At 68, the internet is a boon to my life
I GENUINELY don’t understand the elderly-versus-the-internet issue (Letters). I am 68 and in the mid-1990s, when I was in my early 40s, the internet was stealthily infiltrating my workplace. I bought a computer for my son to help with his schoolwork.
In 2000, I moved to a northern city, bought my own computer and met my second husband through AOL’s matchmaking site (a dial-up service back then). My Nokia 3210 soon gave way to the first of many wonderful smartphones. My husband gave me an iPad for my birthday.
How could we ignore the internet back then? Internet banking and the proliferation of wonderful apps, for everything from meditation to monitoring your calorie intake, were still to come. I embraced all the ways the internet could make my life easier and more interesting.
Now the online world is a big part of my life. My eldest grandson has sent me his first text, from his mum’s phone, and I can see it will be great fun. My question is, since I might be classed as elderly, how did the internet manage to bypass so many of my contemporaries, who say they don’t understand it?
Fiona CraWFord, york. THERE is a seemingly never-ending rise in foreign criminals using the internet to scam innocent UK citizens. There are warnings out there to show how a lot of these greedy scammers work, yet people still fall for their ruses and millions have been lost.
I have also been a victim of scammers more than once; and lost thousands of pounds. It was embarrassing to admit and I kept it to myself. I was too scared to use my computer any more, for fear it would happen again.
I have now found a way to avoid being scammed. I have finished with the Net! No smartphone, tablet or computer, in fact no internet connection at all. A friend of a friend, who had also been scammed numerous times, told me he had abandoned the Web completely and didn’t miss it at all, so I decided to do the same.
There must be others in the same position, who have been driven to make this decision. I am managing perfectly well without something that was previously causing me extreme anxiety and depression. I’m not going back; I don’t miss it and don’t need it. And I have no worries.
Name supplied, Lancaster.
NEPAL is showing the way in dealing with one of the curses of modern life: it is banning TikTok. This is a great start and maybe it should be extended to all forms of (un)social media.
Nepal did this because of its effects on the young and to promote social harmony. Blocking it may be difficult, but it’s a worthwhile approach to helping young people spend their time more productively.
There are counter-arguments about freedom of speech, but so little of the content is meaningful or productive. Turn off social media and turn on to real life. Go outside and smell the roses, or go for a walk.
D. Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia.