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30 Hilariously Embarrassing Attempts At Understanding Computers That People Have Encountered
Despite being around for multiple decades at this point, some folks simply do not really get how to interact with a computer. This can be pretty frustrating if you need them to do something on said computer, but also quite hilarious when you encounter the janky, bizarre and downright counterproductive ways they do the most simple tasks.
Someone asked “What’s the worst case of computer illiteracy you’ve seen?” and netizens shared their best stories. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to write your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This was 10+ years ago. Anytime the house WiFi wasn't working well, my roommate would unplug the Ethernet cable from the modem and the router and hold it up and down (like you would hold a hose to drain the water out) to "let the electrons drain out" so the internet wouldn't be clogged. I tried to explain this wasn't how Ethernet worked but he said the cable technician told him to do this, and that was the end of the matter. The thing is it usually worked because it reset the internet connection, just not for the reason he thought it did.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
Wonder if the tech was being silly or this was the only way to get them to unplug the router.
Nolgoth 1 year ago
As a former ATT dsl tech... this was common to ask customers to do, especially to those not familiar with how the tech actually worked.
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Karl der Große 1 year ago
I always drag a magnet gently down the length of the cable to draw the electrons out. Every once in a while, there is a bad electron in there clogging stuff up. I drain them into a lead cup and bury it in the yard so nobody has to deal with that nasty electron again!
Nimitz 1 year ago
I worked for Comcast in my 20s. We told BS stories like this during troubleshooting. The other was is to unplug your cable modem and touch your finger to the copper tip of the coax cord to "de-static" the line. This was entirely b******t designed to get people to redo and re-tighten their connections. Especially since back then we had almost no diagnostic tools other than the modem's history log
kelsischloe1986 1 year ago
Hey, if it worked once he plugged it back in. Then I guess he's on something. Lol.
Dirk Daring 1 year ago
IT Pro here: Sometimes the customer won't accept the actual explanation you give for what the problem was, so you have to come up with some dopey BS like "unclogging the ethernet" which they readily accept as fact. The unfortunate consequence is that they try to explain to YOU that it has to be true, the certified network guy told me!
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Think how much people hate their cable/internet provider. Then imagine how you'd feel if you had to work for it.
RELATED:
#2
I knew someone who once put their credit card in the floppy disk drive to make an online purchase.
Michael Largey 1 year ago (edited)
When they opened the drive, didn't they recognize a coffee cup holder when they saw one?
Ari Finkelman 1 year ago
this makes 0 sense... what did they put on the floppy? and how did they try to use it?
Eileen Gormly 1 year ago
You stole my story! LOL _ I'm sure it happened more than once. I worked at a *government* facility and this woman calls to complain her card was "stuck in the credit card reader". In a government computer. Because, yeah, government work computers come with credit card readers. This was also 1994, btw, so credit card readers were pretty new tech all over. But still... government work computer "credit card reader". Sigh.
Papa 1 year ago
OP didn't say it was recent. That could have happened when floppy drives were very common.
Load More Replies... #3
My mom was trying to move ~200 pictures from one folder to another. Her approach was to open one picture, do Save As, save it to the other folder, and then delete the original. One by one. When I tried to explain that she could click-and-drag the whole thing over in two seconds, she said "that wouldn't be any faster than the way I do it!"
She would also "save" pictures she found online by copying them, opening Microsoft Word, pasting it in there, and saving it as a .docx file. And she would try to "open" jpegs by right clicking on them, choosing "Open With," and selecting Microsoft Word.
Tamsin Far 1 year ago
If you have a hammer every problem is a nail.. if you have ms word every file is a .docx :D
KittyGaming 1 year ago
This annoys me, DUDE JUST LISTEN TO YOUR CHILD THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT COMPUTERS THAN YOU
#4
Oh goodness so many stories...
As a student working in college I had the ticket for a computer that wouldn't boot. Showed up to find over a dozen refrigerator magnets stuck to the outside of the case.
There was also the prof trying to upgrade Windows (he had 3.1) via floppy disk (I forget how many discs, his PC didn't have a CD drive, but it was a lot) on his 386 that he refused to replace/upgrade.
EDIT: Those are old stories - more recently we had the new hire (19 yo in 2023) that we had to explain what a Start button on Windows was and how and where "File->Save" was and what it meant. Kids that have only been exposed to phones/tablets are the bane of my existence these days.
Robert T 1 year ago
I seem to recall installing Windows 95 from floppy disk. There were lots of them! Lots and lots!
Ari Finkelman 1 year ago
fridge magnets can barely hold themselves to a fridge. They would have no impact on a desktop computer booting.
The Scout 1 year ago
Well, a Windows upgrade from 3.1 IS possible, if not advisable, on a 386. I ran Windows 95 on a 286 in the 90s...
Sven Grammersdorf 1 year ago
Windows 95 doesn't run on 286 processors. 386DX minimum.
Load More Replies... #5
I was once trying to teach someone how Windows Explorer worked. For whatever reason, they could not grasp the concept of using folders to store documents. I had to get an actual folder and piece of paper out to demonstrate putting paper into the folder before she was able to grasp the concept.
Rinso The Red 1 year ago
I used this technique to teach my dad. "This is the desktop, its just like you have a desk sitting in front of you with stuff on it. This is a folder... etc."
#6
My grandfather typed "big boobs" as his facebook status like, 15 times in a 5 minute span... I think I understand what he was trying to do...
Freya (she/they/he) 1 year ago
Reminds me of those old people Facebook posts where elderly people would use Facebook statuses as google search
#7
I worked at the head office of a major UK company. They hired a woman as a website administrator and, on her first day of training, asked her to click on something. She just stared blankly, and they repeated, click on it with the mouse. The what? Was her reply. They had interviewed her for the job and it turned out that in 2004 she had somehow never used a computer that had a mouse. I don't think she made it past lunchtime.
Trophy Husband 1 year ago
Look, you don't need a mouse if you use Linux, and you can do anything that someone with a mouse can do. Except gaming, certain business applications, and pretty much anything that runs on Windows. But the important thing is that you can program a website in any language you want.
