I am ready to upgrade

[An Haddock]

I'm putting this in Sightings because the guy wasn't a bad customer per se - just... living in the 20th century.


People don't believe me when I tell them we still get customers who have dial-up internet or use Windows 98 computers.

This guy had both.


Old fellow - probably 80 or so - and his wife come in inquiring about purchasing a new computer. It seems his old one had Windows 98 and dialup, but he got something from AOL indicating their desktop software would stop working at the end of the month or they wouldn't offer dialup any more or some such thing. (my technician did most of the talking - I was just listening in from the back)


After discussing possibilities and what he needed, the fellow conceded that he would need to get set up with the big V or the big C for internet access and once he'd squared that away he would come back and purchase a new computer.

I do feel sorry for the guy in his having to deal with the two big internet providers. The part that gets me though... he would have happily kept using his Win 98 machine with dialup until the thing died.


I wish I could remember the comic strip, but I think it was Dilbert or Foxtrot where I got this quote: "Kicking and screaming will the foolish be dragged into the 21st century."

[Kittish]

Sounds to me like this fellow was operating on the "It ain't broke, don't need to fix it" principle. And why not, if the service and the machine were adequate to his and his wife's needs? And when he got notice that one (and thus both) no longer were going to work, he set out to fix them. Your post doesn't make the guy come across as grumpy or even clueless.

[An Haddock]

Sounds to me like this fellow was operating on the "It ain't broke, don't need to fix it" principle. And why not, if the service and the machine were adequate to his and his wife's needs? And when he got notice that one (and thus both) no longer were going to work, he set out to fix them. Your post doesn't make the guy come across as grumpy or even clueless.

???


I never said he was grumpy. I specifically said I posted it in Sightings because I wouldn't consider him an SC. He was pleasant enough. Just behind the times.


I would go as far as to consider him clueless due to the types of infections he could get from such an archaic operating system as Win 98. Microsoft doesn't even support XP any more and as such anyone using that or an older operating system takes a massive risk if hackers should find a new back door or exploit. It doesn't matter if you have antivirus or other protection.

[Slave to the Phone]

I agree that its always a shocker to see tech that old still being used. I also agree with you about the risk involved with an unprotected machine...however he most likely didn't use it for banking or paying bills. At a guess, I'd say that was his email machine.

[wolfie]

People don't believe me when I tell them we still get customers who have dial-up internet or use Windows 98 computers.

I'd believe you - partly because I'm sending this from a Windows 98 computer on dialup internet.

[Monterey Jack]

Technology can never be "outdated"...so long as it fits the specific needs of the user. I'm sure there are plenty of older people still watching VHS movies on their tube TVs.

[RichS]

Technology can never be "outdated"...so long as it fits the specific needs of the user.

That's true - At home, I have an older system with Win98SE to play DOS and older Windows games. Yes, I know about DOSBox, but it's not the same...

At work, there's a VM set up before I came in with Win2K running a library database (software is old, and library is cash-strapped).

[wolfie]

Technology can never be "outdated"...so long as it fits the specific needs of the user.

Definitely. A couple examples:

I carry a drill in my truck (in case I need to replace a "scrubbed off" clearance light on a trailer). What kind of drill? An "eggbeater" hand drill. I'd only be drilling 2 holes through relatively thin metal, can't rely on having 120V available, rechargeable batteries tend to go flat if left sitting for too long, and air drills kept in a non-temperature-controlled environment tend to have their motors rust out. The "eggbeater" may be primitive, but I know it will work when I need it.

Since before Desert Storm (early 1990s), elements within the USAF have been trying to get rid of the A-10. It's a subsonic aircraft which is only capable of close air support missions, and these elements want to assign the task to a more versatile plane such as the F-15, F-16, or F-35. Meanwhile, the Army is screaming to keep it in USAF inventory (due to an interservice agreement, the Army is prohibited from flying fixed-wing aircraft). Even though the A-10 only does one mission, it does it better than any other plane in USAF inventory - because it was designed for that particular job. It can fly slow enough that the pilot can identify friendly vs. hostile troops in close proximity and attack only the hostiles, and is able to withstand 20mm anti-aircraft fire (the air low over a battlefield is frequently full of steel). It might be primitive, and has been out of production for roughly 30 years, but it's still the best plane for the job.

[XCashier]

Technology can never be "outdated"...so long as it fits the specific needs of the user. I'm sure there are plenty of older people still watching VHS movies on their tube TVs.

They might be able to watch tapes, but they wouldn't be able to get actual TV, since there's no more analog signal, and the tube TVs can't get digital.

I see folks driving around in cars from the 1950s or earlier, even cars from the 1920s sometimes! Granted, that's a little different, they're beautiful antiques kept in showroom condition, but still. And more than once I've had customers asking me if we carry parts for their fifty-year-old (or older) sewing machines. (No, we don't, but there's a sewing machine/vacuum cleaner repair place nearby they might have better luck at.)

[katzklaw]

so i just got off work, where two of the 3 computers in the office still run win XP... and walked past my 1978 Ford truck and sat down in my 1993 camper, and started thinking about the 1964 Airstream i used to own and the 1979 bus i currently own and am turning into a motorhome...

yup. definitely a member of the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school. XD

[cindybubbles]

I live in a 3-bedroom condo that was built in the 1970s. I'm currently thinking about my Sega Genesis that I won back in 1993, the DOS games that I used to play and software that I used to compose my music.

I've had at least three mobile phones before getting my first smartphone. My first one didn't even have pictures; it was just a fancy version of Zack Morris's brick cell phone.

I still have a large tube TV in my living room; the other two are a small LCD TV and a large HD TV.

My parents are in their late 60s / early 70s and I'm in my mid-30s. Yet another combination of the times exists in my house.

[An Haddock]

So... everyone is angry because I pointed out someone's computer is outdated?


I still have a 1982 stereo with a turntable for my record and 8-track collection. I drove a 1973 Challenger for 5 years but traded it in for a new car in 1998 because I couldn't afford the upkeep. My old apartment had cheap 70's wood paneling and I loved it because it reminded me of my parents first house. I still play Civilization 1 and Blood on Dosbox.

Now if we're done with the vintage pissing contest, it's all irrelevant because anyone running a computer with an outdated operating system is taking a huge risk in getting worms and viruses. Especially if it's an office that has to work under the HIPAA laws. The worst thing a classic car has to worry about is rust.

[katzklaw]

hah. i wasn't angry at all. just commenting randomly about the 'tech isn't outdated' line.

i havn't seen win98 in forever. XD that poor guy is gonna be so lost with win8

[NorthernZel]

i havn't seen win98 in forever. XD that poor guy is gonna be so lost with win8

Nah, if someone just points him to the "Desktop" icon in the lower left corner of the screen, he'll get a Win7-ish desktop that resembles the Win98 userface.

Heck, IIRC the 8.0 version has even the good old "grassy hill" background picture as default. I don't remember whether the 8.1 version offers it (we went with the settings set by Lenovo, until we replaced it with one of our own pics).

EDITED TO ADD: The newer MS Office programs and all those tabs, on the other hand...

[XCashier]

hah. i wasn't angry at all. just commenting randomly about the 'tech isn't outdated' line.

I wasn't angry either. I think everyone was just saying that some stuff considered "outdated tech" is still quite usable, sometimes even better than the newer stuff.

You are absolutely correct about the computer technology, though, especially considering all the malware out there.