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11% of Americans don’t use the internet

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Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#241

Post by Bromskloss »

dev_north_east wrote: post #227
reaperducer wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. I know a woman who until recently worked as a secretary to one of the presidents of a large regional bank. The first thing she did each morning was to print out the president's e-mails, and bring them to him on paper. He would the…

> - She dressed the part; coming to work in a proper business suit and briefcase each day, not carrying a backpack like a sixth-grader. This is something I've been thinking more and more about lately. I used to be happy with the lax attitude most tech places have to attire but honestly I look around my office now and I wish we had a bit more of a dress standard. I was a tshirt and hoodie fiend but changed to slacks/s…

Right! Workplaces seem to advertise to, for example, computer people how they are relaxed and that you can come to work in jeans. I just want to get to wear a suit for once, for the enjoyment of myself and others!

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#242

Post by Bromskloss »

Ascetik wrote: post #168
Deinos wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You read my mind with that last sentence. As I read your anecdote, I was marveling at how much relief she probably created by circumventing the email/slack/txt/messenger treadmill the rest of us are forced to run on during a workday.

>the email/slack/txt/messenger treadmill the rest of us are forced to run on during a workday. Or at all hours of the evening, night and early morning, since some people we work with don't seem to understand the concept of leaving work at work.

Maybe the _are_ still at work! :-)

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#243

Post by CalRobert »

stephengillie wrote: post #110
simmons wrote: post #12

My Dad is in his early 70's and has never used the Internet. In fact, he never even had a cellphone until this year when I bought him a flip-phone and convinced him to accept it. I think he's plenty capable of learning such technology, he just doesn't see any compelling reason. And I think that's a perfectly reasonable choice -- I'm certainly not going to tell a senior citizen what they need to be happy. He is starti…

My 70-something parents keep their cell phones at home, since they are so nice, so nothing happens to them. They carry pens and paper if they need to track something. My dad was a privacy-conscious bus driver in the 1980s, and has always had an unlisted number. These days, I know he's calling because caller ID shows "Private Number" when he calls.

These days I know it's my dad calling because he's the only one who actually makes plain-old telephone calls.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#244

Post by Fnoord »

When I read an article like this I'm reminded that Pamela Jones (PJ) [1] of Groklaw [2] -specifically, her last Groklaw article [3]- might be one of them.

Quoting from the last article:

"The owner of Lavabit tells us that he's stopped using email and if we knew what he knew, we'd stop too.

[...]

Oddly, if everyone did that, leap off the Internet, the world's economy would collapse, I suppose. I can't really hope for that. But for me, the Internet is over.

[...]"

My point isn't that a significant percentage of the 11% consciously don't use the Internet for similar reasons. I don't know how significant such as percentage would be. My point is that there are people around who consciously do not use the Internet (at all) for privacy/security reasons. The Internet isn't a panacea.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Jones

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groklaw

[3] http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20130818120421175

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#245

Post by Bromskloss »

Proof wrote: post #196
reaperducer wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. I know a woman who until recently worked as a secretary to one of the presidents of a large regional bank. The first thing she did each morning was to print out the president's e-mails, and bring them to him on paper. He would the…

What’s wrong with having a bookbag? Here in Finland, practically everyone carries one. From young kids to grown adult men and women. I even saw an old person with one the other day. One can’t carry as much nor is it practical to use briefcases.

I'll allow a book strap.

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/illustration-depicting-...

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#246

Post by Bromskloss »

cm2187 wrote: post #53
simmons wrote: post #12

My Dad is in his early 70's and has never used the Internet. In fact, he never even had a cellphone until this year when I bought him a flip-phone and convinced him to accept it. I think he's plenty capable of learning such technology, he just doesn't see any compelling reason. And I think that's a perfectly reasonable choice -- I'm certainly not going to tell a senior citizen what they need to be happy. He is starti…

What is interesting is that it seems to have more to do with age than intellectual capacity. I know very smart 60yo+ doctors with a lifetime of scientific achievements, who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser, and who just refuse to learn it. They might learn just how to use it but have no curiosity on how it works.

> who understands concepts way more complicated than the IP protocol or a browser

Out of and interest in both computer protocols and medicine, I'm curious to know if you have any specific examples of those concepts you mention.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#247

Post by Bromskloss »

jonny_eh wrote: post #124
dghughes wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the US IRS have an auto-fill feature for tax software? In Canada you sign up at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA is Canada's IRS) and get a log on. Then at tax time you can download free tax software from links on the CRA website, click auto-fill to populate with your info and then click the e-file button. That's it, done. My dad in his mid 70s probably wouldn't do it so your dad may not either if it was available…

> Does the US IRS have an auto-fill feature for tax software? No. See: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/03/22/521132960/epis...

I used to think making it more automatic was a clearly good idea _until_ I listened to that episode and was introduced to the counter-argument that people should well know what taxes they pay, to make it harder to sneak things in there or make the existing things swell without scrutiny.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#248

Post by Bromskloss »

bernardino wrote: post #130
SamUK96 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even as a ~20-30 year old, libraries and them acting as community "hubs" seems so foreign already. Part of me worries about the growing individualist and transactional nature of our social lives that the internet is causing [citation needed, I know]. Part of me thinks that the easy way now where we can do IRS forms (and everything) online and to our door of our houses, will make us weak. There is some old Roman bit a…

You are definitely onto something. I'm going to skew this comment towards something similar. As an early twenty-something, I'm urging more friends and family to stop using the internet loosely - meaning, use the medium as a tool but not as a form of entertainment. Extensively, use it as little as possible. I'm not saying reject the medium but rather try to be acutely aware of how it affects things: perception, mind,…

This sounds like thinking I've heard from some Amish people.

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#249

Post by Bromskloss »

bernardino wrote: post #229
icebraining wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is HN a tool or entertainment?

Definitely a tool or at least, mostly a tool - I continue to learn a lot from the site, largely from the comments but also from the links to articles, etc. I suppose it's important to define tool and entertainment. As I see it: A tool is something that helps you grow, create, learn, etc. Entertainment, on the other hand, is something with no intention of helping you, it's only for gratification purposes. For instance…

> I continue to learn a lot from the site

To me, that makes it entertainment, though I guess learning things can be useful for work too. :-)

Re: 11% of Americans don’t use the internet

#250

Post by Bromskloss »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #204
reaperducer wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your grandfather and I are kindred spirits. When I retire, I don't plan to ever use a computer again if I don't have to. There's nothing on the internet that can compete with the fulfillment available from my wife, my dog, and my actual real life friends.

I'll keep the computer but I'm planning to disconnect from the internet once I retire.

For what tasks do you intend to use the computer?
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