History Main / TechnologicallyBlindElders

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}} (1991)'': In "[[Recap/RugratsS5E12TheFamilyTree The Family Tree]]", Marvin Finster, Chas' father, doesn't know how to work a TV remote and also asks his son why his TV doesn't have an antenna. Chas has to explain to him how Cable TV works.

* The 5th chapter of ''Manga/GohanNoOtomo'' open with an old guy having trouble operating his laptop, despite his daughter's repeated instructions. Frustrated, he storms out of the house and meets a couple of fellow elderly men in the cafe who discuss about their own difficulties of using gadgets such as TV remote or cellphone, and how they usually let their children handle the tech. The guy eventually learns to use technology, however, and in chapter 9, he is shown to be using a smartphone with little trouble.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Mr. Ratburn turns out to be less than confident when it comes to the Internet. However, the trope is quickly defied when the Brain shows him how to use it and he quickly becomes addicted (although not seriously) to web forums.

* As of 2017, about [[http://www.dailydot.com/debug/dvd-rental-windows-3-aol-2017/ 2.1 million people]] still use America Online's dial-up service, a figure that has held steady for several years. This trope is half the reason why, as many older users who don't need the internet for more than checking the mail and the news stick with the cheaper service they already have instead of splurging on broadband. (The other half is the slow spread of high-speed internet in rural America, rendering it less cost-competitive versus dial-up if it's available at all.)

* Inverted with e-readers, whose adoption was, surprisingly, driven primarily by ''older'' readers. After all, many e-readers, smartphones, and tablets are backlit, and instead of having to buy a special large print edition, one could simply change the font size with the press of a button, both of which make reading easier for people with poor vision. E-readers are also a lot smaller than even a single book, let alone a shelf full of them, and thus more convenient for older people to own and carry around. Younger readers, on the other hand, [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2017/01/16/millennials-a-generation-of-page-turners/#2799b7891978 have remained committed to print books,]] such that it is among the few fields of entertainment that has managed to successfully resist the transition to digital, especially in [[ChildrensLiterature children's]] and {{young adult literature}}. It helps that parents who want to discourage youngsters from [[PhoneaholicTeenager using their devices too much]] often buy them print books instead.

* ''Lterature/JoelSuzuki'': In ''Ballad of the Bluerock'', Joel tries to call his grandpa, but they have trouble hearing each other because his grandpa keeps holding the cell phone the wrong way.

* ''Literature/GangstaGranny'': Neither Granny nor the Queen know what Googling is.
* DCI Nightingale from the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' books is a sterling example. A century old (looking younger due to MerlinSickness), he's utterly at sea with the new computerized systems the police use, and relies entirely on Grant to get anything electronic done. It's possible that he's playing this up deliberately. Peter has mentioned several times if he is motivated Nightingale can become quite proficient with new technology quite quickly. It's just that most of the time, unless it's work-related (working an airwave digital radio) or directly related to his personal interests (following the rugby on Peter's TV in the "tech cave"), he simply feels no need to.

''Series/TheXFiles'' reboot uses this as a throwaway gag to emphasize that the characters are older and less in touch with the subject matter than they used to be. The series proper incorporated a lot of new tech into the show, including Mulder and Scully regularly using cell phones to communicate before that was common. In the reboot, Mulder has upgraded to a smart phone, but can't figure out how to take picture and video, and must now use glasses to read anything on it. Scully also admonishes his now constant access to the internet, as it fuels his conspiracy theories.

[[WriteWhatYouKnow Modern works are often set in modern times]], especially when the creators want to appeal to a young, hip audience. As a means of [[WereStillRelevantDammit definitively proving that they themselves are securely young and hip]], the creators may highlight how a character, perhaps of their own age or older, [[HopelessWithTech is not in any way]].

* A frequent joke on ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' is that vampires more than a century old often struggle with modern technology, such as getting an email from "Mailer-Daemon" and thinking it's literally a demon, or a technology becoming obsolete in the time it took them to master it, such as sending each other video messages...on cassette, and by physical mail.

* Agent 1 and Agent 2 in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' mention that their grandfather, Cap'n Cuttlefish, doesn't own a phone. If they want to contact him they need to telegraph him. He's gotten better by the Octo Expansion of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', as he's able to use chat rooms, but he still grapples with the finer points, like turning off the caps lock and knowing how to sign out.

Modern works are set in modern times, often, and especially so when the creators want to appeal to a young, hip audience. As a means of [[WereStillRelevantDammit definitively proving that they themselves are securely young and hip]], the creators may highlight how a character, perhaps of their own age or older, [[HopelessWithTech is not in any way]].

