is it just me?

The other thread about the new versus old HC site got me thinking. I'm almost 50 and have been using computers at work for 30 years, and I actually had my own PC at home a couple of years before that, way back when most people had never heard of them. I've had to get used to all the changes from Windows 95 to 98 to ME to XP to Vista, 7, & 8 and have just upgraded to 8.1 (for what it's worth). My other half keeps saying I should get a Mac. You know what? I can't be arsed learning something new. I just want a computer that will do a few basic things (email, word documents, photos & videos, internet) and will continue doing these few basic things for the rest of my life. I don't want to keep re-learning!!

On top of that, over the years I've had to figure out smartphones, printers, digital cameras, handycams, modem/routers, and no end of other gadgets that are supposed to make our lives easier. I can't even just bung a plate in the microwave without it being complicated. Same with the washing machine & dishwasher, lots of fancy icons and pinging but they don't do a better job than the old versions and don't last anywhere near as long. We don't even use the dishwasher in our house - we wash and dry by hand,the kids all muck in and we chat while doing it - the job is done and dusted within half and hour, unlike the dishwasher which whirrs away for ages and nobody remembers to unload it. Plates often have residue left on them, and it is also incapable of wiping down the cooktop :-)

If I live for another 30 or 40 years, I really don't want to have to keep learning the same old things again and again because x company brings out a newer version and we all have to upgrade because support for the old will soon stop and you will end up having to replace with a newer version whether you like it or not. It feels so tedious already; once the old brain cells start dying off, it's just going to get harder and harder keeping up. Not to mention the eyesight failing which makes it harder to read the teeny tiny print on everything. I'm pretty sure all the youngsters enjoying their fancy gadgets now will start getting fed up of change too in 20 years time, they just don't realise it yet. They just think older folk are whining for the sake of it.

They reckon old people will outnumber young in about 30 years time. But I honestly can't see these people being big spenders/consumers. If I have some free time at weekends, I like to chill out by just enjoying the simple pleasures in life - walking in the park or along the beach, sitting in the garden reading a book, taking the dog for a walk, going for a drive (sat nav? pfft I have a road atlas and it gets me from A to B just fine). It is just so lovely to pick up a book and read it knowing that it can't crash, run out of battery or go wrong in some other way! I am so over this new technology that keeps changing and makes my life so complicated.

Anyone a similar age to me will probably "get it"; I hope it's not just me. Anyone a lot younger will just call me a whinging old fart I expect.