Trillian 1 year ago
So? That doesn't account for not knowing that mouses exist or how to operate them.
Load More Replies... Tamsin Far 1 year ago
as. a. website. administrator. wow. Should have been instant fire, honestly.
highwaycrossingfrog 1 year ago
Reads quite normal to me. Perhaps because I am also from the UK. Could be a dialectical thing
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#8
I worked for a law firm, and one of the administrators would print the PDF of the case from her email. She would then scan it back to her computer because it "downloaded to the documents folder so she could move to the case folder."
I told her she could just click the down arrow and download it, then move the file, saving hundreds of sheets of paper. She said that was too complicated.
She only lasted a few months before she was fired.
Edit: I thought of another one. Lawyers are not smart when it comes to electronics. Same law firm, a lawyer was afraid the cleaning crew was going to steal her laptop. So she took her trash can and shoved it under her desk. Put her laptop in the trash and covered it with paper towels. Of course, the cleaning crew empties her trash. They find the laptop and put it aside in the cleaning crews supervisor office because they thought it was weird we'd throw a laptop away that looked brand new.
Papa 1 year ago
It's bold of you to assume that the attorney in question was smart enough to lock her laptop in the lockable cabinet, assuming there was one.
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#9
Around 2016, I watched my brother (in his 30s) open safari browser and click in the search bar to type out “www.yahoo.com” and hit enter and then click in the search bar on yahoo’s homepage to type “Google”….
Robert T 1 year ago
He must be related to my gf. She searches for Google before entering what she wants to seach for, not realising that the address bar is already linked to Google and she just Googled Google and opened a wormhole threating the whole of humanity!
Tamsin Far 1 year ago (edited)
honestly, I sometimes do this. It just feels warm and cozy to us old people (I was there, about 300 years ago, when google was a very new thing and the search bar and adress bar were two very, very different things).
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#10
The whole family has used emails for years, the other day I had to send one for my dad, and he said something in the line of "send both files in one email, so you don't have to pay twice".
David Morgan 1 year ago
Still using AOL metered account or similar? God knows how much that has cost over time.
ॐBoyGanesh 1 year ago
About 1.5 million are still using pay email services like AOL, which now has little to do with their email and more to do with identity theft protection. There are no consumer metered per-email services unless you count a product CompuServe once offered, but that’s been a long time gone. But how much ya wanna bet the father is using a domain associated with his ISP or phone/cable?! Like “@comcast.net”
Load More Replies... SweetCheesySpaghetti 1 year ago
Before my mother fried her laptop, she used to bookmark emails she liked.
#11
My employer hired someone to work for me doing tech support. In the first few days I had to show her how to open Outlook, create a new email, where to put the recipient address, etc. Had to show her multiple times how to open Excel, let alone use it. She never did get the hang of email, eventually we concluded she actually couldn’t read and we had to let her go. This was in the early 2000’s and she was probably in her 30’s at the time.
Chicken Nugget 1 year ago
...did they not do an interview, or literally ask her any question? surely literally a single question would've exposed her????
Glasofruix 1 year ago
People who can't read are often very adept at hiding it. Some even end up as president of a country with U, S and A in the name.
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Mike F 1 year ago
I'm with you. Why would "tech support" need to be proficient in those software environments? Programming languages, yes but not MS Office software? Nope.
Load More Replies... Ari Finkelman 1 year ago
Dont believe this story either. How do you have a resume, find a job, apply for a position, get past the interview, etc etc... all without being able to read? Sounds fake.
Cooking Panda 1 year ago
Ehh..how did she got the job in the firts place? Was she related to the employer?
#12
My sister places every file she creates on the desktop. She does not understand folders. She cannot move a window around on the screen, she cannot resize a window except by the minimize and restore buttons in the upper right corner. She does not understand if she is using Google and wants to change to a different search she does not have to close and reopen Google but can use tabs.
Sam Lombardo 1 year ago
I exactly recognized that for gen z people. A lot of them started with a smartphone, but cannot execute easy tasks on a PC or laptop, this would be fine for their private life, but unless they will be an influencer, most of them will do their job on a desktopcomputer.
Load More Replies... #13
The guy who wanted to know why his computer didn’t work during a power outage.
Stygtand 1 year ago (edited)
I had a similar experience working as a cable tech. We where called out to a house that had lost their internet connection. We came out an noticed the modem was off. Checked it, found out it was indeed turned on. Then Looked around and noticed the light didnt work either. Turns out they “forgot” to pay the electrical bill. So the power company had turned off their electricity. I should point out that they dont just do that the second you havent paid. You will get atleast 3 or 4 notices spanning several month. And then another 2 or 3 notices that they will be cutting your power. They had not noticed they did not have power until we told them. Edit: best part was when the customsr looked at me confused and told me “but my phone has internet”.
#14
About two years ago my mom got a laptop again after refusing to go anywhere near one for about a decade and…hoo boy did I lose brain cells being her tech support. A couple times she called me for help logging in when the device was literally telling her exactly what to do. Another time she asked me to log her out of her Google account but only that, not the whole laptop please, reasonable enough request—if it hadn't been a Chromebook, where apparently *everything* goes through your Google account. I tried to explain that to her and she went, "I don't care for your theories, just tell me what buttons to press."
Mother, that's what I'm trying to explain to you. THERE ARE NO F&%$ING BUTTONS.
Sweet Taurus 1 year ago
I feel this is my soul! I've had to teach my Grandpa all sorts of things over the years about his computer and he's so stuck in his ways that if there's an easier way to do something I taught him 10 years ago he doesn't want to learn it because of his "if it ain't broke don't fix it" type of mentality. Don't get me started on teaching him how to use his smart phone!!
Magpie 1 year ago
Aaagh. I know this too well. My dad tries to use current Windows the same way as Windows '95.
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Magpie 1 year ago
My dad doesn't understand that his emails aren't stored locally in his computer. The concept of you being able to open the _same_ email from your phone and your computer is far beyond his understanding. He also refuses to toss out a computer for dummies -styled book from Anno Domini 1998.
