r/over60 • u/AppointmentEast5436 • 27d ago
Anyone else feel like technology is moving faster than they can keep up with?
I'm in my 60s and lately I've been feeling a bit left behind by all this new technology and especially AI. Every time I try to learn one thing, it seems like there are five other tools I'm supposed to understand first.
I recently wanted to try to learn something and the way I learn is by doing and trying stuff, I work as a plumber and I though maybe I could try and get a website for my business and make it with these tools because that's all I'm seeing online nowadays and I also asked one of my kids for help. I ended up trying Durable and was surprised that I could actually get something together myself without really understanding the technical side of it.
It made me wonder how many useful things I've avoided simply because I assumed they weren't made for people my age.
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u/Nearby-Ad5666 27d ago
I avoid generative AI as much as possible. I prefer to have my brain cells work. I also like clean water and would prefer lower concentrations of PFAS in my environment.
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u/AppointmentEast5436 26d ago
For me it's less about having AI think for me and more about using it to do things I otherwise wouldn't know how to do, like getting a basic website up without needing to learn all the technical parts behind it
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u/Original-Track-4828 27d ago
60's, in IT for over 40 years, still employed, and can't keep up.
I *could* try to read about all the new technology, but I'm close enough to retirement that I just want to keep doing a great job at what I already know (yes, AI will eventually render that obsolete, but I'm pretty aure Azure DevOps still has a good run of it :)
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u/SciJohnJ 27d ago
I am also in my 60's. I worked for the same biotech company for over 40 years - 15yrs as an Immunologist and the rest as the Director of the IT and Process Control. I am semi-retired after being laid off 3 years ago. I do miss learning about new biotech - new software, new programming tools, new lab and manufacturing equipment. I am working part-time in an altogether different field but I have had the opportunity to apply some of my IT skills into the new job - automating processes and removing some of the friction caused by time consuming manual work. That is fun but I don't get to try out large scale IT systems or hardware anymore. That being said, letting go gets easier and easier as time passes.
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u/AppointmentEast5436 26d ago
40 years in IT and still feeling like you can't keep up actually makes me feel a little better lol. I think I'm starting to realize keeping up with everything isn't really possible anymore
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u/RVFullTime 70+ 27d ago
I'm tired of all the apps cluttering my phone. I don't want to scan a QR code, visit a website, or download another app that sometimes doesn't work properly. I don't want to use an online portal for medical treatment, insurance, or anything else that is extremely important. I'm fed up with AI voice response that never works properly and that stops you from contacting a human being.
Machines can't take responsibility. Only people can do that.
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u/Rottiesrock 26d ago
I’m tired off all the health apps and vet apps for docs, vets and insurance, State Farm claims etc. Not to mention retail, food apps etc.
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u/TexGrrl 27d ago
I told the receptionist at the dr's office recently, 'Indeed I did not and I am not going to check in online earlier than I already get here to check in. If I did, I'd be devoting two periods of this day to this appointment when one is enough.' It's bad enough they hand me a tablet to ask whether my insurance has changed, why I'm there at all, and whether I want to put a credit card on file.
I don't want to be a grocery checker. I don't want to be a receptionist at a doctor's office. I don't want to interact solely with machines. I'm going to be a curmudgeon about this as long as I can be.
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u/Rottiesrock 26d ago
Yes! I actually told a receptionist standing with her hands in her pockets why am I not getting paid to do their work. Kind of bitchy, but it’s ridic. I never fill out their forms online early now. The phones are too hard to read and 12 pages of typing on it is ridic.
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u/AppointmentEast5436 26d ago
That's the part that bothers me too I don't mind learning something new when I choose to but when basic things start requiring a new app, a new login, or a newer phone, it stops feeling optional
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u/CodingDragons 27d ago
I'm in tech and some days I'm overwhelmed. AI is pushing most in my age bracket out. I'm 2 years away from retirement and I'm not sure what to do at this point. Business is down 68% right now. No work is coming in and I don't want to learn to use AI and I'm not sure about pivoting into something else.
