Kathy Hedberg: Commentary: Puzzled by the internet? A kid, or a cat, can probably help you
Feb. 27—I sympathize with folks who are frustrated about trying to find where to get their COVID-19 shot, because you have to know your way around the internet first.
"It's all online," the experts tell us. But from what I've seen, you need to be an engineer to figure out that webpage. Not all of us are at the same level of technical competency, although we have other fine qualities.
Recently a couple of women in their 80s complained to Idaho Gov. Brad Little during one of his virtual town hall meetings that they hadn't been able to find out where to get their shots because they didn't understand the website or else didn't have access to a computer.
When Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen told one of the women that she could call the department's toll-free telephone number, she shot back: "I called that number and all I got was a damned recording. Excuse my French."
People who have grown up with the technology or learned to use it through their businesses often forget that many older people and those who can't afford a computer have a hard time navigating the system. Even those of us who do use computers and the internet daily sometimes get cross-eyed trying to figure out what's going on in the World Wide Web.
And yet, nearly every service these days is accessible mainly through the internet. Your bank and most utility services are not-so-subtly urging you (some would say "shoving you") toward doing your business online.
You want to make an appointment for a haircut? Ask Google. Plane reservations? Same place. Find out what's going on with the weather? Alexa knows.
And who is this Alexa, anyway? She sounds like the Gladys Kravitz of the internet age — always has her nose in somebody else's business.
It used to be a joke that if you needed help with your computer or understanding new technology, you asked a kid.
It's true that youngsters who have never known a world without cell phones, tablets and other computers are as adept with the technology as some of us older folks used to be with our Big Chief tablets and No. 2 pencils.
But lately when I have been working at my computer, my cat, Jellybean, has been sitting at my side, staring with fascination at the screen. Just for fun, I found some videos on YouTube for cats. You click on the video and for hours you can sit there and watch birds and squirrels land in front of you and peck at some seeds — almost like looking right out your window at nature — and Jellybean loves it.
I worried that she might get hooked on electronic devices the way some youngsters do. But, hey, she's a cat. What trouble could she get into?
So I left her alone with her movie while I got up to do some chores, and when I came back to the computer, I noticed that, by pawing at the screen, Jellybean had signed me up for a paid subscription to YouTube TV.
It's humbling enough to know that a 7-year-old is more competent than you on a computer. But when it's your cat who has outsmarted you, maybe it's time to sign up for a class.
Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.
