Saw an interesting example of the generation gap at the station this morning. I was out taking Winter on her first train trip, and was quite happy to just sit and watch the world go by, so I didn’t bother finding out when the next train would arrive.
A teenager walked onto the platform. He wanted to know when the train was due. He went to the automated Timetable Information panel and pressed the button to hear the recording. It didn’t work; he only got an engaged signal. He pressed it again. Same result. He pressed it again. Yep, same result. He pressed it two more times, then gave up and walked away.
An old man came onto the platform. He also wanted to know when the next train was due. He looked up and down the platform, then walked right past the automated timetable and up to the comprehensive, printed version stuck on the wall. He found out what he wanted to know and went and sat down.
I would’ve liked to think that I’d occupy the middle-ground between the two: familiar and comfortable with technology, but able to cope and adapt in its absence; however I must admit the old man and his crazy, low-tech piece of paper took me by surprise. I guess I’ve become too familiar with the new. I’ve lost my calculator, and now I can’t work out how much my drink and donut will cost together...
Of no relevance to this story whatsoever is that the old man was wearing a ‘Rope Quoits Association’ windcheater! Never seen one of those before. Love it. Everyone should have a hobby.
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Saw an interesting example of the generation gap at the station this morning.
ReplyDeleteI know we've had this conversation before, but it bears repeating - there is nothing generational about this phenomenon.
Having done my times in the trenches as a Bob, both over the phone and in-person; both for internal clients and for the Great Unwashed, I formulated a few rules for determining how tech-savvy a customer was likely to be - a very good job skill for a Bob, since the call goes much faster when you know whether a customer will understand "Open your Network Control Panel and read me your Primary DNS IP address", or will need to be told that "right-click" means to use the mouse button that they don't normally use.
(You could ask them, of course, but that is of limited utility since everyone who calls a Tech Support Line actually knows everything about their computer and our systems, and is really just ringing us to helpfully let us know that something is wrong at our end.)
Much to my surprise, after a few months on the job I realised that age was not much of an indicator as to computer-literacy. I am now of the opinion that there are people who understand technology and people who don't, and in my experience the only difference between the two is that people in the first group make the effort, and that people in the second do not. The perception that older people are less adept with technology is just that - a perception.
It is a perception that is reinforced, in my experience, by the existence of older people who are aware of it and trade - somewhat ruthlessly - on the fact that they are old, therefore a bit "slow", and cannot be expected to understand this new-fangled stuff.
The fact that they can get away with not putting in the effort to learn something new should not be confused with the idea that they couldn't if they had to.
(Obviously, there are people with dementia who really couldn't learn something new. I'm not talking about these people, of course - and it should be noted that dementia is no longer considered "just part of getting old". In other words, it is no longer considered normal, medically speaking, for old people to be "slow". But I digress.)
I'm actually planning to go somewhere with this, but since I've been rambling off on tangents and it's now 4am, I might leave it there for now...
TBC (hopefully)
Fantastic! I serendiptously hit "Publish" on the earlier post bang on 4:00am, making my last paragraph exactly correct.
ReplyDeleteAs promised...
ReplyDeleteAn old man came onto the platform. He also wanted to know when the next train was due. He looked up and down the platform, then walked right past the automated timetable and up to the comprehensive, printed version stuck on the wall. He found out what he wanted to know and went and sat down.
You appear to me to have made a few assumptions in this paragraph...
He also wanted to know when the next train was due.
You don't know that. (I'm assuming [Yes, I know] that you didn't abandon your child to do a post-observation interview with your subjects.) He might just as easily have wanted to know the arrival time of the train at a particular station.
You're also assuming that he didn't use the automated green button because he didn't understand that system; whereas it's also possible that he didn't use it because he had seen or heard an earlier patron attempt to use it and knew it didn't work. (After all, that's how you knew it didn't work.)
The telephone speaker box on station platforms can do two things, and has two buttons. It's a very simple interface, which is great if the box is working, and if you want to call the police or find out when the next trains are arriving.
If it isn't working, or if your requirements are more complex -- such as "I need to be on the 5pm V-Line to Geelong, do I have time to get off the train at Parliament, have a coffee in Collins Street and get the 109 down to Spencer Street Station; or will I need to go straight to Spencer Street on this train?" -- then you're going to need a more complex interface. In this case that means, somewhat paradoxically, the paper timetable.
To be "comfortable and familiar" with technology means using the appropriate tool for the appropriate job; not using the shiniest, newest tool even when it is a) broken; or b) designed for another job entirely.
The old man in your story demonstrated comfort and familiarity with the technology by selecting and using the correct tool from the set available to him. The teenager did not.
Further to something I said upthread:
ReplyDeletethe call goes much faster when you know whether a customer will understand "Open your Network Control Panel and read me your Primary DNS IP address", or will need to be told that "right-click" means to use the mouse button that they don't normally use.
If the response to that is a smug statement that "my Apple mouse only has one button" then it's going to be a looooooooooooooooong call.
Glory, what a lot of writing.
ReplyDeleteI am now of the opinion that there are people who understand technology and people who don't…
I think you’re confusing the issue. Your anecdote, while interesting, isn’t really relevant. I’m using the word technology in its broadest sense. I’m not talking about someone trying to use a computer, just a box with two buttons.
…and in my experience the only difference between the two is that people in the first group make the effort, and that people in the second do not. The perception that older people are less adept with technology is just that - a perception.
While I would agree with you to a large extent, there’s a reason we have the expression about old dogs and new tricks. As humans we develop patterns in our behaviours and in our ways of thinking that over time can become ingrained and difficult to easily move beyond. That children can pick up a new language faster than older people is a well-established fact, and it’s due largely to their not having years of established behaviour to overcome.
You appear to me to have made a few assumptions in this paragraph...
Of course I’ve made assumptions, but as I was on the platform making firsthand observations, I believe I’ve made less than you. Your remarkably confident assertions are based solely on what I happened to record in my short post and, as I think you’ll find, your assumptions are the poorer for it. Obviously we can’t go around doing spot surveys every time we make a judgment on the reason for someone’s behaviour, so in the end you just come down on the side of what’s most likely.
He might just as easily have wanted to know the arrival time of the train at a particular station.
As we were about to travel away from the city and only a handful of stations remained before the end of the line, I think it’s most likely he was checking what time the train would be arriving at this station, and not planning out an extended journey.
You're also assuming that he didn't use the automated green button because he didn't understand that system;…
Not at all. I never said that he couldn’t use the machine, I merely observed that he didn’t. As to why he didn’t, I can only speculate and, again, in this instance I think it’s most likely that he just went and did what he’s always done. I believe I saw another example of this on the tram this morning. A different old man was approaching his stop and reached up to pull the cord even though there wasn’t one there because it was one of the new trams with push-buttons, not cords. He didn’t go for the cord because he didn’t know how to use the button on the pole in front of him; he just did what he’s always done.
…whereas it's also possible that he didn't use it because he had seen or heard an earlier patron attempt to use it and knew it didn't work.
As the old man came onto the platform a good five minutes after the teenager had stopped pressing the button, I think it’s most likely he wouldn’t have been in a position to do either.
…there is nothing generational about this phenomenon.
I don’t know how you can say unequivocally that “there is nothing generational about this phenomenon”. I think there’s enough evidence to show that it could well be generational, and I think it’s quite easy to conceive of a teenager relying on the new push-button system while an old man just continues to get his information from the place he always has.
Anyway, I’m glad that you obviously enjoyed my little story, JJ.