Old time tech illiteracy - examples?

[Walt34]

I saw this one on another forum and just had to pass it on:

A guy gets a series of text messages from stepson, two and a half hours away at college, car won't start. He gets to yes, it has a dead battery, yes they tried to boost it but can't, he's gathering tools, booster cables, and stuff that might be needed and so on...

Finally gets there, the car door is locked so he asks for the key and unlocks it with the key by turning it in the lock since the battery is dead, electric locks don't work... stepson is dumbfounded. He did not know that a car could be unlocked that way. When he'd said they tried boosting it but couldn't it was because they couldn't get into the car to unlock it.

Pop the hood, put the booster cables on, wait five minutes, all is good.

Any other examples?

 

[Jerry1]

Similar. Son in law has car at gas station and battery dies on him. I'm figuring, I'll go up there, pull the battery and go get a new one. Go up there and go to put the car in neutral so we can push it away from the pump to a parking space while we run to the store. Guess what, we can't take the car out of park. It's a push button start car so it's not like you can turn the key and shift out of park. There is no key or key hole. So we end up calling AAA and they jump it and we're all set. In reading the manual, there is a procedure to get the car out of park in that situation, but it requires a tool (forget what at the moment), but I told SIL that he needs that tool in his car and he needs to practice that procedure. That was a few months ago. I'll ask him tomorrow when I see him if he's done that. My guess is no. We put in a new battery and he hasn't given it another thought.

In the spirt of this thread, my 8 yr old grandson did ask me what that hole was on my door handle the other day. My truck only has a key hole on the driver's door. He noticed it was different from the others and wondered why. Of course he's never seen anyone use anything but a key fob to get into a car.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

My husband bought an old bucket truck once and my kids got in and asked what those handles on the doors were for. They'd never seen manual widows on a vehicle before. They played with them for hours.

 

[jazz4cash]

Similar to Jerry1’s tale. I met up with a group of former co workers and one of the guys brings out his cherished ‘vette. We hang out till 2am and he only has gas to make it to the gas station in a sketchy part of town. He calls from the gas station. The car is running but it won’t shift out of Park. I tell him to look for the shift interlock manual override. It’s under a little cover plate that has to be removed and you can use a key or inkpen as a tool. He found it and was good to go. The real issue is a stuck or intermittent solenoid activated when you step in the brake. That reminds me I don’t even know how my own cars are set up.

 

[Nick12]

Our 1987 VW Golf POS vehicle that had several repairs over its lifetime ( typical European quality) could not start one day for my friend who wanted to drive it. He tried even jump starting it. No luck. I forgot to tell him you need to fasten your seat belt then turn the ignition to start this crap of a car we don't own anymore.

 

[JoeWras]

Plenty of stories out there on car thieves or car jackers who find themselves in front of a manual transmission and have to abandon their efforts.

 

[dasranger]

My very smart sister could understand how an airplane could land on ice but couldn’t understand how it got enough traction to take off.

 

[donheff]

Darn. I listen to these stories and realize I don't know how my new car works. Where the heck is the manual key? Is there a key? Shift interlock manual override is a thing - who knew?

 

[Koolau]

Yeah, I know several folks who can't drive a manual trans. What's more, they don't have interest in learning. The death of manual trans. has been "scheduled" for "two years from now" for about the last 40 years. Maybe it will eventually happen as auto-trans are almost as good (mated to current engines) and they shift faster. But rowing a 5 speed is still a lot of fun.

I still recall showing younger folks how easy it is to get a manual out of the snow or even ice by starting in a higher gear (to lower the torque.) Their auto-trans spins the tires as soon as they put it into drive. A few auto-trans actually go into second gear if you put it into "2" and that has the same effect of lowering the torque. Amazing how little most younger drivers understand about how cars actually work. True enough, I'd have no idea how to work on a new car, but I still understand the basics enough to accomplish most tasks with them.

Heh, heh, I recall having a battery problem in my old Buick. Looking under the hood, there was no battery! Reading the manual (go figure) found the battery under the back seat. NO REPAIR SHOP would change the battery because it was in the cabin. I guess they were afraid of damage. It wasn't a big deal, but you do have to buy the right battery that has a vent that can be diverted through a small hose to the outside. Not rocket science, but it was new to me - but not difficult to figure out. YMMV

 

[marko]

My husband bought an old bucket truck once and my kids got in and asked what those handles on the doors were for. They'd never seen manual widows on a vehicle before. They played with them for hours.

Same!!

Plus ever see a kid completely stumped by a rotary dial telephone? Hysterical.

 

[MichaelB]

Not long ago there was a viral video showing a couple of teens trying to figure out how to dial a number on a rotary phone.

 

[donheff]

This made me look up how to jump start my Lexus hybrid. I wasn't even sure you could. I used to set valves, points, plugs, and timing. R&R shocks and starters. Even rebuilt a few carburetors. Those skills are gone with the wind.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Same!!

Plus ever see a kid completely stumped by a rotary dial telephone? Hysterical.

