There was another interesting article on elders and technology over on Time Goes By, with links to Pew Research. Unfortunately, it was also predictable. Far too many elders won’t use technology to their advantage. If they have a computer, it’s used, maybe, once a day to see if someone mailed them a picture of a grandchild. I know I’m generalizing, (Shame!) but that is how it seems to work here on the Planet Orland.
And it’s that land line telephone that seems to define elders. Only 25% 0f those in the age group 18 – 29 were reluctant to give up the land line while 60% of those 65 and older wanted to hang on to those phones. Why?
Stray thought; since the president still wants to pass wiretap laws that would allow indiscriminate wiretaps and since Skype is the most popular of VoIP providers, worldwide…wouldn’t any half literate terrorist know that Skype is safe to use? Besides being very, very cheap. So who does the Decider really want to listen to?
All of this technology talk begs the question; why haven’t I switched to Skype? I have had the software on my computer for about 6 years now and I always upgrade it. In the past it was the fact that I didn’t have broadband service and VoIP without that is useless. OK, now that I have Clearwire, I might just have enough speed to make it worthwhile to switch.
Hello Steven, I enjoy your blog very much.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that Skype has a sane attitude toward security, although not surprising given that they are based in Europe not America ;-).
I use Skype, even pay for Skype Pro, but would not rely on it as my sole means of voice communication. Too many times the call quality has been lousy. Even a few times is too many times, after most of us elders' experience with good ol' Bell landlines.
My son has a 'landline' that is VOIP, all the traditional phones in the household are actually running over the internet, even though he has a regular phone number just like a traditional landline. It is more reliable than Skype. But still not as reliable as good ol' Bell-type landlines.
Sometimes we elders are just stick-in-the-mud stubborn about old technology, and sometimes we actually have a point.
Thank you, Anne.
ReplyDeleteSince I avoid the telephone as much as possible, call quality isn't high on my list of priorities. And I doubt that the telemarketers are plugged into VoIP yet and that's a relief.
But, if we could go back to the days of a regulated telephone service, which was really a very benign monopoly, I would be happy with that. Service for all.
For instance, our local provider (ATT) doesn't provide DSL service in our neighborhood. But it does a few miles away. Since they don't have to...they won't. Not until they see enough customers to make it worthwhile.
As you might imagine, I'm not real happy about contributing any money to the ATT bottom line.
And, last; I think that the more people use VoIP, the better the quality will have to be to retain those customers.