Mike F 1 year ago
Chromebook, that's the first problem. I'm certainly no cheer leader for MS (I despise MS) but that could very well be like learning a foreign language to someone who has only ever used another OS. I'm going through a similar thing now trying to move to Linux Mint from Windows, it's not a simple progression. It's quite similar, but there are things that can be challenging. Possibly what the mom in this story is experiencing.
Robin DJW 1 year ago
My mother wanted to learn computers for simple things like email. She taught herself to touch type. But she could not grasp how to use a scroll bar. After months of trying to explain it, she gave up and gave the computer to my son. So sad, really. She was not a stupid person either. I think she could not get past the fear of breaking it.
#15
I was helping someone with a website for their small business.
I told them I put an "alt" tag on some of the photos that would show text when they put their mouse over it, and to try it out.
He literally picked up his mouse and placed it on the screen.
I fell on the floor and almost pissed myself.
Ace 1 year ago
No, the correct word would be the mouse pointer - the cursor is where any typing would take place.
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#16
Growing up in the 90s, I remember seeing multiple adults try to yell commands at a computer screen. They didn't understand about standard I/O like keyboards and mice because their only concept of computers was from watching Star Trek.
Robert T 1 year ago
Particulary the clip where Scotty picks up a computer mouse and speaks into it like a microphone. LOL
Rinso The Red 1 year ago
"Oh, a keyboard. How quaint." Proceeds to type at 200wpm
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The Scout 1 year ago
People tend to think the understanding of technology is too influenced by Star Trek, when it really is technology itself that is Star Trek branded. As Star Trek and its advanced technology concepts were very popular with the kind of geeks often getting drawn to scientific jobs, there are multiple eamples of people having thought "I have seen that thing on Star Trek - what would I need to actually build it?" Touch Screens, hand scanners, laser scalpels, you name it. When those things appeard in the series, they were far from being workable yet, but that inspired people to actually invent them.
Rinso The Red 1 year ago
They've literally come up with clear aluminum. I have to wonder if anyone would have even tried if not for Star Trek
Load More Replies... #17
Ahhhh all of Germany!
One company I work with knows that our system is to send finalized PDFs of their documents before they are included in a publication and that they should add comments and return. Different stakeholders should comment in different colors if they can't figure out how to note otherwise.
This company prints the PDFs (huge documents), sends them around their department for individual, handwritten makeup in various colors, scans that doc and sends it to their foreign offices for makeup where it is repeated, and red and that three timed scanned copy to us.. all in black and white.
No 90's era homework packet image quality can rival it.
Nolgoth 1 year ago (edited)
This is similar to how message traffic was generated when i was a communications electronics technician (aka radioman) on a submarine. People would type up a message and email to radio, we would format/edit it properly then we had to print it out and hand route it to the various people we needed to. If changes were made we had to go back and edit the doc, print again and reroute by hand. Keep doing that until the captain signed off on it to be transmitted. The last year i was aboard we finally had a fully electronic method of routing created by one of the junior enlisted in my division. Streamlined the process
Mila Sliacka 1 year ago (edited)
I worked as logistic planner for a company which would sell and install carpets all over EU. We had a fax in the office, because some of the German companies would still use it and it was the best way to get ahold of them. Edit: this was around 2012, I’m wondering if it’s still the case.
#18
When I connect my new mouse my keyboard stops working.
You guessed right, he unplugged his keyboard instead of his old mouse.
#19
Sold a computer on craigslist about 10 years ago. Keyboard, mouse, LCD monitor, and cables.
He took it home, and said it didn't work, the screen would stay blank when he powered it on.
When he brought it back, he was pressing the power button on the LCD monitor, not the computer.
#20
I’m a teacher and one of my coworkers a few years ago had no understanding of the difference between the desktop and internet browser. She only ever had Chrome maximized and did not understand in any way what other programs were or a desktop with icons or anything. This was around 2017 and she was mid-30s so I don’t think she was only familiar with Chromebooks but maybe?
I also spent an entire year showing a coworker how to attach a pdf to an email on a weekly basis. Every week she was so thankful I showed her because “I never learned this before!” It eventually got so bad that I took it to administration because I was worried about her mental capacity. They concluded she was just lazy. Three years later and I’m working with her again and showing her how to attach a pdf to an email. “Thank you! I’ve never learned this before!”.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
She was telling the truth. Although she had been taught it before, she never learned it.
Jan Rosier 1 year ago
Make a 'manual' with screenshots, show her how to do it once more while showing the steps on the manual, and tell her to use that one i/o asking you.
Corinna Weisz 1 year ago
I mean, I can't speak for other schools, or school systems or countries for that matter, but I'm mid 80ies, and 2017 is well enough time having worked basic stuff on computers and learn 10 finger system and how to work documents and files in school. But like I said, don't know about other countries.
#21
I used to do tech support over the phone. I once asked a lady if she knew what version of Windows she was using. She proceeded on at least a 3 minute tirade about how she didn't find my question funny and said "there's nothing wrong with my house windows! I'm calling about my god damn computer!" and how she demanded to speak to my supervisor because I was wasting her time and wasn't trying to help her. Mind you, this all happened less than 10 minutes into the call. I tried explaining what Windows was to her but I couldn't get two words in without being interrupted so.... 🤷🏻♂️.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Chances are overwhelming that even when and if she comprehended what you meant she would be unable to answer.
#22
In the 90’s, as a junior doing IT support, got a call for a file search/undelete.
The lady was following a guide. Every time she saved a document, she named it…
Literally …
YourDocumentNameHere. Every time!! Confirming the Overwrite? with a Yes.
She called me to find an older document from last week, to edit a page on a 400 page contract.
I found a single file of course. Told her boss she needs to retype from scratch, just that page, then do photocopies. Else retype all 400 pages.
Then left for next client.
That boss called my boss, really angry. Had a meeting with HR and boss, they never checked my version.
