"That stupid modern technology!"

Venting.

Not necessarily asking for advice. If you have any, go ahead, but I'm not requesting it. Just getting this off my chest.

It's a cliche that older people have to rely on younger people to navigate modern technology, BUT:

1. I am only one year younger than my husband is. Both of us are in our early 60's.
2. His nephew, late 20's, hates technology as much as he does.
3. Of course it's technology's fault. It's never that they don't know how; it's that technology is bad and worthless.
4. I may not know how to do something either, but he's just as capable of watching a YouTube video to learn it as I am.

In fact, that's what he's doing right now. He's watching a video to learn how to change the cabin air filters in our cars. How come he can do that when it comes to cars, but not when it has something to do with computers or phones? (Speaking of phones, we'd still be using a landline if he'd had his way. Now that his employers require him to have a cell phone, that's what made him finally break down and get one.)

Just in the past few minutes, he required my help sending an email using his phone. Apparently he'd never done that before. He's learned how to send one by computer, but sending it by phone seems to be a new one on him. He was getting frustrated because the message kept disappearing, not in his Sent folder or anything, and he'd had to start all over again. Problem? He was closing it out without hitting Send, which I explained to him is the paper airplane-looking symbol. I walked him through it, and the email got sent.

Which reminded him, he said, our brand new printer is not connected to the computer properly. When he tried to use it, he encountered the word "Offline." Problem? The printer was not turned on. In fairness, it is a model we've never had before, and we're not familiar with it. I myself had to investigate exactly how to turn it on. I couldn't find the on/off switch. That turned out to be because there is no on/off switch. It's a little dimple in the corner of the casing, not labeled, and the same color the casing is. Admittedly, it is hard to see. I had to use Google and YouTube to find this out. But surely HE could have done that much just as easily as I could! He goes to me by default becasue he thinks I know SO much about technology, and I'm some kind of computer whiz, but in reality, I'm no more savvy than he is. I merely know how to find out.

I think what annoys me most is that it's technology's fault when he or his nephew don't understand it. The problem is not that they don't know what they're doing; it's that technology itself is bad and worthless, and we were better off when we did everything manually. That would be like a new driver, who isn't controlling the vehicle very well, blaming the invention of cars, and wanting to go back to the days of horse and buggy. Or someone struggling to learn to play the guitar, and thinking the problem is that something must be wrong with this guitar. (Proverb: It's a poor musician who blames the instrument.) No personal resposibility whatsoever. I think even "I don't know how to use technology" would be better than, "Grumble, grumble, this darn technology."

OK. Done venting.

Nephew knows how to connect his X-box to the TV so he can watch DVD movies with it. He has quite a collection. Doesn't want to buy electronic versions of those movies and watch them through the apps on the television, such as Amazon Prime or some other subscription. Has to have them on a physical DVD. This means he does know where to plug in the cable for the X-box, as well as how to change the TV input from satellite to accessory and back again. That would totally baffle Hubby. He has been shown how to change the input, multiple times, but since it involves using the television remote rather than the satellite remote he usually uses, he simply cannot grasp the process. If nephew forgets to put the TV back on satellite input, hubby will be completely unable to watch his recorded television shows, until and unless I take care of it.

You'd think one of them would appreciate technology to at least some degree. Remember the days when you couldn't record your favorite shows, and if you missed it, you missed it? You HAD to be home at the exact hour on the exact night, if you wanted to see it. You'd argue with other household members about what to watch, because there were only 3 or 4 channels to choose from, but you and your siblings want to watch different things. And if Dad wanted to watch the news instead, forget it. Not to mention that scramble to get a snack or go to the bathroom real fast during the commercials, and then that Olympics-worthy sprint back to your seat before the show comes back on again.

Yeah, this is better than that.