How useless are your parents with technology?

[Aris Khandr]

My father does databases for most of the department stores in your local mall. He has previously worked for IBM, as well as companies in Australia and the United Arab Emirates. My mother works at a software company, most recently writing programs used by nation-wide retailers for in-store and inter-store inventory management.

I had to build her computer, as she's never had to open one up before. All software, no hardware. My father still has contacts at IBM, so he gets his PCs super cheap. So they're pretty good with technology, I'd say.

 

[Gaiseric]

My dad is cool with technology and if he doesn't know how to do something he can figure it out quickly enough. He recently was given 2 iPads to set up to be used for promotional purposes at his work and he never had even used an Apple product and he got them running easy(he is 59). And he is the unoffical tech support at his work.

My mom on the other hand is terrible with technology. If she hits the wrong button on the remote she comes to me extremely frustrated asking me to fix it(or how to record, pause, play, fast forward, browse, etc). And she always gets electronics without asking for help. She got a crappy laptop that was way overpriced and then never used it then a Blackberry and didn't know how to use much of anything on it, and she paid for a netbook which hasn't even been set up. She gets baffled any time some starts talking about something remotely technical and then angry if someone asks if she understands. Also she recently had a hard time with email. It's confusing to me how bad she is with this stuff at home but when she is at work using whatever programs they use she is fine with it.

 

[WaywardHaymaker]

My mom is unsure how to use a web browser. My dad enjoys spending time in a RadioShack browsing the cords section. That is all.

 

[Ham_authority95]

My mother has been looking for a job for about a month now, and has adopted E-mail as her primary means of applying; she used to apply via hand-written resumes. She applied easily to 30+ businesses, without so much as a phone call, and she was getting damn frustrated about it.
One day, my mother asked for my assistance in sending an e-mail, it wouldn't allow her to send it because she had her attached file open in another program. I take a look at the screen, and notice the extension to her resume was ".rtf".... I open the file, and realize that she wrote her resume on an 'Open Office' spread sheet! a spread sheet for crying out loud! and in a format which these businesses probably couldn't even open!
I fixed up my mother's resume and told her to re apply to every place she sent that resume to.... hopefully she finds a job.

Does anyone else have similar stories to this? Are your parents as useless as my mother is when it comes to technology?

Edit: Apparently .rtf is a common text format, I didn't know that. Im not sure why it opened as a spreadsheet when I clicked the file though = \

My dad can program in two languages, learns new stuff fast, and I frequently ask for help from him in computer related things. He definitely knows more than I do.

My mom pretty much only uses the internet, so there you go.

 

[Zaverexus]

My father's a computer engineer (well, electrical, I don't think the specific field of computer engineering existed when he went to university), so he is significantly more savvy than I.

My mum pretty much needs me to operate her Facebook account though.

Well here I thought I would have to type something and the first post manages everything I have to say...
so...
ditto

 

[The Electro Gypsy]

My Dad likes to give Doom Prophecy esque predictions about the future of tech. Stuff like, in January this year when I was getting my new comp: "I think you should wait Tom, or it'll be a waste of money. In six months computers will all be *this* small" (about an inch gap with his fingers) "And do everything". I did point out the logical problems with this plan but never mind

Meanwhile my Mother's a bit daft with tech but can generally work stuff.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

My dad knows how to use email and surf the web (and spends most of his time updating his antivirus to avoid getting viruses from the porn sites he frequents).

My mom... welp, she's lucky she has my dad and brother around, because she is HOPELESS with technology.

 

[Warforger]

My mom is a physicist and studies Global Warming working at a national laboratory. She needs to write computer programs in order to test her theories. My dad is a bit better then that though.

 

[Riddle78]

My dad's a walking techfix. Seriously. He can fix any tech problem. And most DIY projects he picks up around the house,too.

My mom is in the limbo between walking techbane and dangerously inept. She can only do the basic functions of a computer...And would rather have a "pretty" system over a fully functional one. At least she knows the big box is the computer,and the monitor is video output...

 

[Boxer.H1x]

My dad worked with computers since before I was born, and he helped me build my first gaming rig.

My mom, on the other hand, barely knows how to use the TV. I have to help her with everything.

 

[Fangv2]

Dad(40-45): Average. He's a smart guy(mechanic) so he can logic his way past it.

Mom: IDK. I was little when she died so I have no clue.

Grandma(64): Semi-Average. She was a teacher so she can at-least surf the internet, and use Word. She is also very paranoid about her computer cause her Desktop broke thanks to either me, or my cousin so she passwords her laptop.

Sister(20): Average. She isn't great but she is can do basic stuff.

Me(15): Slight-Above Average. I built my own computer(real simple), but I'm not the best with computers but I think I know my way around one.

 

[HentMas]

My dad knows NO english AT ALL, so i have to translate EVERYTHING to him... but he has managed to pirate every single program in his PC so he isn´t a lost cause

mom? i think the PC would explode if she got near it, the only thing she knew to use was yahoo chat...

 

[IkeGreil29]

Mom is pretty good. I wouldn't trust her to do some of the more difficult things, but she's not helpless.
Dad is for the most part useless.

 

[Sir Boss]

Well, my Mum has...issues when using more than just E-mail.
My dad however knows how to code in Fortran, He also has a tablet, a smartphone in the mail.

 

[TehCookie]

My dad is great with technology, unfortunately he always likes to do things the hard way and just makes a mess for anyone else who wants to do something.

Spoiler: Pic related.

That's my house's command center where you can control the internet, all the lights and anything plugged into certain outlets and have a robot announce things over the intercom. He also did it before wireless was readily available. Some of the things he does it pretty neat though, such as hooking up the 360 to that monstrosity so I can play it on any TV in the house (as long as the controller signal reaches). Other things are just pointless, such as the talking house. Sure you think it would be cool but of course when he first got it working he had it say so much crap it just annoyed everyone. He installed a sensor in the cat's litterbox and had the house announce whenever it was in use. Seriously. Just because he can. Not to mention the horror of him using the chocobo theme song as an alarm and forgot to set a command to turn it off so it played for HOURS!

My mom on the other hand gets laughed at for using internet explorer in my house. She's not good with technology but she isn't an idiot so she can do all the basic things.

 

[asam92]

My dad only just a cell phone after years of rejecting them, and it was also my old one.
He has also called me a couple of times to ask me how to use something that I have never seen before (How the hell should I know why the TV is not showing any picture, even with details its hard to tell, apart from the obvious "is it on?" and "Do you have it set to TV and not AV/HDMI"

Mum is pretty good though, she just got her Certificate in Business computing, so she knows more about Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc than I do.
Although she still doesnt know some of the basics like what a file extension is and the difference between an MP4 and MP3. But generally she is ok.

 

[FalloutJack]

Oh god. BWA HA HA HA HA HA HAAA!!!

How must cavemen have looked at fire for the first time? My folks are hardly adept to the world of computers.

 

[sansamour14]

Everyone aside from my nephew is useless with technology. Im always the one called when "the internet broke" or anything from a vcr to a desktop needs setting up.

Remember: fix someones computer once and you are tech support for life.

 

[scar_47]

My mom can use one just fine, my dad on the other hand needs help looking up anything even a google search is beyond him but I'm not sure wether its due to incompetence or because he's lazy.

 

[-Dragmire-]

...no, that's not your antivirus saying you suddenly over 200 trojans on your computer.

...no, you shouldn't click on the button to enter your credit card so the antivirus will magically fix this for you.

...yes, if nothing is done, things will get worse.

.....

.......

...........yes, I'll handle it.


This is pretty much how it goes.