I had to explain step by step, the HR lady didn’t get the problem either at first. My boss sure did.
I got written up, to shut up the other boss, the reason? Being impolite.
Reviewer01 1 year ago
My dad spent actual months trying to add information to a file by opening a brand new blank file, adding the new sentence, confirming the override and then saving with the original name. He was always outraged when the computer failed to somehow insert the information into his file in the plane he imagined it should go. I explained with much patience, we went to a real physical filling cabinet and I showed him that what he was doing was the equivalent of taking blank paper, writing a sentence then just pushing it into the filling cabinet then giving permission for all previous documents to be shredded. He couldn't grasp this because "computers are supposed to be better" - they don't read your mind about what you meant when you told them to definitely not do that!
John Jameson 1 year ago
This starts with "In the 90's..." That is 30 years ago folks. A generation ago. LMAO I'm in my 70's and I realize that we are talking about ancient history. Can you imagine what they will say about today when it is 2054?
#23
This just happened last Friday. I am a new legal secretary in a small law firm where the partners have been in business for 50 years. Part of my job is to print every email that comes in and of course people always send big fat attachments Friday at 4:55.I had some emails queued up to print and since it was already 10 minutes after I was supposed to be gone I asked the managing partner if he would shut down the computer after it finished printing. He did not know how to shut down a computer.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 1 year ago
You can schedule a shutdown. In Linux it's the command "shutdown -h " followed by the time in minutes to delay. In Windows it's "shutdown -s -t " followed by how many seconds to delay.
Robert T 1 year ago
Now you just need to figure out how long the print job is going to take ....
Load More Replies... #24
Remember floppy disks? I once saw a grown man using a rubber pencil eraser to "erase the files" on his disk.
On a separate occasion, during the dial-up modem period of the internet, I saw a Dad yelling at a kid for dialing up the home access number while on vacation in Hawaii. They got a $3200 phone bill at checkout for him playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends all night.
I saw a secretary use white out correction paste on a printout.
Mohsie Supposie 1 year ago
The white-out on a printout may be understandable. Possibly printed out a pdf or another document that they could not edit.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Or she did not have access to the computer version of the document.
Load More Replies... Robert T 1 year ago
Slightly more recent, but I got a £100 phone bill for downloading a single file via my phone whilst I was in the US, as we had extortionate roaming charges. Fortunately my boss was in the room at the time and we absolutely had to have that file. It was at least cheaper than flying back to the UK to get it!
Robert T 1 year ago
I should add that this happened about 10 years ago. Data roaming is a lot cheaper now, and included in a lot of packages. I had EU roaming, but not US. The trip was 3 days, so it wasn't worth buying a US SIM card, or so we thought!
Load More Replies... Ari Finkelman 1 year ago
I dont believe the eraser story. What would he have rubbing? how would he know what to rub or when it was done? makes no sense, even if you believe it would work...
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
I still have some floppy disks. But it is only because I have two of the original Apple Macintosh computers from 1984. I have two copies of the operating systems and programs for them.
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
Wrong. Break the case open and look at/bend the disk inside. It is flexible plastic.
Load More Replies... #25
I work in a call centre, and one of my jobs is helping the call centre clients with basic computer troubleshooting.
It is..an interesting task trying to explain to a man who makes more than I do and has been working the same job since longer than I've been alive where and what the start button is.
#26
I was providing remote support for a factory and got a call from the plant manager who was trying to do a tour, he couldn’t log into a system. Turned out he was typing his username and password but then not pressing “ok”. He called me to ask how to log in while he had an audience. .
#27
There was a lady in the office in an admin-kind of role. She didn’t know about copy and paste.
She had to send out a lot of almost identical letters, only the names and a code/number would change. She would type the whole thing out.
It blew my mind.
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago
Seriously. What kind of admin assistant doesn't know how to mail merge? That is a huge part of an admin's job.
Load More Replies... #28
A friend asked me to print out her daughters homework so she sent me a whats app.
It was a screen grab from her phone of the school dojo website where someone had uploaded a photo of the physical homework printout that itself was a print screen as you could see the tabs open and the paper sat on a desk.
highwaycrossingfrog 1 year ago
I *think* they mean the teacher had taken a photo of the homework assignment, uploaded it to a program on their computer, done a Print Screen of the program, and uploaded the resulting image file to the dojo website, and then the parent had done a Print Screen of the website on their computer and sent that image via WhatsApp. But really ??????
#29
Ages and ages ago a gentleman came in for a computer repair as his “cupholder” was broken... It was his DVD-R.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 1 year ago
I don't believe this one. The whole CD tray is a cupholder thing has been done to death, and I'm sure at this point it's an urban legend that's just accepted as fact.
Mike F 1 year ago
Actually, there was a silly thing in the 90's that went around as an email(?) attachment that when clicked on would pop open the CD tray labeled as a cup holder.
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Robin DJW 1 year ago
Another old one is about the old lady that called support because her mouse did not work. She had it on the floor and was trying to use sewing machine foot pedal procedures. Another was the woman who wanted to keep her mouse clean, so she did not remove the plastic wrapper. This was in the days of rollerball mice, so you can guess how well that worked.
#30
I used to do customer support for a major antivirus company, where most of the client base was 65+, and I have a ton of horror stories...
Most of it is just pretty generic computer iliteracy, lile asking them to open the browser and type in an adress, followed by total helpess confusion from their side.
A bunch of the clients also entered the chat instead of phone support, despite using the "hunt and peck" method of typing, and being completely unable to follow written instructions longer than 5 words.
These are the cases that really stood out:
1. An elderly man called and said he'd gotten a new Mac, but couldn't install our software. Turns out he needed a lot of handholding to even download and open the install file, which took about half an hour.
When we finally got it opened, it showed a message saying his OS was outdated. I asked him if he didn't say the computer was new.
Turns out he bought it 10 years ago and kept it unopened in his shed...
2. A guy was very adamant "the chinese" had hacked him. After some back and forth, he revealed the reason he thought so was that a popup, IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE, was asking him to upgrade or uninstall the software for an HP deskjet printer. He admitted to having had one, and to have installed the software...
