Are old people ready for the digital conversion?

In article , Mark Carver wrote:
I showed our teenage lads this:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-euN...eature=related

They were dumb-struck, first when I told them it was recorded at 3pm, and not
3am, then at the long pauses and silence, and finally that something as
'boring' as the test card should be shown as a 15 minute filler in the middle
of the day.

Happy days! The programmes were what broadcasting was all about then, not just
stuff to fill in the long gaps between opportunities for the presentation
departments to show off their cleverness.

Rod.
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On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:44:07 +0100, Mike Henry wrote:

These people were BMW and Rover drivers, both prepared to mount kerbs
and drive over grass instead of using the roads like everyone else.

I concur completely with the sentiments you are expressing.

However, in each case were the drivers of the vehicle billed for
the recovery of their vehicles by West Midlands Fire and Rescue
Service, or did the property tax payers of the county have to
foot the bill?

If not, then the cost of a sign would be far less than calling
out the rescue service, and possibly diverting it away from
a more urgent mission.

Furthermore, what safety guards exist to keep young children
from falling into the canal and drowning?

On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:03:08 +0100, Colin Stamp
wrote:

Your hangup

Time to PLONK!

On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:00:26 +0100, Colin Stamp
wrote in
:

Avoiding the use of sat-nav for the reason you have given would be
pretty classic technophobia in my book.
What you're describing seems to be the fear (based on reading/hearing
about cars in rivers etc.) that, if you used sat-nav, it might somehow
get the better of you and cause you to do something stupid.

My opinion of the merits of sat-nav is based on personal experience of
using one sometimes, both at home and abroad. A competent human with a
paper map is a much better navigator. I use the stupid thing when I
don't have a navigator available but I usally regret it if I don't
compare the route that the sat-nav plans with a map and correct its
stupidities before setting out. I generally like technology and well
designed gadgets - the sat-nav is not one.

I have also seen large vehicles in inapproriate places, often stopped
almost blocking a narrow road while the driver appears to be trying to
work out how to get back onto a more appropriate road.

--
Owen Rees
[one of] my preferred email address[es] and more stuff can be
found at http://www.users.waitrose.com/~owenrees/index.html

On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:19:10 +0100, Owen Rees wrote:

I have also seen large vehicles in inapproriate places, often stopped
almost blocking a narrow road while the driver appears to be trying
to work out how to get back onto a more appropriate road.

Which is why more thoughtful municipal councils have installed
warning signs in appropriate places.

http://news.bbc.co.UK/1/hi/wales/6959057.stm

On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:01:10 +0100, Colin Stamp
wrote in
:

All three of the above look perfectly valid to me. All very good
justifications for spot of technophobia.
Nothing whatsoever inherently wrong with that, of course, but having
those attitudes won't be beneficial to an individual in coping with
the DSO.

Being irritated (or worse) at having particular technology imposed on
you at your own expense does not necessarily imply fear or hatred of the
technology itself, nor does it imply inability to cope with it.

It is less than 25 years since they switched off VHF TV in the UK and
only 44 years since they started broadcasting UHF TV. You don't have to
be particularly old to have been old enough to have needed to cope with
that. I don't see why people with that experience should have particular
difficulty coping with another enforced change but I can see plenty of
reasons for grumbling about having to go through all that again and
expecting the politicians to do it to us again in less than another 25
years.

--
Owen Rees
[one of] my preferred email address[es] and more stuff can be
found at http://www.users.waitrose.com/~owenrees/index.html

In article , Owen Rees
wrote:
My opinion of the merits of sat-nav is based on personal experience of
using one sometimes, both at home and abroad. A competent human with a
paper map is a much better navigator.

I've never had that luxury, and if I take the role of the "competent
human" myself, I have to keep stopping, and then try to remember what
I've seen on the map for as long as possible while I drive. What I like
most of all about my satnav is that it has a female voice that never
loses its temper even if I take a wrong turning, and where else could
you find one of those?

Rod.
--
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from
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On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:52:40 +0100, Mark Carver
wrote:

Marky P wrote:

I find it amusing when my niece asks me what mobile phone I had as a
kid or whether I watched Cbeebies in my early years. Although I'm
approching 'middle age' neither of the above mentioned items were
around in my sprightly young days.

I showed our teenage lads this:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-euN...eature=related

They were dumb-struck, first when I told them it was recorded at 3pm, and not
3am, then at the long pauses and silence, and finally that something as
'boring' as the test card should be shown as a 15 minute filler in the middle
of the day.

A few years back, I got a load of betamax tapes off a friend and went
though them. All were recorded in the early 80's. Great 80's
adverts. Most of the tapes had late night films on and the tapes were
left running after the film so you got the national anthem and
closedown. I've transferred all the best bits to DVD.

Marky P.

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
I showed our teenage lads this:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-euN...eature=related

I bet they think you're a rum bugger!

Bill

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...
These people were BMW and Rover drivers, both prepared to mount kerbs and
drive over grass instead of using the roads like everyone else. We can't
be sure but I bet they wouldn't pay attention to a sign even if there was
one. Just like the people who, when following satnavs, blissfully ignore
all the signs and get stuck on level crossings.

Ludicrous generalisation.

Bill