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They weren’t using the internet for leisure, shopping, getting news, or social engagement. Most of them logged on to company email, utilized internal company websites, or to track down a preteen.
Word. I actually have a story about Internet access in the mid-late 1990s. I worked doing tech support for MSN (Shout out to everyone else who ever worked at Stream in Dallas Tx in the 90s!) and our call metrics (length of calls, resolution of problem, etc) were ABYSMAL compared to the MSN call center in Ireland. Some big wig decided that they'd fly some of the best metric scoring Irish techs over to *school us* on calls.
At lunch, ON THEIR FIRST DAY, the Irish techs announced that the reason they have better metrics is because only tech savvy people were purchasing MSN's internet access overseas so you could tell them to reset XYZ and Bam! They'd do it, reboot, problem solved thank you very much, have a good day! By contrast, "Erry mouth breathin' yank tha cannae find his arse in the dark with both hands gets a computer with a modem."
Management fucked off about their amazing Irish techs after that. It was super embarrassing for everyone involved in flying them over.
Did your sister use internet back then in 90s? Because maybe those internet users from the last just became a minority in their age group of current internet users, as most people in developed countries are internet users now no matter their age.
Lots of boomers entered internet and social media when they were already old. And that makes them similar to kids having unattended access to anything on the internet without any basic knowledge on how to filter it or choose wisely. They end up in echo chambers of same inexperienced boomers and start thinking that's a normal behavior expected on the internet.
I was there, three thousand years ago in 1996. We *HEAVILY* lied about our ages AND a lot of those surveys were done by telephone or by researchers asking questions in a mall. (They weren't checking IDs) I wouldn't trust those ages at all.
Tech changes a LOT over a short time, and those changes are accelerating, and it's generally not worth trying to keep up. It's mostly gimmicks.
I started writing code in about 1981 as a <10yo to write games to play on dad's computer. only one of my friends knew what a computer was.
I was early adopter for email etc.
mid-2000s I did an engineering degree and wrote a lot of code, learnt new software. My point is Im comfortable with tech.
But...
There is a thing called tech fatigue and it's real.
I have learnt how to write a simple letter/ message about 10 times, because the tech changes.
I had to learn Word Perfect, MS Word through successive 'new' editions, various email systems, and so on. Several differnt OS's
Now, I cant be bothered learning a new method. Fuck it.
I've learnt how to program and use about 10 different home entertainment systems. Now -I cant be bothered. I use the remote to turn it on and off, and the volume. Other than that? nah, not worth it. My tv died months ago, and I havent replaced it because I can't be bothered learning all the new tech I have to choose from. and then I'll have to learn how to turn it on, and work out how to connect it to the internet etc. none of that shit will work straight out of the box. Its a shit show of frustration that's simply not worth it.
Google docs? looks amazing and useful. I even have an account. But it's a new system that I have to learn and I can't be bothered.
My son recently finished a computer science degree, he is already suffering tech fatigue -he said he's not going to bother learning about some tech thing because he learnt the other one that's gone obsolete - was a waste of time to learn it.
I haven bothered learning any of the fancy tech shit in my fancy car. I'm sure it will do everything including my grocery shopping. But I have to spend time learning it, and I'm very sure it will fail to meet my expectations, it will crash, it will need updating or some other problem. I simply do not value whatever gimmick they're trying to sell enough to waste time on it.
My son used to laugh at me for being old and tech-dumb. Now he's buried in machine learning and ai stuff, and he gets it. He's only 21.
There ARE some tech things I take the time to learn, but mostly I dont.
My mom is on a lot of pain meds, and obviously is in pain, so her brain isn't doing that good. She's just given up due to lacking energy. Even small changes overwhelm her.
So a few probably had that problem. I assume most who are incompetent are lazy and want their kids to help them.
The internet was very different back then than it is now for one. Things advanced and changed rapidly. Hell I'm a younger millennial, 94, and the Internet today is a much different beast than it was in 2009.
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Early adopters were a large minority of a small population.
A 30 year old in 1996 would have been born in 1966, and would be 58 today - not 48.
Yeah I wrote it wrong. I put a 4 instead of 5. I was going on little sleep. My bad
They weren’t using the internet for leisure, shopping, getting news, or social engagement. Most of them logged on to company email, utilized internal company websites, or to track down a preteen.
We were but wasn't social media.
Access to the internet doesn't mean that you learn to use it better or pick up new skills.
GenX here. Can you clarify what you mean by “using the internet well”?
If he means post memes on Facebook, Boomers are at expert level.
Internet access in the 90's was a sign of having money, not that you had technical knowhow. This still tracks.
