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~stacksmith has thoughtful observations about our current technology and how they do not fit at all for folks coming from a different period on time, or mental/cultural background, say:
> Diminished mental capacity is really the problem. Technology is not geared for that sort of customer.
This post is well worth reading in full! Go! I'll wait. And while I wait: A big Thank You! to ~stacksmith for taking the time to write this up.
So? Are you back? Well. Depressing, isn't it?
I'm closing in on 60. My hearing and vision are still quite good. I wear glasses since almost 50 years, but with them, I am able to see far and near --- without them I can see very close, about 10 cm (4 inches) from my nose. That is really helpful in a lot of situations, I am even able to see on said high dpi mini-screens! Yay.
However, I'm already at a complete loss with web/GUI interfaces, which do not have buttons for things --- as ~stacksmith phrases it. I have ranted about this aspect elsewhere, for example towards the end of
And here:
> There will be the day where I am unable to produce the mantra to decrypt my computers storage, or my .gpg file which holds the other mantras
On that day I have to organize a few things:
Get rid of all my valuable belongings while I know where they go (not: someone has taken it away).
Remove all the funny electronics scattered througout the house and stop the collection of environmental data alltogether.
Move into another location, taking a few books and my vinyl collection and turntable with me. And if the tremor is large enough to not place the needle any more ... get rid of this stuff, too.
Computers? Shred the disks.
Online bank account? I have no idea.
This last thing is particularly daunting. I have witnessed that the clerk at the bank counter gave the bank card to my mother and sent her to the Automatic Teller Machine outside! This is so disgusting, words fail on me. The bank is living on other peoples money (they don't have any). And then they treat these "other people" like so? Unbelievable. I do not have children, and even if I had any, this particular point is very challenging. If you cannot control your bank account any more, you are at mercy of strangers. In much the same way when you move into a nursing home, because you don't function enough any more, or because you need assistance constantly. But let's face it. Nursing homes have become a capitalists gold mine, it's not about the people living there. Only to the extent that the people working there are living up to their personal ideals. And yes, I am afraid, that I have to go this route.
The other side of the coin is this: I (and all the currently active tinkerers) are now in a position to still do something about it. If you program GUIs, try to make your grandma proud. And as ~starbreaker has pointed out, this requires complete rethinking of what GUIs have to look like. And write documentation, print it out for grandma. In nice, big enough letters, please.
I have a few times already thought about filing a case along the "discrimination" argument: If I cannot pay for my purchase in cash, but only with some fancy card, you are excluding me from live. For example I have placed an order at some web shop and was unable to pay for it --- because I don't paypal. The order was cancelled, fair enough, I have asked them to delete my account.
So I would like to encourage everyone to not take things for granted. Try some old fashioned stuff as well, maybe even to explore analog live (film cameras, vinyl albums and CDs, handwritten notes, old fashioned cars without all the assistants ...). I would like to encourage everyone to accept that there is no "one size fits it all".
---
One thing I have on my list is this: learn the dasher input method invented by David J.C. MacKay, as long as I know, how to set it up. It might keep me going a little longer.
Cheers,
~ew
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