Monday, November 4, 2013

Technology Literacy or Lack There Of

This is funny:  My husband, a devoted couch potato, went to turn on our television this morning.  It didn't work.  He is on the phone with a tech support person as I write and I am listening to the exchange.  A little background first, we spend our winters on Hilton Head Island where the demographic of the population is heavily skewed toward the senior end of the scale.  So, as you can imagine, the number of people who are almost incapacitated by technology is staggering.  Consequently, the tech support for cable TV and internet has had to learn to be really, really patient.

So, I am listening to him discussing his life story with this support person as he relates how he was watching the television "just fine" last night and he doesn't know what went wrong, he thinks he just pushed this little button in the corner of the remote.  The tech person, meanwhile, is trying to walk him through rebooting.  Now he is relating his favorite TV shows to the support person.  Oh brother!  You are probably wondering why, at this point, I don't jump in and help him.  Well, I can explain.  (and this is the same thing I tell him)  He needs to be able to do this on his own because what if I am not here.  The cable company has made it relatively easy to contact them - just a three digit number to dial on the phone.

Thankfully, he isn't trying to get the internet working - I think that would completely befuddle him.

Patience is a virtue!

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