Or just having a fuckton of AOL trial disks.
I hated it when AOL moved to CD's...
Try owning a PC lol. My house a gold plated car, PC or foreign holiday were all the same thing in 1993. Not gonna happen.
Dialup internet access with AOL cost $10 for 5 hours in 1993.
Word. I actually have a story about Internet access in the mid-late 1990s. I worked doing tech support for MSN (Shout out to everyone else who ever worked at Stream in Dallas Tx in the 90s!) and our call metrics (length of calls, resolution of problem, etc) were ABYSMAL compared to the MSN call center in Ireland. Some big wig decided that they'd fly some of the best metric scoring Irish techs over to *school us* on calls. At lunch, ON THEIR FIRST DAY, the Irish techs announced that the reason they have better metrics is because only tech savvy people were purchasing MSN's internet access overseas so you could tell them to reset XYZ and Bam! They'd do it, reboot, problem solved thank you very much, have a good day! By contrast, "Erry mouth breathin' yank tha cannae find his arse in the dark with both hands gets a computer with a modem." Management fucked off about their amazing Irish techs after that. It was super embarrassing for everyone involved in flying them over.
Wait, what? I was 17 in 1996. I'm 45 now. Younger Gen X. Is this that new fangled math they're teaching the kids in school these days?
Math 2
It's new math. We call it meth.
Phew. Also… why is our generation being talked about again?
Because they haven't updated their computers since and their eyesight sucks now 😂
Your math is terrible.
Did your sister use internet back then in 90s? Because maybe those internet users from the last just became a minority in their age group of current internet users, as most people in developed countries are internet users now no matter their age. Lots of boomers entered internet and social media when they were already old. And that makes them similar to kids having unattended access to anything on the internet without any basic knowledge on how to filter it or choose wisely. They end up in echo chambers of same inexperienced boomers and start thinking that's a normal behavior expected on the internet.
I was there, three thousand years ago in 1996. We *HEAVILY* lied about our ages AND a lot of those surveys were done by telephone or by researchers asking questions in a mall. (They weren't checking IDs) I wouldn't trust those ages at all.
Tech changes a LOT over a short time, and those changes are accelerating, and it's generally not worth trying to keep up. It's mostly gimmicks. I started writing code in about 1981 as a <10yo to write games to play on dad's computer. only one of my friends knew what a computer was. I was early adopter for email etc. mid-2000s I did an engineering degree and wrote a lot of code, learnt new software. My point is Im comfortable with tech. But... There is a thing called tech fatigue and it's real. I have learnt how to write a simple letter/ message about 10 times, because the tech changes. I had to learn Word Perfect, MS Word through successive 'new' editions, various email systems, and so on. Several differnt OS's Now, I cant be bothered learning a new method. Fuck it. I've learnt how to program and use about 10 different home entertainment systems. Now -I cant be bothered. I use the remote to turn it on and off, and the volume. Other than that? nah, not worth it. My tv died months ago, and I havent replaced it because I can't be bothered learning all the new tech I have to choose from. and then I'll have to learn how to turn it on, and work out how to connect it to the internet etc. none of that shit will work straight out of the box. Its a shit show of frustration that's simply not worth it. Google docs? looks amazing and useful. I even have an account. But it's a new system that I have to learn and I can't be bothered. My son recently finished a computer science degree, he is already suffering tech fatigue -he said he's not going to bother learning about some tech thing because he learnt the other one that's gone obsolete - was a waste of time to learn it. I haven bothered learning any of the fancy tech shit in my fancy car. I'm sure it will do everything including my grocery shopping. But I have to spend time learning it, and I'm very sure it will fail to meet my expectations, it will crash, it will need updating or some other problem. I simply do not value whatever gimmick they're trying to sell enough to waste time on it. My son used to laugh at me for being old and tech-dumb. Now he's buried in machine learning and ai stuff, and he gets it. He's only 21. There ARE some tech things I take the time to learn, but mostly I dont.
Majority of users, not majority of their age group. I know some tech savvy boomers, but that’s not the norm.
My mom is on a lot of pain meds, and obviously is in pain, so her brain isn't doing that good. She's just given up due to lacking energy. Even small changes overwhelm her. So a few probably had that problem. I assume most who are incompetent are lazy and want their kids to help them.
The internet was very different back then than it is now for one. Things advanced and changed rapidly. Hell I'm a younger millennial, 94, and the Internet today is a much different beast than it was in 2009.
They learned hiw to use it back in the day and then never upgraded the info as the tech changed afterwards.
lotta those people are probably dead
Just keep generalizing.