The greatest way to do this is to have the cool young people using some technology invented since Christmas and the ever-wanting-to-seem-cool older person wanting to get involved but having absolutely no clue what on Earth their gadgets are. Often PlayedForLaughs when it's the parent who pretends to know what it is before hastily leaving, or trying to punish the kids by confusedly confiscating their... gizmo. May trigger a "back in my day" story.

Compare FishOutOfTemporalWater, when someone is displaced from their own time and can't possibly know what all the new technology is, rather than choosing not to catch up because of any number of reasons the older character may have: [[NostalgiaFilter The olden days were better]]; they see tech as [[LuddWasRight more trouble than it's worth]], unnecessary, or extraneous; or there's no point because it will be replaced by something else in a few years anyway. Contrast WhatAreRecords, the inverse, and PhoneaholicTeenager. Subtrope of {{Technophobia}}. Subtrope of HopelessWithTech, which is not about any age group.

Compare FishOutOfTemporalWater, when someone is displaced from his own time and so can't possibly know what all the new technology is, rather than that he didn't bother catching up because of any number of reasons the older character may have: [[NostalgiaFilter The olden days were better]], they see it as [[LuddWasRight more trouble than it's worth]], or just plain extraneous, or there's no point because the tech isn't necessary and will be replaced by something else in a few days, anyway. Contrast WhatAreRecords, the inverse, and PhoneaholicTeenager. Subtrope of {{Technophobia}}. Subtrope of HopelessWithTech, which is not about any age group.

* DependingOnTheWriter, Cap is either genuinely this trope or playing it up to mess with people. In an issue of ''Avengers Assemble'' (no relation to the cartoon), he sends ComicBook/AnyaCorazon a download of the [[WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes Earth's Mightiest Heroes]] theme, while asking her not to tell anyone he knows how to use a smartphone.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in the first episode of ''Series/{{Life}}''. Detective Charlie Crews has been in solitary confinement for 12 years, convicted of a murder he didn't commit. After his conviction is overturned he gets his old job back and his former uniformed cop partner decides to take a picture of Charlie to commemorate the occasion. The partner pulls out his cell phone to take the picture and Charlie is confused; he's familiar with cell phones, but he doesn't know about the ubiquity of cell phone cameras.

* In an ''Inside Amy Schumer'' sketch titled "Mom Computer Therapy" has the main character (portrayed by the 30 something year old Creator/AmySchumer) trying to teach her mother (60 something year old Creator/DeborahRush) how to use a new model of computer with a therapist to mediate, only to get more and more frustrated as her mother refuses to pay attention or listen to her, then the therapist (the late-middle aged Kathy Najimy) join in where [[HeroicBSOD Amy ends up foaming at the mouth]] as the therapist and the mother mess around with an intercom (that the therapist had plenty of time to use).

* Roger Fox of ''ComicStrip/{{Foxtrot}}'' is described as still trying to catch up with the technology of TheSeventies.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''
** Calvin's dad is extremely averse to technological advancements (in spite of, or possibly ''because'', he works as a patent attorney), to the point that he doesn't own a cable box, is regularly disgusted by television, barely tolerates landline telephones, and complains that "with modems, faxes, and car phones everybody wants everything instantly! Improved technology just increases expectations." This stands in stark contrast to Calvin, who gets excited by technology and frequently imagines himself as a heroic space explorer.
-->'''Calvin:''' I'm a 21st-century kid trapped in a 19th-century family.
** Calvin's mom, on the other hand, isn't the Luddite her husband is, which became evident when she came back from a kiddie matinee movie looking like she had been run over by a school bus full of noisy kids.
--->'''Dad:''' How was the matinee?\\
'''Mom:''' ''<grabs his shirt, shaking him so vigorously his glasses go lopsided>'' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis WE...ARE..BUYING...A VIDEO PLAYER.]]'''

* Inverted with e-readers, whose adoption was, surprisingly, driven primarily by ''older'' readers. After all, many e-readers are backlit, and instead of having to buy a special large print edition, one could simply change the font size with the press of a button, both of which make reading easier for people with poor vision. E-readers are also a lot smaller than even a single book, let alone a shelf full of them, and thus more convenient for older people to own and carry around. Younger readers, on the other hand, [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2017/01/16/millennials-a-generation-of-page-turners/#2799b7891978 have remained committed to print books,]] such that it is among the few fields of entertainment that has managed to successfully resist the transition to digital, especially in [[ChildrensLiterature children's]] and {{young adult literature}}. It helps that parents who want to discourage youngsters from [[PhoneaholicTeenager using their devices too much]] often buy them print books instead.

* Creator/MargaretCho once talked about how her elderly Korean mother complained to her about trying to buy an electric fan online:

-->'''Margaret''' (imitating her mother): I go to Amazon, but they had sooooo many options! I just want normal fan! So I type in onlyfans.com...[audience erupts with laughter]...[[TheInternetIsForPorn THEY DID NOT SELL FANS]]!!