Do older people like computers and ebooks?

I was just reading a transcript of #followreader on Twitter. It was a chat for readers to express to publishers what they like and dislike about books. Two things struck me as commentable: 1) Why do the readers seem to think ebooks are all $10.00 and above, as expensive or more expensive than paper books? 2) Why do the readers think that people my age (I'm almost 50) and older, don't as a big group like ebooks or computers? First, not all ebooks are $10.00 and higher. I don't know in what universe these people got their information. Oh, I'm sure there are some ebooks that cost that much and more, but most? NOT my publishers. For example, my novel length book "Shipwrecked" at Total-E-Bound costs $5.08. "Friction" an anthology of 7 stories, cost $9.67 - But that's a lot of stories and more words than an ordinary novel. At Ellora's Cave my novel "American Beauty" costs $5.95 in e-format. The print version, which is coupled with "Better Than IceCream" is called "Sweet & Sticky" costs $12.99. Truth, Justice & The Vampire Way at Ellora's Cave costs $5.20. Sex Kittens, an anthology at Ellora's Cave costs $6.99 in e-format. The print book costs $11.99. Have I convinced you yet that a lot of ebooks are affordable and less than print books? What about the other question? Is it fair to assume that the majority of people 50 and older are not computer literate? Or that they don't like computers or ebooks? I'm not sure. Maybe we should take a poll. I'm almost 50 and I like to think I'm pretty computer literate. I'm very comfortable with Excel, Word, Power Point, and the Internet. I love to read ebooks. I think being tech savvy is cool. At my day job, my coworkers in my department who are in their 40's and 50's are also computer literate. They love to play and work on the computer as much as I do. However, the majority of the people who are 60 and older, are not into the computer. One of them dives in and seems to like it. The rest seem hesitant, even scared of computers. It seems like a lot of the people who call us and are older, tell us they don't have a computer or don't like computers. Some are very indignant when we mention the word "computer" or "Internet". However, I have at least two friends in other departments who are in their 60's who love the computer and are also very good with it. My father who is 80, was a computer programmer and an electrical engineer who designed at least one computer. He's very good with computers - but it amazes me, he's not really into the Internet. He'd prefer to look up a phone number in the old fashioned phone book rather than pop onto Whitepages.com. I don't get it at all. My kids have no problems reading ebooks. They seek out stories on line all the time. Strangely, they're not into Facebook or Twitter like me. Maybe age makes no difference to whether or not someone likes computers, ebooks, or different applications, just the individual. It's generally not fair to make assumptions even about one person much less large groups of people. Who's making this assumption? Do they have any data to back it up? I'd be interested to see data if it exists.

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Miscommunication

Following is a prime example of miscommunication. A co-worker got a pen stuck inside our printer. He started to try and remove the pen.

I told him we don't have time for that now,

just put a note on the printer telling folks not to use it and then report it to the Help Desk. So he grabbed a piece of paper and scrawled on it. I left before he finished the note. About 20 minutes later, one of my techs comes in laughing and says he was just in the lobby, saw a piece of paper on a printer and went to investigate. Attached is what he found.

Sometimes things don't always come out the way you want them to...

Think before putting foot in mouth - or embarrassing paper in printer. :) You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

The Cat Threw Up On My Computer

I almost forgot to post my blog on Total-E-Bound's blog for tomorrow (my assigned day is the 5th of every month). Whew! I remembered just in time. If you want to see it, hop over to: http://www.total-e-bound.com/ then click "blog" My computers are ALL broken again so I'm posting this from somewhere else that is Top Secret and Highly Classified. The kids blame me. Hubby blames me. Well, they blame me for all but three of the broken computers (and six are broken). The cat threw up on the Desk Top's keyboard. DS3 did something to his own and to hubby's computer. My fingers and toes are crossed that DS1 will take pity on me and fix at least one of my computers tonight. But he's married and works overtime a lot so I'm not going to hold my breath. And he's sick of fixing my computers, I'm sure. After all, how can a non-writer know how important it is to blog daily, answer emails, critique, edit, promote, and write??? Nor does he understand that I ran a contest that was supposed to be over last night and the prize is trapped on a broken computer. Okay, enough of my whining about computers. I need to call DS1 to see if my prayers are answered. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