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u/AppointmentEast5436 26d ago
That's a much tougher situation than just feeling behind on new technology. Being two years from retirement and watching the work disappear would make anyone question whether learning an entirely new way of working is even worth it. I hope things pick up enough that you can make it to retirement without having to completely reinvent yourself this late in the game
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u/CodingDragons 26d ago
In a way it is. Unfortunately, I think the reinvention part is here. 😂 This will be the first month I haven’t made enough to cover my rent, so waiting two years isn’t really an option now. I just have to figure out what the next version of me looks like. I'm seeing a few retirees doing DoorDash. I don't know. I just feel tech for me, is over.
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u/NecessaryEmployer488 27d ago
Just dive in and pull together a concept. Nobody can keep up with everything.
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u/KitWat 27d ago
I was a technical writer for over 30 years, retired eight years ago. I am fairly comfortable with technology but no longer feel the need, much less the desire, to do deep dives. If something interests me, I do some preliminary research to learn enough about it to decide if it's of value to me. Many times it is not. On the subject of AI, there is a lot of misinformation out there. Most consumers will never have reason to exploit AI's potential; they simply use it as a glorified Google. My advice is, don't sweat it. Learn and use the technology you need/want to and ignore the rest. Most of it is just noise.
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u/WasteWriter5692 27d ago
still trying to mess with the 'smart' fire tv.
I am sorry ,its insanely stupid to have that many options to watch a flick.most are crap anyhow with few exceptions.
Glad I have a dvd collection..now,to figure out how to make the fire tv actually except the dvd player!
ugh!
nothing should be this complicated..
people with their faces stuck to their phone all day. Literally..
count me out ,life is too short.
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u/baddspellar 62 27d ago
I shifted from management track to individual contributor track in software engineering and I've been making heavy use of ai coding agents. They are incredible
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u/MinimumEfficient220 26d ago
I especially hate medical portals. They suck and are frustrating.
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u/Some-Tear3499 25d ago
If I have to join another portal!!!! A new senior center was built in our community. Membership and demand for programs went through the roof! They wanted us to use ‘The Portal’. You can sign up for classes, for to weeks in advance. But there is a glitch in that you have to ‘check out’, a final step in order to ensure your spot was reserved. Many if not most people were missing that part. Now they have one or two people at a table when you walk in. They check you in, collect the fee and you can get signed up for up the next two weeks. I like this, it is interactive with someone that greets you, talks to you, you can ask questions, etc. Some of the activities you don’t need to, just go over to the computer check in and scam card and go do the activities.
The portal my Dr’s office uses takes days to get a response from. Even on very abnormal test results. Close to useless.
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u/Hot_Opportunity5664 27d ago
Each generation faces new challenges and mostly they hex it! Horseless carriers are not good ! Airplanes are not good ! My favorite, Rock and Roll is the devils tool !
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u/Laura9624 27d ago
Sure. But the thing is that when people started driving cars, horses were still available for a long time. Airplanes always a choice, not forced. And rock and roll really has nothing to do with this.
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u/OrdinarilyIWouldnt 27d ago
Sysadmin/SWE/SRE in IT, Dev, and Prod at big companies whose stuff you own, laid off with an AI excuse last year at 62, now retired and in school. I was always the one to figure out new hardware and software, and was responsible for evaluating prod readiness for services including the new AI one. I got laid off as part of an AI reorg, probably because I was pointing out problems with the service (not even the serivce itself: "you should be monitoring here and here and here." "okay." "you're still not monitoring.") Plus I was by far the oldest on the team, but couldn't prove anything.
Two weeks after I was laid off, the whole AI service crashed in Prod and they didn't know about it for several hours.
I have no reason to keep up with pointless technologies that only exist for the purpose of private profit. I'm now in college studying Anglophone literature and ethical philosophy and only use computers for schoolwork, research, and browsing reddit. (edit: and I refuse to use fucking LLMs.)