"But that was 6 years ago and I've had several printers since then! How do the chinese know I used to have one??"
And no, he had never uninstalled the software.
He ended up hanging up and telling me that I was of no help.
3. An elderly couple called and wanted help to install the antivirus on their new computer. To do that, I also had to help them get the new computer hooked up to their wifi. After A LOT of handholding and spoonfeeding, we got to the point where they needed to input the password for their wifi.
I told them it was on the back of their router. They did not know what a router was. I tried words like internet box, modem, tried asking them which supplier they had and then explaining that their internet came in the thing their supplier send them. No luck.
45 FREAKING MINUTES into the conversation, I ask them where they think they get internet from.
"From a hole in the wall", they say. I asked if therr was a wire running from it. Yes there was. Ok, could they follow it and see what it went into?"
"Ohhhh the internet box, why did you not say so??"
4. I was trying to help a woman download the install file. I asked her to open her internet browser and type in the address. She did not know where or how to type the address.
This in itself was a fairly common problem, so I tried all the regular solution. A specific keyboard shortcut autofocuses on the address bar. She insisted it did not. I tried to explain where it was and what it looked like. She could not find it.
She got increasingly frustrated every time I asked if she was sure she'd opened her browser.
15 minutes into the call, I asked her to describe what she saw. She basically described her desktop.
So I said she was not in an internet browser, and she said
"I logged on the wifi 15 minutes ago like you said to do!!"
In the year I worked at that place, I developed a deep hate for whichever societal force leads so many elderly folks to learn such a degree of helplessness.
Robert T 1 year ago (edited)
The printer thing is easy done. I recently replaced my dad's printer and got the new one all setup and working and printed some test documents etc. etc. He comes to use it and it doesn't work. Next time I visit, I have a poke at it and it transpires that the default printer is still set to the old one, and Windows is merrily queuing documents for a printer which is no longer attached to the PC. Changing the default to the new printer was two seconds. Uninstalling the old printer driver took about half an hour, half a dozen reboots and a bit of Googling even for me! At least now there shouldn't be any confusion if ever it asks which printer to use!
Grenelda Thurber 1 year ago (edited)
There's no learned helplessness here. Technology is evolving so quickly that they can't keep up. Heck, I can't keep up and I do this stuff for a living. Imagine a time machine that sends you back 150 years. Someone shows you a barn and says there's a mule and a harness in there, please get the wagon ready to go to town. How long would it take you to figure how to harness a mule (without pissing off the mule), by yourself, even if you had written instructions? If you did get the mule harnessed correctly, would you know how to drive the wagon? Would you know what to do if the mule threw a shoe or a harness strap broke? Would you even notice the mule threw a shoe? Would any of this make you stupid? Of course not. You grew up in a world where that knowledge wasn't useful or needed. It's the same for all the the "computer illiterates" you're talking about. Laugh it up, Chuckles. One day, everything you know will be obsolete too.
S Mi 1 year ago
Please be kind to seniors that don't understand technology. They literally have no frame of reference for most computer related thing. It's more difficult to learn if you are not building on past learning. Plus, because people are so harsh, they get embarrassed or frustrated which can come out as anger.
Hereford Holstein 1 year ago (edited)
Helping computer novices with computer issues used to be frustrating. Now you can remotely log right onto their computers and fix it up in a flash. On the other hand, insulting elderly people is right there with punching kittens…not cool at all. OP should be exiled to a tannery in pre-renaissance England to learn respect for those who eventually made his cushy climate controlled job even remotely possible. So uncool.
#31
She thought touching the computer would give you a computer virus (and she thought it was the source of AIDS)
She was an elderly high school teacher.
Brian Droste 1 year ago
My parents are much older. I know my dad never touch a computer. Pretty sure my mom never did either.
#33
When I worked as a field tech for a local university, I would have to fix PCs for clueless professors and admins all the time. My favorite was an admin that just needed a new monitor, nothing else. She was adamant that I make sure I put all her icons "back in the right place" after replacing it .
#34
There's this new guy at work who has admitted to never wanting anything to do with computers. Unfortunately for him, he's now working in a data center and we use computers all day. Well, he doesn't know how to send an email, didn't know how to add me as a contact in his phone, couldn't figure out how to change his password, was completely confused when we said to open Google chrome... there's so many small things that it just blew me away.
#35
I have so many from the late 90s. “Hey, man, my mouse SUCKS. Hardly tracks my movements at all.” She had the mousepad upside down… slick part on the desk. She had her wrist resting on the upside down pad, and the pad was moving right along with her mouse the whole time. It was all I had not to shame her. I had to explain it with a neutral facial expression and vocal tone.
#36
A couple of my coworkers use my laptop to clock in when we're at work. Each of them could lose 9 fingers and they wouldn't type any slower. To clock in, all you have to do is type in your user name (which at my shop is 12FirstnameLastInitial) followed by your password (which for both of these coworkers is password1 in all caps). They've been using my laptop to clock in for near on a year now. One of them can use the time clock in less than 2 minutes, the other one's current record time for clocking in, start to finish, is 4 minutes. His user name is 10 characters long, so all told it's 19 keystrokes and 3 clicks to clock in. 4 minutes is his record.
Granted, he's from the boomer generation, but computers have been ubiquitous for more than 30 years now, and the layout of the keyboard hasn't changed much since the early 1870s when the QWERTY layout was created.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
The job I just retired from, a middle school, still uses time cards...with the advent of Kronos, what 10-15 YEARS ago?? And yes, we have badges with e access to open exterior doors.
Mike F 1 year ago
Kronos is trash. We had the system in a plant I worked in and it would routinely clock you in then out again in one swipe, then when you swiped out at the end of a shift, it clocked you in, again. I loathed our DM, but felt very sorry for her spending over an hour a day trying to make heads or tails of that system and the nonsense involved.
