Well, these computers and email and messaging apps and web browsers -- they use the same ones for years, without really ever "getting it".
It's not as if they're saving time, when they need to knock on my apartment door, and ask what's happened with their computer (the browser window was 1cm to the right of the edge of the screen so some buttons seemed to be"gone").
it's instead that ... When using the apps, they don't automatically effortlessly learn how these apps work. Whist kids do
(I have in mind my 60-70-80 years old parents and neighbors)
My wife has ended up as the de facto tech trainer for a group of senior individuals she's met through a hobby of hers. While most of them are pretty technically illiterate, it's interesting nevertheless to see the differences. They'll all come to her with a goal they want to achieve on their computer, which she'll help walk them through. Some of them just want her to do it for them. Others want to be walked through exactly what they need, over and over, until they can do exactly this one task themselves (but any deviation later, due to a difference in need, software update, etc, will have them reaching back out to my wife). And a few, a very few, will ask questions along the way, seeking to abstract out the broader patterns and affordances so that they can figure out a whole swathe of similar problems on their own.
I assume there may still be others who never ask my wife (or anyone) for help, who learn on their own, but it's interesting to see the differences for those who do seek out help. I hope I'm in one of the latter group(s) when I get into my 60s+.
It's not as if they're saving time, when they need to knock on my apartment door, and ask what's happened with their computer (the browser window was 1cm to the right of the edge of the screen so some buttons seemed to be"gone").
it's instead that ... When using the apps, they don't automatically effortlessly learn how these apps work. Whist kids do
(I have in mind my 60-70-80 years old parents and neighbors)