mean!
I do believe that everyone should embrace the vast resources of the internet. The concept should be applauded. However, it does seem that not everyone cares about being computer literate, and some even seem to take pride in remaining ignorant. Imagine a recent scene – there are ten of us in a bar for a meal one evening, mostly aged between 48 and 52. Only four of us are even aware that there are different web browsers, and of the four of us, one has only abandoned Internet Explorer since her teenager installed an alternative. One male insists that life would be a lot simpler if we could just go back to using paper and pen for everything (he is also the kind of guy who says that DVDs are a bit complicated and keeps wearing his decrepit reading glasses rather than invest in Laser eye treatment), and another male has to use a computer at work and consequently will not use one away from the office. A married couple insist that they could never get involved with Facebook because it scares them too much (yes, really!), and one female mostly uses eBay to spend her partner’s money, but doesn’t even have an individual email address and shares her daughter’s address instead. And these are folk who are too young to be a target for this campaign!
On the other hand, consider my neighbour, aged 79, who asked me if I’d noticed the van that had been sitting over the road for a number of days, and then said that since she’d been worried, she had Googled it to check if the company was genuine and what the company did, and having done so, understood that they were obviously completing some work in the empty house opposite.
A relative of mine, who is also aged 79, schedules her life through the computer. She has serious difficulties with her eyes (for which there is a lack of surgery or Laser eye treatment available), so has to change the screen settings to be able to make things out, but she very confidently stays in contact with countless contacts around the world, pens articles for various publications and continues to do work for the charity (for elderly people!) which she has been supporting for years.
I absolutely welcome the efforts to get a lot more people to use and understand the internet, but honestly, can we stop categorising everyone by age? I positively will not be conforming to any age related predictions about my behaviour any day soon!