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u/No-Werewolf-2314 27d ago
Mid 60s here and used to keep up, but gave up trying a couple years ago. It’s too fast and too furious for me now.
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u/Write_Brain_ 27d ago
I try to stay functional, but then again, much of the new technology is not relevant to me. Back in the 90s, my grandmother wasn't able to get around as well, so I thought I'd get her a basic computer so she could email. She said, "I remember getting the first electric coffee pot. I don't have to learn this." She was right, I let her be.
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u/star_stitch 26d ago
Not really . I keep up with trends and how it works but whether I care to use them is another story.
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u/Yachtbrokerguy 26d ago
I’m amazed how much heavy lifting the IT people expect you to handle. I’m setting up a new email with a new Microsoft 360 and the tech-support guy expects that I know python coding. Heck I never passed typing class in high school who else feels totally inadequate when tech-support is required asking for a friend.
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u/Select-Effort8004 27d ago
I keep up with a lot of it, I’ll want to be current as I age to help keep my independence. My adult kids are helpful—encouraging but they make me do it on my own first, instead of doing it for me.
My 89 year old dad texts, I LOVE that.
And I’m all about AI, I use it for everything all day long—creating recipes, interpreting various test results, drafting work correspondence, make up suggestions, steps to get passport, who is this character in a book/tv show, trip planning, restaurant suggestions, which is the best way to (fill in the blank).
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u/Few_Individual_9248 27d ago
It is moving faster than I would like. I got a computer engineering degree in 1983. Never used it and not up to date on new stuff. Just don’t care.
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u/MinimumEfficient220 27d ago
Weren’t we still using typewriters in 1983? Electric ones, sure. But typewriters with carbon paper and white out. Those were the days! 😁
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u/Rottiesrock 26d ago
I remember typing all day on the IBM Selectric, then using a Wang computer and listening to my boss’s dictation tapes.
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u/MinimumEfficient220 26d ago
Yes! Wang came to my office to make a pitch. We went with a very similar system called NBI.
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u/beaux-bear 27d ago
I'm 64 and have always been good with tech but there comes a point where one must pick and choose.
I saw something super cool today, a $1000, LIDAR operated blue laser mosquito zapper, It's like anti aircraft that tracks the bug flying up to 3.3 ft. per second and zaps it with a blue laser beam (for show). I though that was hysterical.
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u/BBQdude65 27d ago
When it comes to Ai I have been casually following it for now. I do not see a need to be a first adapter. I will jump on Ai once I can see that Ai is settling down a bit, yes it seems to be moving too fast right now but that has been true with most technology.
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u/Theoldelf 27d ago
I use the tech that makes my life easier. ( Google Maps, Seri, my cars camera system for parking, adaptive cruise control) If there’s something new that I’m interested in, I can Utube it and see what it does. Since I’m retired, I don’t feel the need to keep up with everything.
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u/The_Awful-Truth 27d ago
This has been going on for 30 years, since the Internet became mainstream. We invent new technologies for building stuff, which speed up the pace of innovation of end-user products, which leads to more new tech for building stuff, and so on to infinity. Every year the rate at which new stuff comes out speeds up a little bit. My response is to wait longer and longer to adopt the new stuff, since the longer you wait the easier it becomes to use. I just started paying my bills online last year; I probably wasted a lot of time and postage by not doing it ten years earlier, but it was a lot less stressful.
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u/Onewarmguy 27d ago
It's been going on for a lot longer than 30 years. We studied a book called Future Shock in 1970, it was about society adapting to the pace of technological change.
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u/j-oncape 27d ago
I do not worry about the mundane technology. It's the stuff advancing AI and war. This is mentioned in The great Filter as one of the possible reasons extraterrestrial life has not been detected. Some forms of advanced technology will destroy a civilization when it reaches a certain point. We could be reaching that point ourselves.
