Are your parents tech savvy?

[Gena]

My 74 year old mother complained to me today that my brother hasn't skyped her in a while. I couldn't help but laugh. Mom never could set the clock on the VCR, but now she can skype like a pro and she loves her iPad.

Dad's the real gadget expert though; he always gets excited about new high-tech toys. He loves how far technology has come in his lifetime.

[LMPC]

My father is a technophobe...but my mom (they aren't married anymore) is pretty good. Of course, she calls DH to set up everything, but once she's set up, she's golden. She does a bit of shopping online, books travel, skypes my brother...emails people. She's in her mid-60s, so not old old but old enough that she certainly had to learn the "new fangled technology!"

[mom2binsd]

My IL's refuse to own a cellphone/computer/DVD player, do not use any type of debit card, are petrified that they will be forced to have direct deposit for the SS checks as they don't trust computers.

They just recently got an answering machine.

My dad uses the computer at the library but honestly I'm not sure I really want him opening an email account, his frontal lobe brain damage might make him vulnerable to scams etc.

[salsah]

my dad is very tech savvy. my mom is the exact opposite. she has never used an atm, refuses to even try.

[smiles33]

Yes, but my parents both worked outside of the house in the Silicon Valley tech industry, so they know their stuff cold. They aren't early adopters or anything, but they are comfortably mainstream (GPS, Skype, cell phone, email, etc).

[MontrealMum]

Oh my goodness. My parents are so low-tech it's laughable.

My mom has never used an ATM let alone pumped her own gas. She doesn't even have a cell and still pays all her bills by check via regular snail mail. The one and only time she had a computer - which was given to her by the school system - *I* had to set it up (you would laugh about this if you knew me) and *I* had to shut the thing down by forcibly disengaging the battery while on major pain meds for my knee surgery because the thing was overheating. It went back to the school system after that and then she retired :) Luckily my uncle recently forced her to buy a new TV...she was changing the channels with pliers...ack!

My dad is slightly better since for the most part he's living in this century, though he nearly flunked out of the mandatory computer usage seminar that his university made all the professors take. I think it was probably for not paying attention and talking too much :D He does own his own computer and as long as it functions properly he's fine. He emails, composes short word docs, and occasionally skypes. He knows who to call locally when there are problems, or he lets my DH - who is an IT guy - take it over for regular repairs/maintenance. He no longer calls his modem a bodum (I *think* he was joking), and he's stopped trying to stuff CDs any which way into the multi-disc changer in his car. Though there recently was a rather messy incident involving the printer cartridge and him not noticing the all-too-obvious arrow.

[JoyNChrist]

My dad, no. He doesn't own a computer, cell phone, GPS, etc. I don't even know if he has a debit card.

My mom is fairly technologically savvy, but she's also only turning 50 this year, so it's not like she's elderly.

[Nooknookmom]

My Dad texted me the other day...nuff said!!

[ellies mom]

Yes, but my parents both worked outside of the house in the Silicon Valley tech industry, so they know their stuff cold. They aren't early adopters or anything, but they are comfortably mainstream (GPS, Skype, cell phone, email, etc).

This would be my parents too, especially my mom.

[hillview]

My dad is techie my mom is not although she can do email and the web some. But she is constantly in need of tech support.
/hillary

[AJP]

My parents do pretty well considering that they never used computers at their jobs until just before they retired. Dad (72) can use the internet, email, use his cell, use a book reader etc. Mom (64) can do all the above, as well as shop online, bills online, send texts, use gps, and use an iPad & iPhone (mine). She tutored me in quickbooks when I had to start using it fir dh's business. The funny thing ia they have a DVD player in their 2nd tv room and it hasn't been hooked up in the 8 yrs they've lived in that house. They added a receiver with speakers way back then and then just didn't know how the DVD would hook up! Lol.

[MoJo]

I don't even have GPS! But it's definitely on the "that would be nice" list.

My mom and DH's dad email and use the web regularly. My mom even pays her bills online. She runs her own DVR.

