this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2026
131 points (96.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

37976 readers
1366 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

My favorite is when someone tells me that they are too old to learn about new technology, or that they can't use a device because they aren't very tech-y. No, you just refuse to learn.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 hour ago

That any website outside of corpo net is the Evil Dark Web. I can't stand my tech illiterate friends that refuse to use the fediverse or any non tracking YouTube links. If a site is HTML only they shit their pants.

When did people get so dumb about computers ? Man.

[–] MuttMutt@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago

That every generation of device is going to be the next greatest thing and they should all have huge leaps like in the early 2000's.

I doubt people switching from the rotary phones to touch tone phones were complaining a year later about not having something better from the phones.

[–] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I'm old and tech-y, and my contemporaries still use the "I'm too old to learn" line on me - and then ask me to sort out their issue. Deeply annoying.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

I'm legit scared of that. Im only in my 30s and my capacity for learning has diminished greatly since I was a child. What if that trajectory continues?

I dont wanna be "too old to learn these newfangled thingamabobs" when we get the next big thing.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

this post reads like an entitled youth complaining about old people.

you know that video of the kids that can't figure out how to use a rotary dial telephone? yeah, that's exactly what happens to old folks who can't figure out how to use a smart phone, or computer, or a smart TV, or a, or a, or a...

technological context is important. you can't just pick up a piece of technology and immediately understand how to use it. you have to understand not just how it works, but why it works the way it does. knowing the why takes a history of the whole feature.

it'd be like if I posted a meme you have zero context about and I make fun of you for not understanding it and call you an old dumb fuck for not grasping on the basic understandings of why it's funny.

1000003083

[–] psion1369@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

The issue as I have presented isn't one of "Old People Dumb", but one of the idea that older people shouldn't refuse to learn about something because they are "too old". Or enabling that line of thinking. I recently had a customer buy a new computer for me and paid for a setup. I needed account details, and he had no idea what his accounts were, his passwords, just that he wanted his computer setup. When I asked for any passwords to get the setup done, he didn't know because his kids set all that up. If the kids took a moment to show him what was going on, how things worked, maybe he would have had an idea when he needed it.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

to riff off your example, what's an account? is there a bank involved or should I get in contact with my financial advisor? Did I get mail about the accounts? perhaps some kind of ID card came for me in the mail?

what's an account?

my point still remains. not only were you asking him to understand what an account is, but also the nuances between different accounts and what they do. like knowing what the difference is between a Facebook and email account is.

you take your historical knowledge of technology for granted. one day, sooner than you think, you're going to be that old man ranting about how nothing works and technology sucks.

[–] AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

"XYZ company already has all my data so I don't care that they're spying on me and selling my data to advertisers"

Fucking makes my blood boil. These people have absolutely zero critical thinking skills, or self respect

[–] Imhotep@lemmy.world 9 points 8 hours ago

blood boil

I’m the same, but I try to explain the errors of their ways in the most relaxed manner.
Most times it doesn’t make a difference but once in a while someone is receptive and makes a change. and it’s really rewarding.

It has been theorized once 25% of the population accepts an opinion the rest tends to follow, so I try to be optimistic and take it one step at a time. Lately I’ve had the impression I’m seeing progress.

[–] Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

The thing is though, that most people don't know why that's a problem, and privacy advocates seem to think that 'you've got a door on your bathroom' is a gotcha.

If someone is giving Google their home address and work address, and planning the route to get traffic data, they're not going to be concerned when Google Maps suggests their work address as a destination through the week. Same for their shopping data. 'Of course Amazon knows what I like, I do my shopping there!'

We need better ways to explain it to people who don't understand it, and who are not interested in it or the tech behind it. We have a big problem on Lemmy where we tend to assume that everyone understands the same issues as us, just not as well.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 6 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

If someone is giving Google their home address and work address, and planning the route to get traffic data, they’re not going to be concerned when Google Maps suggests their work address as a destination through the week.

It isn't that they aren't concerned, that is actually something many people see as a benefit. Yes, I still use google maps because it remembers destinations and has traffic density alerts and a bunch of other stuff that require tracking but those are a separate thing from google selling that tracking data to third parties. The former is a benefit and the latter is a problem.