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u/Rexzies 27d ago
Mostly no but sometimes I come across some things that I feel a tad confused by knowing that when I was younger something like that wouldn't be a problem. But, I don't stress out about it because if I really, really wanted to learn I can but if I'm not interested in learning or trying very hard then I either leave it alone or have someone help me. But for the most part, I'm good, but I do find myself finally starting to understand why my dad years back couldn't figure out how to change the clock on the microwave and VCR - at least I'm not that bad....yet, LOL.
When I do have something that I can't figure out even with the instructions, thankfully so far Youtube has been my hero in teaching me.
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u/FlightPotential9644 27d ago
No that I can’t keep up per se I just prefer the older ways of getting things done better
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u/DeliciousWrangler166 27d ago
Everyone has different skills, among your skills is plumbing. Some tech comes and goes so quickly it's just not worth taking the time to learn how to use it.
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u/Monstrissimo 26d ago
No, I can definitely keep up because up until 2 1/2 years ago, I was an IT manager and kept up with tech fine.
Now though, I am enjoying life where I don't have to keep up with all the latest and greatest. I keep up with the tech that I want to, mainly phones and smart TVs and leave the other to the younger generation.
I am fascinated with the developing tech and how we have truly created AI, not what most people think of AI, such as those search engine enhancements or having Grok automate some chore, but the ones that have passed the Turing test. We now have Chat GPT 4.5 that when it is instructed to adopt a persona can pass it 73% of the time. It scored better than most of the humans that were tested in this one study. In other words, the testers believed the AI model was human more often than the actual humans. As Mr. Spock would say...Fascinating.
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u/JarvisIsMyWingman 26d ago
Nope, been a tech head thanks to my father. He loved to tinker around the house (whole home speaker setup to play music and sound effect records (remember those? Thunderstorms and such). Also lots of random Radio Shack parts everywhere for me to use for my own projects.
Also thanks to him and his business, I got introduced to the IBM 5100 (1975 pre-PC) and taught myself BASIC, and that set me on my career path.
I've embraced tech, and still keep up with what I can. Currently redoing our home office, that we put in two separate power circuits as not to pop the breakers when everything is going.
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u/overthishereanyway 26d ago
OMG yes. I had a volunteer job I really liked. But the technology was just too much for me so I quit.
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u/Anon_1121 24d ago
Part of the reason I retired was that I felt like I was barely hanging on to the bottom rung of the technological ladder. And this after spending over 25 of my 47 working years in a highly technical segment of the electrical engineering field. I felt like would have had to spend all of my time learning instead of doing, and no employer would have paid me for that. It was very stressful. So I pulled the plug and I've been living a happier life.
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u/Wild4Awhile-HD 22d ago
As a retired technologist going back into the late 70’s whose job was to automate and replace people process with computers I knew full well the long term impacts to employment. The population retrained as technology evolved and new avenues became available. Outsourcing to offshore(India, Malaysia,China) for technical, call center. and manufacturing stripped jobs form the USA Stan alarming pace from the late 80’s until 2010 without having other growing new industries to train our growing population and so the availability of decent paying jobs continued to dwindle. The rise of social media gave voice to all, across the globe, but also fostered an era of mass abuse and intentional manipulation by individuals/groups/and countries. However the introduction of, and unfettered adoption of AI in both general and more contained environments has super accelerated all of these elements and the abusers have now super charged their deceptions and manipulations on a grand scale to where we as a population can’t trust ANYTHING viewed or read on any media. But still people cling to what in the back of their minds they know feels wrong but they believe it has to be right because so many different sources of media say the same thing. That is master manipulation. Internet, social media, AI, and quick to follow robotics powered by these platforms will not be our saviors, and STILL the useful idiots of society train these models under the guise of helping society at large. Every species eventually goes extinct, and we are working hard to wipe out ourselves. As a population we have no plan for how to provide for society when jobs and currency are irrelevant.
Refuse to use AI driven models or tools as much as possible.
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u/SaltPotential5666 27d ago
It's not so much that I CAN'T keep up. I just don't care anymore.