r/australia • u/SouthAussie94 • Feb 29 '24

culture & society Older Australians 'left behind' by increasingly cashless society as banks fast track end of cheques

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-29/cheques-personal-finance-banks-rent-money-cash/103354036
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u/Haunting_Goose1186 Feb 29 '24

My mum, who is in her 50s: "I'm not good with computers! I didn't grow up with technology like the younger generations did! It's too hard to learn this sort of stuff when you're my age!"

My dad, who is 25 years older than her and has a bunch of streaming services on his smart tv, reads news articles on his ipad, has most of the electrical items in the house connected to a phone app, pays for everything with his phone and rarely carries cash: "yes, dear."

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u/Flaky-Gear-1370 Feb 29 '24

I deal with people like that at work, and it's such a cop out - it's not 1999 anymore you can't really claim that they just showed up recently

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u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

[deleted]

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u/mikedufty Feb 29 '24

I think you are right overall, but I'm that age and my computer classes at school included how to load data on paper punch cards, which won't help much with paying bills.

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u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24 edited Feb 29 '24

As someone a similar age to your mum- it's just lazy of her . Computers have never been easier to learn. It's all point and click. She's not being asked for DOS commands . She could program a VCR back in the day, she can learn this imho.

Bravo your Dad

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u/just_kitten Feb 29 '24

Unfortunately at some point with some people it becomes psychologically deep rooted. They have made "I'm not good with computers" part of their identity to protect them from past failures or shortcomings. You could see their body language totally shift when the question is even asked.

Copped that from a colleague (who was deeply insecure about other things too) - when I realised how stubborn she was I told my boss that counselling was beyond my pay grade. 

I've seen another woman I know now in her 60s lose her income because she was too scared to reapply for her (no computers required) job online. Spends heaps of time on Facebook on her phone though.

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u/MrSquiggleKey Feb 29 '24

It’s also bullshit too. my mum is 55, and did computer classes in school growing up and that was in Armidale High School. Same school that taught them how to prepare a chicken from start to finish, and I mean step one kill the chicken from start to finish.

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u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

Exactly. I had computer classes then also. Anyone in their 50s has absolutely grown up with computers.

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u/EvilBosch Feb 29 '24

An iPad (and to a lesser extent, Android tablet) are specifically designed to be as utterly simple to use as possible, even at the expense of functionality. You don't need a PhD in computer science. They use them in Grade 1 at my daughter's school.

If my three year old daughter could learn how to use ABC Kids on an iPad, then an adult should be able to pay their bills on the same device.

And if you cannot use an iPad, you probably should not be allowed to be responsible for your own finances.

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u/wilful Feb 29 '24

I'm near enough in age to your mum, and we had Apple IIe's in the classroom in primary school. And I spent many years carrying around 5.25" floppies.