Seniors explain what it is like to live in a world of technology.

By Brooke Hindle

Dave Hamilton got frustrated when he tried to enter his phone number into a friend’s phone and did not know how to work the keyboard.

“I don’t know anything about phones, computers, anything,” Hamilton, 67, of Malden, said.

Many older Americans who grew up with landlines and typewriters, like Hamilton, are still getting used to the devices and services people now take for granted.

According to a detailed demographic tables done by Aaron Smith, more than half of seniors says they use the internet and go online.

Many seniors do not know how to communicate with the younger generations, because they are not as tech savvy.

Patricia Lewis was nervous when asked to talk about technology knowing she did not know much.

“I have a computer, but it is too expensive to have a smartphone, to be honest. I use the phone for making phone calls and I text very little. I have no reason for not texting, just I don’t use phones much in general,” Lewis, 80, of Revere, said.

While many seniors said they do not use technology, Linda Hamilton goes onto all of her favorite websites everyday.

“It’s funny because going back about maybe 20 years, I had not interest at all in computers, none. My husband got one and I started playing a few games on it and I got this really important property management job and I had no clue how to check email or even turn on the dang computer,” Linda Hamilton, 63, of Malden, said.

“The computer I now use everyday. I do a lot of shopping, I play games, I look up DIY ideas crafts and recipes. I get in touch with a lot of my friends through Facebook. That is a really big thing. First thing in the morning I’m on Facebook. Noni’s kitchen has a lot of Italian recipes on there.”

While some said smartphones are helpful, they still do not like to text.

“No reason for not texting, just I don’t use phones much in general,” Lewis said.

“Many seniors I have worked with are willing to learn more about technology, but they become frustrated quickly when trying to learn,” Sarah Rogers, 19, former employee of Stonebridge Assisted Living, said.

Linda Hamilton, who loves her computer, said she just can’t see the need for texting.

“I think the things are so small and it’s like no one talks to each other on the phone anymore. I grew up with it attached to my ear and it amazes me that there is not even communication like that anymore. I do not text. I refuse,” she said.

Frank Sateriale, 77, of Wakefield, said he frequently texts and has no problem with doing so.

“I use my phone for both, calling and texting and well as to check my email, use the search engine, and maybe a couple other things like reading the news and such,” he said.

Smith’s demographic research showed that even though there has been technological gains, seniors tend to lag behind other generations when it comes to how to use technology.

According to Smith, many seniors remain unattached to the mobile life. Smith wrote that more than half of seniors do not have broadband access at home and a fourth of seniors do not own a cell phone.

While all the seniors agreed that they know enough about technology to do the things they need to do, they each had something on the top of their mind that they wish they knew how to do.

Linda Hamilton wished she knew how to copy and paste on the computer.

“I know it’s kind of funny, you can laugh at that, but I have not been able to figure out how to do it,” she said.

Lewis said she does not know how to use many of the math applications on the computer and that although those would have come in handy when she was younger and still employed, she is okay without them.

Veronica Sheehan, 75, of Nashua, New Hampshire, said her daughter set her up with a Facebook account so she could watch a marching band performance that she wasn’t able to see in person.

“Being set up on Facebook was great, I love it! But that is all I know how to do on it, I wish I knew more,” Sheehan said.

Several seniors said they worry that children are being exposed to technology too much.

“I do not think the kids use their imaginations. They also do not get the fresh air and the exercise from the outdoors,” Linda Hamilton said.

Dave Hamilton, Linda Hamilton’s husband, agreed with his wife about technology being overexposed in children’s lives.

“There is nothing healthier than playing in the yard. You get a lot more out of life like that than sitting on a iPad to occupy themselves,” Dave Hamilton said.

Sateriale said he believes kids are not thinking critically when they use phones or tablets.

“I think it is a bad thing for a child to have a iPad because they do not know what is happening

There is also more obese people it seems because they don’t play outside anymore and just sit on the computer,” Sateriale said.

Raymond Horman experiences many professors on the older side having trouble using technology in the classroom like projectors and computers.

“They usually don’t know how to navigate certain things and they are less apt to fix problems by themselves,” Horman, 19, an IT Specialist at Stonehill College, said.

“Most of them seem to just not know how to troubleshoot a problem if they have one.”

“If one day the satellites fell out of the sky, people wouldn’t know what to do or where to go. They wouldn’t know how to drive a car. The younger generation would be really stuck,” Patricia Lewis said.

The seniors said that technology has made their lives easier even if they weren’t very interested in using it initially.

Sheehan is excited for what the future holds.

 "Oh, it's going to be awesome. It's just going to be unbelievable. I just wish people were more sociable. Everything else is up. Let's face it, it is going to be different. There is good and bad about everything. But I think it will be amazing," she said.