Boomers and Technology
May. 23rd, 2026 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerAh, Boomers and technology. Or, more generally, older people and technology. The past few days as we've been organizing a birthday party for my mother-in-law (MIL) it's been humorous— in a "laugh, so you don't cry" way— working with old people trying to use technology. The thing is, here in 2026, almost everyone under 90 is using technology, many are depending on it every day, but so many of them have close to no understanding of how to actually use it, beyond "I push the button and the thing happens." Here are three stories:
That was either too hard or too simple for Aunt Diane.
Diane chose to do her own research. She landed at a hotel far away. And she couldn't find her confirmation number or cancel her reservation.
As we talked to her, in a loooong, rambling conversation, about what happened, the best I can piece together is this. And I'm having to piece it together because Diane literally couldn't tell us what she actually did. She pressed buttons, clicked "buy", etc., and couldn't recall.
Apparently Diane tried searching online for "hotels near [location]". Then she clicked the first link that came up. It was an ad. It was an ad from a fly-by-night booking company. Diane couldn't tell that it was some company in the Philippines versus actually the hotel. She got no confirmation code or anything like that. She thought she was talking to the front desk manager at the hotel the whole time and they'd just have her name written in their ledger.
"I'm going to drive a second car to the clinic you're going to," I explained. "What's the name of the clinic?"
"So, you take 83 to Limekiln Road—"
"I'll get directions online, what's the name of the clinic?"
"So, you exit at Limekiln Road, turn left and go under the highway—"
"What is the name of the clinic?" (Note: I'm pretty sure these directions were to a hotel we were discussing earlier.)
"Oh, it's Quinto."
"Quinto with a Q-U? ... I'm not seeing a clinic matching that name."
"No I think it's Quintas," MIL corrected. "La Quintas".
"Yes," FIL agreed. "When you exit on Limekiln Road and drive under the interstate you'll see it ahead on the left—"
"The La Quinta hotel? The clinic is in the La Quinta hotel?"
"Oh, no, the clinic is called Internists of Harrisburg."
Me, 3 seconds later: "Okay, I've got the directions."
Now, imagine that literally every time I ask "Where are we going?" it's this bad. Every. Time.
And that's not even the worst part. The day she's driving, she calls us in tears from the road. She's 4 hours into what should be a 2.5 hour drive. She doesn't know where she is. She says the road was stopped, and closed, and she was forced to exit. She claims to be in (town), which is, like, 15 miles from where she's lived for decades.
I pull up a map with real-time traffic on my phone while Hawk is talking on hers. There is a minor slowdown, no road closure.
"Can you get back on I-81?"
"I don't know where I am."
"Use your phone to get directions."
"I tried that but I can't read it while I'm driving."
"Okay, then pull over and read it."
"I can't pull over."
"You can't pull over?"
"Right, there's nowhere safe to stop. I'm on the interstate."
"You said you were forced off the interstate."
"I got back on."
"You said you couldn't figure out how to get back on."
"Oh, I drove around for a few hours until I found it again."
"Okay, then keep driving. You should get here in about 2 hours."
"What if they close the road again?"
"Then pull over and check for directions."
"There's nowhere to pull over."
She called us again, 2 hours later, again nearly in tears.
"Traffic stopped again, I don't think I'm going to make it,"
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"It's been 2 hours, it seems like you're almost here."
"I think I'm still in Virginia. Traffic has been stopped the whole time."
Note: real-time traffic maps show nothing like this.
"Okay, well just keep driving and stay safe."
She arrived 20 minutes later. She was not in Virginia for her second call. She was in Pennsylvania, and was 90% of the way here.
"Which hotel did you guys land at?"
"We're at the Springhill Suites."
"Cool, that's the one we wanted to recommend because it's nearby and newly built and good quality, but it was $300/night when we checked listings."
"Yeah, I think we got the last room."
"You paid $300/night?"
"No. We have a Marriott credit card that gives us a free-night cert once a year. I used that and got the room for free. Seemed like the best time to use it."
1. Can't Book a Hotel with a List of Names and Phone Numbers
To help MIL's & FIL's older relatives figure out where to stay, Hawk and I put together a short list of hotels nearby that we know to be good, clean places. It was made more difficult by the fact there's a show in town this weekend, jacking the rate on the usual places we'd recommend to 2x normal. As part of our research we checked prices and narrowed down the list to 2 recommended hotels. "Book here or here, they're known-good hotels, nearby, with fair prices." We provided names of the hotels and phone numbers.That was either too hard or too simple for Aunt Diane.