[–] Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 hours ago

That's part of my point. For most people, giving Google their data means things like their travel info. The majority of people don't understand that tracking data is different, or what it means. When you tell them not to give their data to big corporations, they think you mean any data, and don't know that they can get data that you might not want shared

[–] Ryoae@piefed.social 10 points 8 hours ago

I fucking hate that word 'Innovation'. It is spammed by corporatebros who think their shit doesn't smell.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 16 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

People with no technical background insisting that “AI” is taking over and is sentient, even when I try to explain how it actually works. They refuse to believe that maybe all of those breathless “news” articles are clickbait hype-mongering.

“You just don’t like it because it’s gonna take your job!” Keep believing that, imbeciles.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] themaninblack@lemmy.world 7 points 9 hours ago

If you’re entering or exiting the tram, heads the fuck up.

[–] Retail4068@lemmy.world 17 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

Linux nerds screeching about how Linux desktop works perfectly out of the box and with less time and effort then Windows/OsX.

It's entirely counterproductive to adoption.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

Yeah, I tell people Linux is like driving a custom built car. You can make it do anything you want and have absolute control and freedom, and often do things other cars can't, faster and more efficiently and cheaply. But sometimes it's going to break and you need to get in there and wrench. If you don't enjoy learning, or work 80 hour weeks and have no time to tinker, don't use Linux desktop.

I got my SO to change because they like to customize, and I'm there if if breaks.

[–] Ryoae@piefed.social 5 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

It works out of the box - if you do nothing at all to it and just browse.

But to do anything like getting all of your favorite programs, that's going to take effort.

With older hardware sure. I largely have a flawless experience with anything 10 years old or older. And as long as it’s simple anything 5 years old works perfectly too.

But somehow my 5 year old network card is basically unusable on Linux unless I disable 6ghz WiFi.

[–] Retail4068@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Not even. I need custom scripts for audio, can't turn my display off and on I need to pull the HDMI cable, and Bluetooth is basically unusable.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

Bluetooth Linux sucks ass. No one can solve my Bluetooth issue and I'm using a good tp link dongle and updated kernel and keep getting skipping randomly over Bluetooth. So bad.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 hours ago

“I got my 107 year-old great grandmother running Arch from the command line in 20 minutes! Now she browses with Lynx and hosts a Matrix server.”

[–] ViatorOmnium@piefed.social 35 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

People need to learn innovation is not always progress, and that some paths forward are dead ends.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

"Innovation" under late stage crony capitalism is just newspeak for "further surveillance for poors and enrichment for billionaires"

[–] SethranKada@lemmy.ca 9 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Something I absolutely hate is when people say shit like "do you sell an apple charger?" The complete ignorance of what port your device uses or even what it's called is infuriating. Look, you either have a usb-c or lightning port, and you only have a lightning port if your phone is from like a decade ago or something. You should know by now to look for usb-c cables. It's especially frustrating when they get angry at me when they don't understand what I'm talking about.

[–] psion1369@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm a sales supervisor in an office supply store, and I get this ALL THE TIME! I once had someone argue with me over the name of the cable connectors and wondered why I didn't know what they were talking about. Then they said, and I quote, "Well, to me that's what I call them, so I'm going to just keep calling them that."

[–] scytale@piefed.zip 48 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Not exploring the Settings menu of a new device. That should be the first thing you do when you first power on a new device. Most people just go with whatever the default settings are. Hell, some have never even seen their settings menu beyond the wifi connection.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

I think we are just tinkerers, learners. I have been taking shit apart since I was 5, because I wanted to know how it worked and how to fix it.

Many (majority of humans?) people have zero desire to learn or do anything new/different. I thought everyone was like me early on, boy was I wrong.

[–] papalonian@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

I'm weird with this. Usually when I get a new phone, laptop or whatever, I like to use it exactly as is for at least a day or so. I like knowing what the "default" user experience is without me having to change or "fix" things first. Like playing a game without mods for a playthrough before adding big tiddie dragons.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 hour ago

Meanwhile, i look for community fixes and hacks the moment i get a game shared.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

I get that! Or maybe default settings are perfect. That's rare though especially nowadays.

Its like using your moms phone (or PC) with chrome, no adblock, 6789764 windows open, and brightness all the way up (what's dark mode?).

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 70 points 19 hours ago (8 children)

Clicking OK without reading the box.

It won't work, I get an error.

What's the error say?

Let me try again. Ok it says enter a time.

Did you enter a time?

No.

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 4 points 10 hours ago

Except that there are about 100 questions on the page and there is no prompt to go to the question you missed.

Many sites are just poorly designed.

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›