Digital Exclusion ?

[Observer II]

In a rapidly changing digital environment, where access to banking, shopping and other services are increasingly requiring the use of modern digital technology, scant regard seems to be applied to those left behind by the speed of "progress" - the elderly.   Now there may be politicians like Boris Johnson, who harbour scant regard for the elderly, as shown by his pandemic premiaship,  but the elderly can be the most vulnerable to rapid social change and thus excluded from it's benefits. Change is not new, at the beginning of the industrial revolution peasants  had to adapt to new machinery and ways of working, with difficulty, sparking the luddite reaction.  In our modern fast paced world,  many who are lonely, isolated and find difficulty in absorbing new information, are being completely forgotten, and thus excluded from events.  Whilst Councils and Gov Depts, may make help available in the form of assistance, the inability of old dogs to learn new tricks remains, and this isn't helped by the corporate world, including the Banks, which are retreating from the high street, leaving access to those with the apps and knowledge to access on line.   So unless society wishes to simply write off "the old'uns", and leave them further isolated and impoverished, perhaps some provisions need to be put in place, at least until we've all died off.       

[ninearches]

If this techno revolution had been left for another 20 or 30 years the people most affected would have been long gone. The change has been too great ,too soon & too sudden. 

My mate's gone to the East Midlands by train today. He is partially sighted & gets help from the station staff along his journey. When i phoned earlier to see how he was coping , he was at Manchester Oxford Road & the ticket office was closed ,hence no assistance .

[Observer II]

Boris Johnson's sentiments are echoed throughout the State and Corporate world; it's all about what's cheaper (more efficient) and more profitable for them, so why worry over old farts that will be gone in a few years.  Next, they'll be scrapping cash and moving onto digital currency, if you haven't got a smart phone or don't know how to use it (like me ! ), your goosed.  The s/markets are gearing up to go fully self service with the check outs, with the added bonus of being able to sack a load of staff.    😠

[ninearches]

On a different tack about technology. A family member who lives in Haydock has never been to London in her car but last week she received a bill for unpaid ULEZ charges. This week she has received 3 speeding summonses. It turns out her number plate has been cloned.  Her only redress is to challenge the tickets because ULEZ cameras can't tell the difference between a light coloured transit & a black car.

[Confused52]

1 hour ago, ninearches said:

On a different tack about technology. A family member who lives in Haydock has never been to London in her car but last week she received a bill for unpaid ULEZ charges. This week she has received 3 speeding summonses. It turns out her number plate has been cloned.  Her only redress is to challenge the tickets because ULEZ cameras can't tell the difference between a light coloured transit & a black car.

That is pretty shocking. After helping her challenge them I suggest you use the Guido Fawkes tip address (order-order(dot)com(slash)tips(slash)) to pass the story on. Guido hates Sadiq Khan with a vengeance.

[Bill]

The people that clone registration plates normally try and find one for a similar make, model and colour and that really makes things tricky. At least the police should now have a record on their database of which is the illegal vehicle although I suspect their technology and that of ULEZ only identifies number plates.

On the mobile phone thing, my brother called round for one today having had his bank (Santander) tell him it was now impossible to access their online account services without having a mobile device. I’m not sure how he’ll manage as he’s hopeless with technology but at least he has a good friend who’s a bit more switched on.

What’s miffing me off at the moment is that so many of the Apps have been optimised use the most up to date phones with little or no regard for anyone who’s phone is more than a few years old. I often run into silly issues where I’m presented with screens where the main image obscures the accept button. People say “just change your phone” but I say “no, ensure your App works or all phones and not just the latest models.

 

Bill 😊

[Confused52]

I just got a spam call threatening to disconnect me on my mobile. Unusually it was press 1 to give us all your money and press 2 to lose it in Chinese! (didn't mention whether it was Cantonese or Mandarin, we can guess)

[Observer II]

Thought the police can photograph and process number plates digitally ?    And instead of rousting folk for not using correct pronouns, they could strengthen their digital fraud services.   

[ninearches]

All this techno is moving too fast for the average person over 20. There does seem to be with all this AI revolution a complete disregard for the millions of people worldwide who will have no clue whatsoever of what they are dealing with.