Diane chose to do her own research. She landed at a hotel far away. And she couldn't find her confirmation number or cancel her reservation.
As we talked to her, in a loooong, rambling conversation, about what happened, the best I can piece together is this. And I'm having to piece it together because Diane literally couldn't tell us what she actually did. She pressed buttons, clicked "buy", etc., and couldn't recall.
Apparently Diane tried searching online for "hotels near [location]". Then she clicked the first link that came up. It was an ad. It was an ad from a fly-by-night booking company. Diane couldn't tell that it was some company in the Philippines versus actually the hotel. She got no confirmation code or anything like that. She thought she was talking to the front desk manager at the hotel the whole time and they'd just have her name written in their ledger.
2. The Name, Please, Not Directions
This one involves my own inlaws. Even though FIL has worked with computers since the 1970s, his understanding of them apparently stopped evolving in about 1992. The modern Internet might as well not exist. Apps on smartphones might as well not exist. Despite being reminded about mapping apps multiple times a week, he cannot comprehend that people no longer need a 5 minute monologue of directions to get someplace, they just need the name or address."I'm going to drive a second car to the clinic you're going to," I explained. "What's the name of the clinic?"
"So, you take 83 to Limekiln Road—"
"I'll get directions online, what's the name of the clinic?"
"So, you exit at Limekiln Road, turn left and go under the highway—"
"What is the name of the clinic?" (Note: I'm pretty sure these directions were to a hotel we were discussing earlier.)
"Oh, it's Quinto."
"Quinto with a Q-U? ... I'm not seeing a clinic matching that name."
"No I think it's Quintas," MIL corrected. "La Quintas".
"Yes," FIL agreed. "When you exit on Limekiln Road and drive under the interstate you'll see it ahead on the left—"
"The La Quinta hotel? The clinic is in the La Quinta hotel?"
"Oh, no, the clinic is called Internists of Harrisburg."
Me, 3 seconds later: "Okay, I've got the directions."
Now, imagine that literally every time I ask "Where are we going?" it's this bad. Every. Time.
3. Can't Read Directions While Driving, Won't Pull Over
Another aunt was driving in from a few hours away. She had Hawk read directions to her over the phone the day before. "Don't you have a smartphone?" we asked, incredulously, because we know she does. "Yes, but I can't read it while I'm driving," she explained. So Hawk read turn-by-turn directions to her over the phone, while auntie wrote it down. And the dictation exercise took twenty freaking minutes because auntie needed everything repeated three times and spelled out. (Why couldn't she have looked it up on her own phone and copied it down to paper herself?)And that's not even the worst part. The day she's driving, she calls us in tears from the road. She's 4 hours into what should be a 2.5 hour drive. She doesn't know where she is. She says the road was stopped, and closed, and she was forced to exit. She claims to be in (town), which is, like, 15 miles from where she's lived for decades.
I pull up a map with real-time traffic on my phone while Hawk is talking on hers. There is a minor slowdown, no road closure.
"Can you get back on I-81?"
"I don't know where I am."
"Use your phone to get directions."
"I tried that but I can't read it while I'm driving."
"Okay, then pull over and read it."
"I can't pull over."
"You can't pull over?"
"Right, there's nowhere safe to stop. I'm on the interstate."
"You said you were forced off the interstate."
"I got back on."
"You said you couldn't figure out how to get back on."
"Oh, I drove around for a few hours until I found it again."
"Okay, then keep driving. You should get here in about 2 hours."
"What if they close the road again?"
"Then pull over and check for directions."
"There's nowhere to pull over."
She called us again, 2 hours later, again nearly in tears.
"Traffic stopped again, I don't think I'm going to make it,"
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"It's been 2 hours, it seems like you're almost here."
"I think I'm still in Virginia. Traffic has been stopped the whole time."
Note: real-time traffic maps show nothing like this.
"Okay, well just keep driving and stay safe."
She arrived 20 minutes later. She was not in Virginia for her second call. She was in Pennsylvania, and was 90% of the way here.
Not All Boomers
Not every older person is a complete disaster when it comes to using technology effectively. The counterpoint to this came with Hawk's uncle, Ron."Which hotel did you guys land at?"
"We're at the Springhill Suites."
"Cool, that's the one we wanted to recommend because it's nearby and newly built and good quality, but it was $300/night when we checked listings."
"Yeah, I think we got the last room."
"You paid $300/night?"
"No. We have a Marriott credit card that gives us a free-night cert once a year. I used that and got the room for free. Seemed like the best time to use it."