I Have A Deep Dark Dastaradly Secret

Yep, I have a deep, dark, dastardly secret. I'm a murderer. I should be locked up, put away, and flogged. To date, I've murdered two, not one but TWO, poor souls. Well, do computers have souls? Poor buggers. At least my daughters claim it's all MY fault the two computers died and they are very leery about lending me theirs. I am on theirs right now, but they won't let me near their plug so I only have it until the battery poops out. They claim that I bend the plug and kill it, the way I sit with it on my lap. They are called "lap tops" are they not? My Dell needs a new plug AGAIN! And the Acer doesn't want to come on - who knows the hell why? I'm cursed. That's it. Someone hexed me that all my computers and any lap top I touch will die. Save your lap tops! Save your work! Don't let me near them. It's a sad sad confession I make. The computer withdrawal I'm having is killing me. I'm on deadline for two books so this is killing me and the only reason my daughters are letting me borrow their baby - with a lot of trepidation I might add. I had to sneak in this blog post and have been woefully absent from here as of late. I have a second dark confession - I'm not done Christmas shopping, either, and gulp, I'm about to venture into the scary, frightening world of the manic Christmas shoppers. Pray for me. I'm about to enter a very dangerous, soul-sucking place. But hubby would kill me if I only give him a sale CD of George Carlin which is all I have for him so far, mainly because he waited till late last night to finally tell me what he wants for Christmas. He wants a tool box so I'm off to no woman's land - yep, Lowe's or Home Depot. (Actually, I really like parts of these two stores, just not the tool sections.) Hopefully, someone will reincarnate or revive one of my computer babies soon or I can steal my daughters' computer for a bit longer to catch up on my blogging, critiquing, and writing. I hope all of you are having a very Merry and Joyful Christmas season. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Ham sandwiches, tornadoes, and computers

The first night I arrived home, Dad asked me where I wanted to go and eat. I thought about Skyline Chili and Frisch's but I suspected Dad meant somewhere a bit fancier plus I can drive a couple miles down the road back in Florida and get Skyline whenever I want. I was thirsty to soak in some real Ohio flavour and I remembered a couple of our old haunts. Well, I used to get big, juicy ham sandwiches at them. The first place, Meyers, Dad doesn't even remember. I guess it's gone. The second, Les Flick's, we went to. I mentioned that a couple days ago. Well, when I went to order a ham sandwich at the end of giving the order, the waittress asked if I wanted that warm. Warm? Whoever heard of a big deli ham on rye WARM? When I told her I wanted it cold, she looked at me crosseyed. I got it but not before they made it wrong once. I have this same problem in Florida. I used to be able to stop at the Publix deli and order a COLD ham on rye with swiss and mayonnaise with no problem. In fact, that was my main lunch on a work day. A few years passed and I went to my son's Publix and tried to order one. The deli worker looked at me like I was daft. Finally, she asked me to go to the bread aisle and get a loaf of rye bread and bring it to her. Huh? Well, I did, and I got my sandwich, but I didn't bother to repeat the process. What is so frickin' hard about getting a decent ham sandwich? It used to be easy. Of course I can make them at home and take them to work with me...that's if the kids don't eat all the ham the first night we bring it home which is what usually happens. I'm tempted to buy the fixings and store them in the fridge at work - however, that's no guarantee as people take other people's lunches. Knock on wood, it's never happened to me yet, but to plenty of other people. Dad's internet wouldn't let us on yesterday. Well, it did for a few minutes early in the morning. I was in the middle of commenting on Amarinda's blog when it dropped out. It wouldn't work for the rest of the day. Finally, Dad called tech support this morning and got it back up. But that's not the end of my computer woes. My lap top cord broke right after I got here. Wouldn't you know? We called around to every computer place we could find in the phone book and none of them have it in stock. By the time I special order it and it arrives I might be back home. Bugger bugger. So I'm stuck using Dad's computer which is very slow - plus I can't sit in the same room with him and I'm here to be with him. So I won't be on the computer too much for the next week and a half. Lastly, there were tornadoes in the area last night. Not in Dad's county but not too far away so we were keeping an eye on the news. We don't typically get bad tornadoes in South Florida - only when hurricanes bring them and then you get a few days warning. I'd forgotten how nerve wracking tornado warnings can be. I'd forgotten to even listen for them as I don't have to in Florida. There's a bad thunderstorm here now, so I need to pop on TV and make sure there's no tornado warnings as well.