I’m not afraid to admit that I’m technically competent. It actually bugs the shit out of me when people humblebrag about not knowing how to use technology. Or worse, when people think it’s only younger generations that can figure things out.
I could accept the excuse you weren’t good with computers back when DOS was the most popular operating system, and Macs were hard to find and too expensive. But we’ve been living with the Internet, email, GUIs, and even smartphones, for almost 20 years. That’s plenty of time to get your head wrapped around this.
There were these AT&T commercials around 1994 that were narrated by Tom Selleck. In it, they were predicting innovations that seemed like science fiction then, but we totally take for granted today.
If you are 70 today, you were in your 40s when those commercials came out. Presumably, you were watching all the same TV shows everyone else was watching, and so you saw those commercials and you had to know this was coming.
A lot of people my age, which is past 40, but not anywhere near 70, seem like idiots when it comes to basic technology. Sure, they can use an iPhone to text and post photos. But that’s where it starts and ends.
Technical illiteracy, like any other form of illiteracy, seems like something you’d want to hide. Instead of being embarrassed, it’s still something of a badge of honor.