But she doesn't use a cell (I got her one, but she never carried it with her, and then stopped charging it). She couldn't figure out Skype after I bought her a webcam & set it up. She can take pictures with her digital camera (that my sister got for her), but she doesn't work the camera well at all and has no idea how to get the pictures off the camera.

My mom *needs* GPS. . . she missed the birth of her second grandchild because she got lost, and then it became too dark for her to drive.

[JBaxter]

My mom does pretty well. She just sold 3 puppies from her bichon on pet listing site has gps satalite tv and the works.

[zag95]

My dad retired from nursing in 2009, so is pretty good with technology for a 68 yr old! He uses a digital camera, cell phone, the internet, FB, etc. He just had blu-ray DVD players installed so he can use netflix to stream instantly (we don't even do that!!!)

Mom is a little less saavy. Still uses the old film camera. Uses a cell phone- can email and do documents, but needs help attaching docs to email. I helped her send photos to Costco once.....

They both operate the Dish/satellite system for TV- which can be a bit confusing with all the remotes......

[klwa]

My mom was decent at tech stuff after they had both retired. My dad... let's just put it this way: when I was in college, we both had email addresses. So, randomly, I'd email him something theat was going on, to say hey, etc. And the lady whose office was next door to his would answer me back, with him dictating it, because she checked his email for him. Once momma passed, he dropped the internet connection to his house, so he's bound and determined not to learn anything about the computer that's still sitting there in the office/guest room in their house. (But he has & LOVES a GPS for his car.) Oh, and he dropped the land line for his house becuase he only uses his cell. Now if I could just convince him there are times NOT to answer the darn thing. Or how to check his voice mail so he wouldn't feel like he always HAS to answer it....

[elephantmeg]

my parents are-my dad had one of the earliest home computers (80's) and ran a printing press most of his life. DH has taught him how to video edit and that is most of what he does when he visits us! Mom is good too but doesn't do all the geeky stuff. DH's mom uses a computer /e-mail/facebook but his dad doesn't.

[mikeys_mom]

My parents are pretty good. They have a computer, email, skype and facebook accounts. They do some online purchases and use it for research a bit. My mom has a cellphone and my Dad has a BB. My mom also has a Kindle.

However, my mom is super slooooow when she is online. She has to really concentrate on what she is doing and is always afraid of messing up. Also, anything beyond what she normally does, she finds confusing.

Oh, and my Dad still has not figured out how to pin on his BB. He claims that he knows what to do but I have given up pinning him because it will sit there unread for weeks.

[Globetrotter]

My 70 year old dad has been online/emailing for years now. He does basic word processing, etc.. and even joined FB (but hardly does anything on it) and spends a lot of time editing pictures.

He is pretty gullible, though, and very slow at deleting emails, so i worry that he will be vulnerable to hacking or a virus. He used to forward emails ALL the time, and a few times they weren't at all appropriate! I had to point that out :tongue5: Nowadays that has slowed down tremendously..

[Melaine]

Yes. But they are barely in their 50's. We were one of the first homes around our area to have a Macintosh and my dad taught college computer and graphic design classes. He can open a computer and repair it from the inside, so I would say he is very tech savvy. My mom is like me, knows enough to get by, learns the technology as she needs it and doesn't mess around with the rest.

[hellokitty]

Wow, go grandma!

My parents THINK that they are tech savvy, but they aren't. They know just enough to make it a huge PITA, b/c they don't really know what they are doing, so then need help getting things set up the way they should be.

My fil is a retired electrical engineer and just very good with gadgets (DH gets this from his dad) in general. So, he is savvy to an extent, but not all the way (ie: not interested in smart phones). My mil is just tech DUMB. As in, she doesn't know how to turn on the heater of her car and can only push ONE button her the fancy microwave that she got. She does not know how to use a computer and I thank my lucky stars, b/c this means she has one less route of access into our lives!

My grandparents are all deceased and probably would not have been tech savvy.