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LeMurierBonjour 1 year ago
Being a boomer ain't the issue here! As many of these posts show, younger people can have just as many problems. While you are on a roll, why not add that its because he's a man as well. Love me a stereotype.
#37
My stepdad (75years old) has always been firmly against technology. He is so firmly against technology that he used to get upset if we used a solar calculator. Now, he is a brillant man and so very kind. He was a mason so his profession didn't need technology. He can do advanced math in his head. Brillant man.
But he will use technology to his convenience- uses an ATM and usese a flip phone cell phone because dude is busy AF and found that he was missing out on additional fun activities because he missed calls--- and refuses to use voicemail. This man HATES voicemail and believes that you should always answer the phone. So his cell phone rings off the hook and he stops everything to answer anytime. Now that I have tried to paint a picture of hos absolute resistance to anything that has to do with technology, on to the story.
At Christmas two years ago, we were all yarning about data breaches, scams, banking s**t, etc. My stepdad proudly asserts to everyone how he is absolutely impervious to any banking scam or fraud because none of his business, let alone anything related to his money, is on the internet. For the first time in my life I left this man speechless. I said "just because you don't put your information on the internet it doesn't mean the bank doesn't put your information on the internet. Everytime you use an atm, debit, any basic banking, it is all happening over the internet. But you would have zero clue if your accounts got completely emptied out till your monthly bill arrived in the mail"
He literally stared with his mouth dropped open and just blinked. Meanwhile the rest of the fam dog piled onto him about his misbelief.
deejak 1 year ago
Old man does have a point, though. Just because info is being moved via internet by institutions, **which usually have/use very secure means** is NOT the same as John Q. Public accessing sensitive data (banking, medical, etc) via his (perhaps compromised?) outdated browser on his old phone/computer. The more you know...
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
I refuse to use debit. So pull up to the pump, walk in, pay, walk out, pump, walk in again if I overestimated amount needed. Asked the C Store corporate that since I have a reward program, maybe they could allow that card to be used to initiate the pump, THEN walk in and pay. I suspect they are still confounded by the request. My God, they have my address, phone number, e-mail, etc. One would have to be a total boob to do a drive off in that scenario.
Papa 1 year ago
Why do you refuse to use a debit card at gas pumps? You can use it like a credit card, without entering your PIN.
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#38
No joke. In my early days of IT, I once went to help someone who couldn’t get their foot pedal to work. It turns out they were placing their mouse on the floor thinking it was a foot pedal. I kindly explained how to use it.
Oh, one other. I had a user complain their coffee holder was broken. They were using the pop out CD/DVD tray as a cup holder!
René Sauer 1 year ago
Or maybe, just maybe, there are multiple people stupid enough too think the CD tray is a cupholder.
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#39
I once had someone who thought their Wi-Fi was down because their wireless mouse had run out of battery and needed new ones, think that's my favourite.
#40
Seen actual people immerse a laptop (back when they were not waterproof) in water to clean it.
Robert T 1 year ago
I immersed one in a glass of cola once. It didn't like it. It shut down immediately. I did get it to come back to life after disassembing it and giving good clean. However, it had sticky keys turned on permanently!
UKGrandad 1 year ago
If you could immerse a laptop in it, it wasn't a glass, it was a bucket.
Load More Replies... Freya (she/they/he) 1 year ago
I saw a video where somebody tried paint pouring a laptop with acrylic paints and dumped it into a bucket of water. After, the laptop didn’t turn on.
Richard Graham 1 year ago
I worked with someone (a PhD scientist) who unplugged his keyboard, took it to a sink, scrubbed it with soap and water, then plugged it back into his PC while the keyboard was still dripping wet. He shorted out the PC.
justagirl 1 year ago
i remember one post where they put rice in the phone rather than putting the phone in rice.
Load More Replies... #41
No, Grandma... sending an email as HTML does not mean it's labeled as 'Hate Mail'.
Michael Largey 1 year ago (edited)
The worst anonymous hate mail I ever got was on puppy dog stationery.
#42
I had a coworker who double clicked every button and if there was the slightest pause in the computer’s response she’d double click again and wonder why the app would crash or the pc would freeze.
Captive 1 year ago
My father would double click with a considerable break in between the 2 clicks, resulting in not double clicking at all of course
Reviewer01 1 year ago
Hello new half sibling! My dad not only does this but taps his phone from a height of about 14 inches, so he never hires what he was hoping to hit
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#43
Teaching virtually during Covid to imigrant families with little computer experience. I had to screen shot to show where to type a web address. I had to explain that when Google automated results were not sites that their child actually went to. 'All these sites that come up that he never goes to and I know because I watch him....'. Also the laptop keeps shutting off randomly because it needed to be charged.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
Covid taught many parents that they should not homeschool. Many teachers in our building were praised, and apologized to for what they do every day with no credit.
Brian Droste 1 year ago
That happen to me a couple of times. My battery would run down then I couldn't figure out why my computer would not come on or shut down right away. It would be a few hours later I realized what was going on. Put the charger on it and then it would work just fine.
#44
Not removing the plastic cover before installing the CPU cooler when it comes to desktop building. This is something I always look for before installing PC components since seeing this happen.
#45
"Will my laptop still work if I take it upstairs?".
#46
A 65 year-old coworker of mine worked the same receptionist job for 20+ years. We had a site-wide internet outage and she was convinced it was because some cables at her desk had gotten unplugged “this is wireless, it just needs to get plugged back in” she insisted (????).
#47
A user was attempting to connect to the Wi-Fi network by following the documentation.
Upon reaching the step requiring credential entry, the instructions said something like "Enter your username and password in this window," accompanied by a screenshot of the login window.
The user contacted the help desk, unable to write anything into the window. Eventually, it was discovered that the user was trying to type their credentials into **the screenshot** itself. 🤦.
#49
During a late 90s "PC training" session at my job, I was in a room full of older employees who'd apparently never even seen a computer before, much less used one.
When the instructor asked us to click on something with the mouse, one guy picked up the mouse and pointed it at the monitor like a TV remote, and then asked the instructor why it wasn't doing anything.