We didn't let our oldest have a phone till he was 13- as a joke we boxed up a rotary dial phone. Neither one of them could figure it out. Also the look on the 13 yo's face when he lifted it out of the box was really funny!

 

[JoeWras]

The cool thing is that a kid today could probably operate a manual typewriter. Sure, they'd be surprised by the force required, and might struggle to find the "enter" key (hey kid, it is a handle).

Wait, now that I'm writing this, I'm not so sure. I think they may fail...

 

[steelyman]

The cool thing is that a kid today could probably operate a manual typewriter. Sure, they'd be surprised by the force required, and might struggle to find the "enter" key (hey kid, it is a handle).

Wait, now that I'm writing this, I'm not so sure. I think they may fail...

I had some lessons in touch typing that set me up well for eventual keyboarding skills. The IBM Selectric really was an advancement over pounding the keys and yanking the carriage return on my family’s typewriter (can’t recall the manufacturer).

 

[MichaelB]

The cool thing is that a kid today could probably operate a manual typewriter. Sure, they'd be surprised by the force required, and might struggle to find the "enter" key (hey kid, it is a handle).

Wait, now that I'm writing this, I'm not so sure. I think they may fail...

Find the enter key. That’s funny.

My bet would be they would never figure out how to correct a typewriter error. No backspace / delete functions.

 

[RunningBum]

Find the enter key. That’s funny.

My bet would be they would never figure out how to correct a typewriter error. No backspace / delete functions.

But there is a backspace, isn't there? I remember one on mine, to get you back to where you can put a piece of whiteout behind the ribbon, or try to overstrike the error.

I would be too reliant on the backspace to fix an error or to redo a sentence entirely.

 

[EarlyBirdly]

But...It's all for your "convenience" right?

I mean, everybody needs a $300.00 smart lock for their front door right?

Because turning a key is impossible these days. And of course Kids can not be expected to be responsible enough, or handle the consequences of keeping track of and using a key.

And , most definitely, everyone knows the procedure(s) for their smart lock when the battery fails or the phone is dead or the circuitry just dies.

Right?



God Bless American Marketing...We can sell you something at great cost to "fix" ( even while creating others ) a problem that really doesn't exist.

Another Example: My buddy just spent $700 dollars on a Gas Grill w/bluetooth. It can call his phone and tell him when his Hot Dog is ready. ( He buys this stuff all the time. Bankrupt at age 50, planning retirement sometime after he dies. )

Seriously....

 

[Nick12]

Fasten your seat belts! Friends didn't want to buckle up completely. 1984 Nissan Stanza had automatic seat belts. However to be buckled up all the way the front occupant had to manually put on the lap belt. For some, too many steps involved to be safer..

 

[MOSAT]

A few years back I was getting ready for w*rk and the power went out just before I was going to the garage to get in the car. My first thought was GREAT!, now how am I going to get the car out, the garage door is on an electric door opener.
I took me a minute or so to remember the track opener disconnect.

 

[CaptTom]

My husband bought an old bucket truck once and my kids got in and asked what those handles on the doors were for. They'd never seen manual widows on a vehicle before. They played with them for hours.

I have a truck like that.

It's funny when people pull up next to me, on the passenger side, and expect me to roll the window down to talk to them.

 

[steelyman]

I had some lessons in touch typing that set me up well for eventual keyboarding skills. The IBM Selectric really was an advancement over pounding the keys and yanking the carriage return on my family’s typewriter (can’t recall the manufacturer).

Ah! Just remembered, it was a Smith Corona. Full upper-body workout.

 

[38Chevy454]

What about the old days of tube TVs or stereos where you used a tube tester to find a bad one and get that B&W TV with no remote back to working. You had to get up to change the channel or volume. One funny thing is now having an antenna on the roof of the house is almost nonexistent.


Or on the vehicle discussion, besides manual windows and door locks, what about the old radios with a dial and pushbuttons to hold your favorite selected stations? AM only, or later AM/FM. Now with bluetooth, even CDs are near obsolete, let alone the previous cassettes or 8-tracks.


Ironically for pure stereophile types, a vinyl record and tube amps are now back in popularity. Analog is back preferred over digital.

 

[Nick12]

Folks are spoiled now. Girl advised me she couldn't drive the car because she didn't feel safe. Why? She said the passenger door did not have an outside mirror. The 1980s vehicle I told her did not come equipped with one and drivers in that era managed just fine...

 

[Red Badger]

I had a young hire assigned to me and I needed some grunt work done while I carved out some real work for her (she was a real go-getter). Anyhoo, I provided her a list of our top ~50 suppliers; her task was to call each one and confirm new payment terms (Net Never) with supplier A/R lead.

I checked back with her the next morning and she mentioned that many of the numbers were invalid - no connection at all. Sooo, I sat with her while she dialed the first "bad" number. Ah ha!!! She had never used a land line - - - did not know to dial a "1" first. So, her efforts to call all suppliers outside the local market failed.

The young gal was from Shanghai, China. Grew up with only wireless devices. Same at grad school in USA. Who knew??!! I nicknamed her "Number 1." We never told anyone why. There was a lot of petty jealousy that I was favoring her. I was OK with that.