[JTsMom]

My parents are young (considering I'm old ;) ), and my dad works in radio communications, so yeah, they can hold their own. My mom was texting before I was, and my dad is the person who takes care of our computer problems.

[ladysoapmaker]

I'd say my parents can hold their own. When my mom went back to school she was the one helping the younger kids figure out the word proccessing as she had been using it for work for years. My Mom still has me fix somethings (like getting her printer and the Mac with OS10 on it to communicate properly). Dad's much better. They finally got texting on their cell phones (my niece is on their plan and they got her a smart phone). And now that my niece is living with them I'm less likely to be asked to help fix mom's computer.


Though when my sister and I helped Mom set up her Facebook account, that was funny.

Jen

[kboyle]

my mom is, she did most of the ads and newsletters and graphics stuff before she retired, she worked for our parks & rec dept and their senior ctr.

and now that she lives overseas we skype and such. she's debating buying an ipad before she goes back to the philippines. i'd set it up for her with my acct...pretty much she wouldn't add any new apps other than the ones she has plus music, but they are ok with that. they wouldn't play anything more than what we have (angry birds, goo, cut the rope...etc)

[brgnmom]

my mom is definitely - she has an iPhone, iPod, stays in touch via email, views pics online, communicates w/ her long-distance friends & family online, etc. my dad prefers not to carry around a cell phone and would rather be offline in the virtual world, and he prefers to communicate w/ people IRL or over the phone (landline).

[gatorsmom]

My dad is the least tech savvy person I know. welll, except for his sister. He says he's (jokingly) they are a trend and he's just waiting for them to go out of style. Getting a cell phone was a HUGE step forward for him. HUGE.

[edurnemk]

We call my dad the iMan, any gadget made by apple, he buys as soon as it's available. He's always been tech savy and he probably knows more about computers than me, if I have a problem I call him.

My mom held off for quite a while, but now she skypes and emails, does online banking and even has a FB account. She's not super savy and at first she had a very hard time learning to use the computer. We have never been able to teach her how to text on her cell, though.

[mommylamb]

Well my dad did once try to use my smart phone as a walkie talkie.

My mother on the other hand is actually relatively good at tech stuff. She's a retired teacher, but while she was still teaching, she used to design websites for her class.


Oh my goodness. My parents are so low-tech it's laughable.

My mom has never used an ATM let alone pumped her own gas.

My MIL has never used an ATM either. And, she doesn't pump gas because she doesn't drive.

[Jo..]

Hahahahahhahaha

[MontrealMum]

Well my dad did once try to use my smart phone as a walkie talkie.



I have a feeling that our dads would get along quite well :p

[carolinamama]

Yes, both of them are quite tech savvy. My dad is more tech savvy than DH and I are in many respects. They are both very proficient with their iphones and don't hesitate to use the computer for everything. I get texts from both of them pretty frequently. They communicate with friends and family via email and facebook. Scary. My mil was definitely one of the least tech savvy people in the world. But over the last year or two she bought a computer and actually sends email. I think she realized it was the best way to keep in touch with her kids and get pictures of her grandkids. She still doesn't text or use the computer for much more than email but that was a big step for her.

What is even better - my 92 yo grandfather emails us regularly. I think it's great that he has used his computer as a way to keep in touch with people but also as a challenge to himself.

[georgiegirl]

My dad very much so. He was offered a job at the apple store because he spends so much time there.

My mom, probably average for a mid-60s lady. She can use a cell phone, Skype. Email, Facebook, but sha smartphone or GPS would be too much for her. She did recently figure out how to text.

[wencit]

My dad is a retired engineer, so he can hold his own.

A few years ago, I tried to teach my mom how to surf the Internet and had to start at the very beginning. It was really eye-opening to see how much computer knowledge I just take for granted. "Mom, this is a mouse, it tracks your movement on the screen. Yes, it has 2 buttons. Click with the one on the left. When you double click, you need to click twice. Fast. The backspace key erases what you type." And so on and so on. Needless to say, she is not tech savvy at all! :p