#50
A middle aged lady got frightened after being told she needs a mouse to operate a computer. (This was early 2000s).
#51
My mom doesn’t know how to plug in the charger for her phone and refuses to learn. Also, doesn’t know how to do anything that requires pressing buttons.
Yet somehow has NSA levels of social media hacking, without having social media herself.
#52
One guy I worked with had a smartphone. We tried to get him to download the app for our payroll provider so he could look up his paycheck on his phone. He refused to learn how to download an app from the app store.
Robert T 1 year ago
Actually I can sympathise with him. One company my gf worked for wanted her to install an app on her phone that tracked her movements whilst she was at work. Payroll and scheduling should not be via apps and the internet!
Mike F 1 year ago
Very true. How often do you search a specific app but STILL have to scroll to find it among the dozens of options presented? It's maddening. I don't remember how often I ran into the problem with the (company) iPhone, but the Google Play Store is a nightmare.
Load More Replies... Brian Droste 1 year ago
I never really tried to learn how to down load apps. I am pretty sure it is not that hard. But I am I my mid sixties what I know about my tech devices is good enough for me. Just don't care to learn more about any new tech stuff if I don't have to.
#53
I tried to teach a lady at my parents' church how to burn CDs. Couple days after, she calls me over and says she can't get my instructions to work. I'm like, I know I wrote these down such that a piece of toast could do it, but I go through each step as I wrote it to make sure it worked literally as written. That all goes as it should but the disc still doesn't burn as it should. Open up the disk drive...... she had put in the plastic cover meant to protect the actual CDs without considering maybe the clear plastic thing wouldn't be the same as all the shiny metal CDs.
Svenne O'Lotta 1 year ago
To quote everyone who's ever had the misfortune of interacting with you: "Mike F is an utter cockwomble".
Load More Replies... #54
Long ago, a Best Buy employee told me that when his town’s store first opened, an elderly lady came into the computer section, picked up the computer mouse and tried to move it across the computer monitor screen asking “is this how you do this?”.
#55
I was doing the on-boarding orientation for a medical job maybe 8 years ago and this older lady kept trying using the pc like a tablet. Just couldn't figure out why the monitor wasn't a touch screen. She had no idea what the mouse and keyboard was for. Some one had to show her. She had to have been hired for evs. Or nutrition.
Brian Droste 1 year ago
I kind of got used to my touchscreen tablet or my phone. Two or three times I turned my laptop computer on and tried to use it like a touch screen. Realized right away what I was trying to do.
Corinna Weisz 1 year ago
I tried to enlarge a picture in an actual catalogue printed on paper. I have my brain fart moments...
Load More Replies... #56
When it’s someone half my age asking me how to save a file to a certain folder.
Brian Droste 1 year ago
For many years I didn't know how to open or save anything in a file. I would create a file and just keep it on the main file screen. Started to get to many files where I had to scroll down to get to some of my files. Finally decided to open a new file and was able to learn to save some some of my files I don't use as much and put them under misc file screen. Hope this sound correct or understandable.
Damned_Cat 1 year ago
I would email a link for the benefits enrollment website to my new young employees. The first thing they would ask was if there was an app for that. They just hated that they had to use their desk top computer, go to the website and enroll online. I remember one of them sighing and saying, "everything around here is so old-school!"
#57
I used to work with someone who had his own typist for his reports. We did the same job.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Having someone to do your typing for you is advantageous even if you're highly computer literate.
#58
Was once asked to show a 50 year old fully functional adult how to use an ATM because they had no idea how it worked.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
I know how, at 62, but still prefer face to face. Banks, groceries, pumping gas, etc. Too impersonal the other way.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
I haven't used one in 30 years. I doubt they work exactly the same today.
Colleen Glim 1 year ago
Oh but they do. It’s an ATM. It’s not rocket science
Load More Replies... #59
When CD/DVD drives were a thing my uncle called me and said he broke the coffee holder.
Me: the coffee holder?
Uncle: Yeah, y'know, you hit the button and it comes out. Damn thing broke.
Damned_Cat 1 year ago
This was actually pretty common. We had a lady at work who never used her CD drive so she put a little bouquet of fake flowers in there to make it prettier.
Load More Replies... What do you think ?
Hans Georg 1 year ago
Had a computer for inspection because it was slow. Cleaned it up and emptied the trash can. Once done I brought the computer back. Not long after I got a complain that this persons documents were gone. He stored them in the trash can.
CK 1 year ago
Computer literacy aside, that's the equivalent of hiring someone to organize one's home and physically storing things in the trash can.
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yo mama's cookie 1 year ago
I think our generation (Millenials) were some lucky bastards. We grew up with the advancing technology and understand the basics of every device pretty fast. Everytime I have to teach my mum how to use her laptop I'm just grateful I don't have to stress about this kind of stuff.
Mike F 1 year ago
I had a coworker who was great with the phone, but couldn't find his way around a computer with a compass. He was ~25. I've never seen anyone who could send a text faster even though he had sausage fingers. He was absolutely awful on a computer though
Load More Replies... Sweet Taurus 1 year ago
I used to volunteer at a re entry class for newly released prisoners. Most of them had been in prison for a decade or more and our job was to teach them every day things to help them acclimate themselves back into society. They all were given smartphones and it was my job to teach them how to use them. It blew my mind they had no idea what an app was let alone how to go to the App Store. That job required a ton of patience.
Grenelda Thurber 1 year ago
It's interesting that some of these are complaints about people who aren't familiar with newer technology (e,g not understanding how to copy a file) and some are complaints about people who aren't familiar with older technology (e.g. trying to operate a computer by touching the computer monitor).
UKGrandad 1 year ago
Not a computer, but I once saw a manager at a place I worked sending a document by fax. As the document started moving into the machine he suddenly grabbed it and yanked it out. I asked what he was doing and he told me that he needed a copy before sending it. Up until then he'd had his underlings do that sort of thing so this was his first time using a fax, and he genuinely thought that it sent the physical documents to the recipient.
