Old people and computers

[Aressel]

You really have 3 types of older people who use computers

1. The ones who only use it for one (or a couple things) and don't really know much else about it, and are scared of breaking it by pressing the wrong button.

2. Those who are enthusiastic about it and try to learn new things (books, elder college, etc.)

3. Those who are enthuastic, but don't really know a whole lot about it, and like to fiddle with it.

One of our frequent customers falls into the third category. Now, this gentleman is not an SC in any way. He pays his bills to us and doesn't complain about it and is always very nice to either me or bossman. (And he tips to boot.) He is also 92 years old, so kudos to him for even using the thing and getting out on the internet. But, I have no idea what he does to the thing. I see the strangest errors coming out of his machine; he will mess it up so bad that we have to do a full Windows reload ~2x a year. Any of the rest of you have customers like this?

[Banrion]

Maybe the next time he is in, you should discuss with him the possibility of locking him out of administrator access. He will still be able to do what he needs to do, he just won't be able to screw with the registry and drivers etc.

[Shabo]

We usually don't give out admin accounts to the computers we support (excepting laptops) unless the customer asks directly for them. Of course, these are not personal machines, so we can get away with that

Even then, there are some people who think they know what they are doing when they really don't, and we have to take away their admin access.

[Aressel]

Unfortunately, I don't think that's an option.

1. Its not the kind of thing that we do. We do do some business support, but for home machines, that kind of managment is not something that we would want to get involved in. (See reason 2.)

2. I expect that it would be more hassle than its worth. As is, we hear from him once every few months. If we handled the admin for him, we'd probably hear from him once a week or so because of something legit that he wanted to do that he was locked out from. (With him we always do house calls, and there are only the two of us techs here.)

Thanks for the suggestion though. Maybe I should get him to install Vista At least its a bit more protective of it's system files. (Stupid Vista.)

[TNT]

I had a woman call once who sounded like she had to be 102... with one of those sweet grandmotherly voices that sounded like she was going to offer to bring down milk and cookies at any moment.

Caller: I'm an older person and these computers are so complicated... I'm never going to understand them.
Me: It's okay. We'll just start with the basics.
Caller: Great, because I'm definitely a beginner. I know some stuff, like disabling my firewall and antivirus... bypassing the router, rebooting the modem, then turning on the computer... doing an ipconfig release and renew... checking my network card in device manager. I must sound pretty stupid to you because that's as far as I'm able to go.
Me: You know, we're hiring.

[UncleImpy]

Older users

Or group #4: Older users that are afraid of doing anything with their machines, and are forced to do something technical, and call you for help.

When the Y2K craze was hitting its height, I was working for the Windows Update team in Texas. There was this little tool that MS put out called the 'Y2K analyzer'. You download it, run it, and it checks all the MS software you have installed, and whether or not you have the appropriate Y2K fix installed (if it has one). It runs, then displays this report where it lists everything you have, and its status.

Enter LOL (Little Old Lady)

LOL: I just cant get this to work. What am I supposed to do again?
Me: Have you downloaded the Analyzer from Microsoft yet?
LOL: I clicked on the button that said 'Download Now', and clicked some more things and...I dont know?
Me: *realizing I will NOT be going on lunch in an hour now* Ooookay. Do you have a little icon on your screen that says 'Y2KAnalyzer'?
LOL: Uh....uh....(wait a few minutes) YES! Yes, I see it there...

*Oh thank god...because I knew this lady was on dialup, and there was just no way I was going to be able to give her instructions she would understand on how to get it from the web site*

Me: Okay, all you have to do is make sure you have any other programs or windows closed first, then double-click on that icon.
LOL: Uh...I dont have any windows. Click on where?
Me: Double-click on the icon that says 'Y2KAnalyzer'
LOL: I clicked on it and it just changed colors. Its not doing anything.
Me: No ma'am, you need to DOUBLE click on it. Click on it twice, very quickly...like you do when you want to start your other programs?
LOL: I clicked on it twice and it moved it!
Me: (the pain begins to start in the head...right behind the temples) You have to make sure you are holding the mouse very still, and click twice very quickly...
LOL: Oh! There it goes...

Now I wish I could say it was smooth sailing from there. Oh no, dear reader. EVERY SINGLE STEP I had her take had to be repeated a good 4-5 times before it sank in and she did what I was asking her to do. The normally 15 minute call took me 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete. When I was done and she hung up happy, I threw my headset across the cube into the corner...my manager, who was in the next cube over, stood up, looked at me wide-eyed, and mumbled, "I think you need to go on lunch."

