Jim Rossman: Technology can be a great help, if you can keep up

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I’ve been thinking a lot about aging and technology, and I can’t help but wonder how everyone handles navigating their personal digital lives differently.

“Aging in place” is the term for older people who are still living on their own, and technology can play a really big part in helping people remain independent.

The world revolves around the internet – that much is certain.

Even my 87-year-old mother-in-law has fiber internet service and knows its importance. Her kids (and their spouses) do so much to help her remain in her home, and it is assisted by fast internet service when we go to visit in her home.

Try picturing life without the convenience of online banking and investing, paying bills, shopping, accessing medical billing and hospital portals.

Those who cannot or will not embrace the new ways of accessing these digital service -- and a host of others -- will soon find out there is little choice.

Have you tried to visit a bank branch lately? How about trying to make a doctor’s appointment? Need to check your medical test results? How about paying bills?

Heck, even paying for a parking meter requires a smart phone where I live.

All these things are so much easier over the internet – if you can wade through setting them up – and more importantly, troubleshooting them when they don’t work or have changed.

I fear the world is leaving behind many of its older citizens.

Many of us in the Gen X and Baby Boomer generations are providing tech support for our parents and grandparents.

I do my best to help people navigate their technology through this column, but there are also a few good friends and relatives (mostly in their 80s) who call on me regularly when they can’t figure things out on their own.

Their calls can be as easy as helping set up online access to a medical portal or helping reset a long-forgotten password or as difficult as updating an operating system or even changing their internet provider and setting up a new Wi-Fi network.

I wrote late last year about helping one of my older friends set up streaming on his TV for the first time. I did the same for my mom last year.

Mom also changed her internet service to save money last year and afterwards, it took an in-person visit to get all her Wi-Fi connected cameras and doorbell back online.

While I’d love to be able to come help everyone in person, it is not feasible, but I’d love to cover some of these topics for all of you through my writing. I’m currently gathering a list of topics that need some attention.

What’s causing you grief in your technical lives?

I’m especially talking to people over the age of 65.

I’d like to hear your questions and complaints. I may or may not be able to answer your specific issues, but I do respond to everyone with at least some ideas and articles to explore to get you closer to a solution.

Please email your topics to me at jrossmantechadviser@gmail.com and I’ll share the best ones here with some of my answers.

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