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
That actually is what happens. It uses Star Trek transporter technology.
Load More Replies... Damned_Cat 1 year ago
Back in the olden days, when my office first got email, none of us knew anything about it and it was mainly used for employees to communicate with each other. One day, someone from outside the office asked me for my email address and I realized that I had no idea what it was. I asked the IT guy and he told me that it was confidential and that I was not to tell anyone my email address for security purposes. He told me to get the other person's email address, email them and then they would be able to communicate with me. It wasn't until I mentioned this to my boss that I found out it wasn't true.
Lord of the laserprinter. 1 year ago
My worst nightmare is my 83 year old mother wanting a computer. The Nigerian princes would have a field day .
Igor914624 1 year ago
In 1995, I was doing desktop support at a computer manufacturing facility. I was in the front office on another ticket, and a finance user stopped me and said her computer was acting funny. So I quickly checked it out. It had all the symptoms of a virus that was going around at that time . On Windows 95, you had to reboot the computer with a boot floppy to clear the viruses off of it. My anti-virus boot floppies were in my office, all the way at the back of the manufacturing floor. A good 10 minute round trip walk. I tell her that he computer has a virus, and I jokingly say "don't get to close, you might catch it." While I was making the round trip back to my office and back, she had gone out the front door to the convenience store across the street, and bought the biggest can of Lysol she could find. When I arrived back at her desk, she was hosing down the keyboard, monitor, and mouse with Lysol. The actual computer was a tower under her desk.
Igor914624 1 year ago
Continued: I stopped her, rebooted her computer off the anti-virus floppy and let it start scanning the computer. I threw away the keyboard and mouse. Being in finance, she had a 21 inch Sony Trinitron monitor. I went back to my office, got a cart and a replacement 21 inch monitor (mine off my desk) and took it back to her desk, plus a new keyboard and mouse. By the time I got there, the anti-virus scan had finished. I replaced the keyboard, mouse and monitor. I spent the next two hours cleaning Lysol off that monitor. But every time it got hot, I could smell Lysol. It reminded me never to make jokes like that to someone ignorant about computers.
Load More Replies... Hans Georg 1 year ago
Had a computer for inspection because it was slow. Cleaned it up and emptied the trash can. Once done I brought the computer back. Not long after I got a complain that this persons documents were gone. He stored them in the trash can.
CK 1 year ago
Computer literacy aside, that's the equivalent of hiring someone to organize one's home and physically storing things in the trash can.
Load More Replies... yo mama's cookie 1 year ago
I think our generation (Millenials) were some lucky bastards. We grew up with the advancing technology and understand the basics of every device pretty fast. Everytime I have to teach my mum how to use her laptop I'm just grateful I don't have to stress about this kind of stuff.
Mike F 1 year ago
I had a coworker who was great with the phone, but couldn't find his way around a computer with a compass. He was ~25. I've never seen anyone who could send a text faster even though he had sausage fingers. He was absolutely awful on a computer though
Load More Replies... Sweet Taurus 1 year ago
I used to volunteer at a re entry class for newly released prisoners. Most of them had been in prison for a decade or more and our job was to teach them every day things to help them acclimate themselves back into society. They all were given smartphones and it was my job to teach them how to use them. It blew my mind they had no idea what an app was let alone how to go to the App Store. That job required a ton of patience.
Grenelda Thurber 1 year ago
It's interesting that some of these are complaints about people who aren't familiar with newer technology (e,g not understanding how to copy a file) and some are complaints about people who aren't familiar with older technology (e.g. trying to operate a computer by touching the computer monitor).
UKGrandad 1 year ago
Not a computer, but I once saw a manager at a place I worked sending a document by fax. As the document started moving into the machine he suddenly grabbed it and yanked it out. I asked what he was doing and he told me that he needed a copy before sending it. Up until then he'd had his underlings do that sort of thing so this was his first time using a fax, and he genuinely thought that it sent the physical documents to the recipient.
Justin Tyme 1 year ago
That actually is what happens. It uses Star Trek transporter technology.
Load More Replies... Damned_Cat 1 year ago
Back in the olden days, when my office first got email, none of us knew anything about it and it was mainly used for employees to communicate with each other. One day, someone from outside the office asked me for my email address and I realized that I had no idea what it was. I asked the IT guy and he told me that it was confidential and that I was not to tell anyone my email address for security purposes. He told me to get the other person's email address, email them and then they would be able to communicate with me. It wasn't until I mentioned this to my boss that I found out it wasn't true.
Lord of the laserprinter. 1 year ago
My worst nightmare is my 83 year old mother wanting a computer. The Nigerian princes would have a field day .
Igor914624 1 year ago
In 1995, I was doing desktop support at a computer manufacturing facility. I was in the front office on another ticket, and a finance user stopped me and said her computer was acting funny. So I quickly checked it out. It had all the symptoms of a virus that was going around at that time . On Windows 95, you had to reboot the computer with a boot floppy to clear the viruses off of it. My anti-virus boot floppies were in my office, all the way at the back of the manufacturing floor. A good 10 minute round trip walk. I tell her that he computer has a virus, and I jokingly say "don't get to close, you might catch it." While I was making the round trip back to my office and back, she had gone out the front door to the convenience store across the street, and bought the biggest can of Lysol she could find. When I arrived back at her desk, she was hosing down the keyboard, monitor, and mouse with Lysol. The actual computer was a tower under her desk.
Igor914624 1 year ago
Continued: I stopped her, rebooted her computer off the anti-virus floppy and let it start scanning the computer. I threw away the keyboard and mouse. Being in finance, she had a 21 inch Sony Trinitron monitor. I went back to my office, got a cart and a replacement 21 inch monitor (mine off my desk) and took it back to her desk, plus a new keyboard and mouse. By the time I got there, the anti-virus scan had finished. I replaced the keyboard, mouse and monitor. I spent the next two hours cleaning Lysol off that monitor. But every time it got hot, I could smell Lysol. It reminded me never to make jokes like that to someone ignorant about computers.
Load More Replies...
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