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Subject:Re: Ageism From:Teresa Taschereau <tascht00 -at- LIBERTEL -dot- MONTREAL -dot- QC -dot- CA> Date:Sat, 19 Oct 1996 00:34:14 -0400
On Fri, 18 Oct 1996, Tim Altom wrote:
> I noticed with interest an exchange of postings about one person's opinion
> that (paraphrased) those over 45 are rather stodgy and computer illiterate.
> A respondent indignantly replied that he was well over 45, thank you, and
> well acquainted with computer technology.
> Point taken. However, I have to say that while I've learned not to make
> unwarranted assumptions on the basis of age (I once knew a man in a pattern
> design shop who was pushing retirement age when he _started_ doing
> computer-based design and was soon one of the state's authorities on the
> software), nonetheless I think most of us would agree that there is a
> positive correlation in the business world between age and the reluctance to
> embrace and learn the newest technologies. I, myself, am 40 and quite
> computer literate, yet I still sometimes yearn for the old card catalogs at
> the library.
Well, in my office, I am older than most of the other employees, but have
more knowledge of compute, both the programs and the machines than 95% of
all of them.
I think that it is not age that is in question, but the quest for
information and the desire to learn.
Once we learn to not be afraid of the machine, I think that as we mature,
we want to learn more. Contrary to the mention above, I do not yearn for
old catalogs and manual methods of doing things. I would much rather
design a new method of working with the computer in order to make my life
and my job easier.
Teresa Taschereau
Traductions francais/anglais/francais
Formulaires/Documents/Pages Web
tascht00 -at- libertel -dot- montreal -dot- qc -dot- ca
> This is especially prevalent among managers, I think, and especially among
> higher management that never had to master much technology to do their
jobs
> anyway. But I do find that most people regardless of age come up to speed
> rather quickly once they're convinced that the technology is beneficial. So
> although I see the same trends the first writer did, I have to say that it's
> mostly due to the perception of need, not the congealing of brain cells.
> Tim Altom
> Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
> 317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
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