Now, don't get me wrong. Im not angry with the customer. I just really, really, really wish the purchase price of a package computer would include a quickie 1 or 2 day class on 'You and your new computer', and if you passed the class, you got a discount on the computer. People would sure as hell listen then, wouldnt they??

[MacPrince]

Caller: Great, because I'm definitely a beginner. I know some stuff, like disabling my firewall and antivirus... bypassing the router, rebooting the modem, then turning on the computer... doing an ipconfig release and renew... checking my network card in device manager. I must sound pretty stupid to you because that's as far as I'm able to go.

That...is awesome.

[Banrion]

Now, don't get me wrong. Im not angry with the customer. I just really, really, really wish the purchase price of a package computer would include a quickie 1 or 2 day class on 'You and your new computer', and if you passed the class, you got a discount on the computer. People would sure as hell listen then, wouldnt they??

Now would there be a test-out option for the already competent? Not that I ever plan on buying a pre-fab machine ever again. But I would hate to have to sit through 2 days of "This is how you double click, lets practice!"

[UncleImpy]

"Not that I ever plan on buying a pre-fab machine ever again."

There's your answer

I'm fairly confident in saying (though I could still be wrong), that, unless you're talking about the latest $300 deal from Tiger Direct or NewEgg...competent, technical computer users usually don't buy prefabs. Most of us know where to get part X or video card A somewhere dirt cheap, like off of woot.com or slickdeals.net, and want a machine built to our exact requirements, with no proprietary hardware *couDELLgh* or software on it.

[TNT]

I'm fairly confident in saying (though I could still be wrong), that, unless you're talking about the latest $300 deal from Tiger Direct or NewEgg...competent, technical computer users usually don't buy prefabs. Most of us know where to get part X or video card A somewhere dirt cheap, like off of woot.com or slickdeals.net, and want a machine built to our exact requirements, with no proprietary hardware *couDELLgh* or software on it.

It's funny, but when I worked in Advanced Tech support, my computer melted (seriously... the CPU cooling fan went out). I asked the super-techs what they had... and they all had Dell or HP or whatever.

They all explained it this way... "When you call a company and buy a motherboard, it's $50 or more. When Dell calls and orders a million of those same motherboards, they pay $5 a piece. The same is true of the CPU, the optical drives, the RAM, etc. Unless you're building some super-advanced custom rig, buy off the shelf."

[UncleImpy]

Unless you're building some super-advanced custom rig....

You offend my inner geek! Is there any OTHER kind of computer to build?

[JustADude]

You offend my inner geek! Is there any OTHER kind of computer to build?

Seconded!

Well, there's also the 'salvage' computer, where you buy a second case, shove all your old, discarded parts in, and turn it into a functional machine for your non-techie mother.

[Aressel]

Seconded!

Well, there's also the 'salvage' computer, where you buy a second case, shove all your old, discarded parts in, and turn it into a functional machine for your non-techie mother.

Or the "upgrade" machine, where new parts filter from your main system to your secondary system, and so on, and everything just gets upgraded kinda incrementally.

[DannyboyO1]

I had a woman call once who sounded like she had to be 102... with one of those sweet grandmotherly voices that sounded like she was going to offer to bring down milk and cookies at any moment.

Caller: I'm an older person and these computers are so complicated... I'm never going to understand them.
Me: It's okay. We'll just start with the basics.
Caller: Great, because I'm definitely a beginner. I know some stuff, like disabling my firewall and antivirus... bypassing the router, rebooting the modem, then turning on the computer... doing an ipconfig release and renew... checking my network card in device manager. I must sound pretty stupid to you because that's as far as I'm able to go.
Me: You know, we're hiring.

This just made my WEEK.

[earl colby pottinger]

Type 2 and 3 is why I hate Type 1.

You really have 3 types of older people who use computers

1. The ones who only use it for one (or a couple things) and don't really know much else about it, and are scared of breaking it by pressing the wrong button.

2. Those who are enthusiastic about it and try to learn new things (books, elder college, etc.)

3. Those who are enthuastic, but don't really know a whole lot about it, and like to fiddle with it.

I have meet plenty of type 2, some of them even learn things that I never knew. Type 3 were fine until Windows 3.0 and later came out. Even then as long as you get them to backup and their system comes with a restore disk, these people can still be fine to work with. They are just slow learners ... VEERRRYYYY SLLOOOWWWW learners.

Type 1 are the one that make me gnash my teeth. Any problem is because 'they are too old to learn', and 'please will you do it for me' time after time after time. These people suck up your time doing things you that they can well do themselves. And if they are lonely, then get onto the internet and chat to someone there.

Type 1 do not want to learn, and I think that is the most disgraceful thing for any human being to do.