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Gizmos for a lesser god
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Spiffy gadgets seem to be designed to frustrate the elderly, grumbles T.P.S. Iyer
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MODERN TIMES T.P.S. Iyer: Lost in technospace
Modern gadgets seem to be designed for people with tiny fingers. The buttons on a cellphone, for instance, seem designed for people with claws for hands. When television came in the Eighties, there was only one channel and the remote was people-friendly. Then came cable and the remote was taken over by the young who could switch channels, especially those in double digits, adjust colour and brightness and surf for new channels with ease — tasks that eluded the elders completely.
The computer poses greater problems. My daughter always gets frustrated with me when I repeatedly ask her for the steps to use the computer. This reminds me of how I would get impatient with her years ago while explaining an arithmetic problem of a tank being filled by one tap and simultaneously being emptied by another at different volumes. Finally, the steps to connect to the Internet and operate my Yahoo mail account and even to open a new file were written down. I even practised the "double click" initially.
The "tiny giant", the cellphone, however, takes the pride of place in gadgets out to frustrate the elderly. What a consolation it was when I learnt that I was not alone in this! A few days ago, I visited my family doctor (past 70) with my daughter. As we sat down, she kept her mobile on his table. It caught his attention and he sneered at it as if it was an alien animal and said: "Neevu thagondbitra... Namma manayalloo eradu bittive." He added: "It seems beyond me to master it. I have to ask my daughter to dial it for me. It appears it is designed for Lilliputians. My fingers never manage to press one button at a time. The less said about its other uses, the better."
His remarks soothed my mind and my illness vanished, and needless to say, his medicines were redundant. The mobile still beats me when I want to get to the record of phone numbers, dial a number, set the alarm, not to speak of sending an SMS.
The aged are not only out of the hustle bustle of modern life, they seem to be slow paced for modern gadgets too.
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