In my 30's and a complete Technophobe
Discussion
Just putting this out there in case there are any others like me who are in their 30's and completely useless when it comes to computers and their programs.
I've been tasked with creating a spreadsheet on Excel for work, which we will then use to populate a map showing where our engineers live and it will also show the various sites we have around the country. The idea is that it will help the service team plan jobs better, rather than sending a southern based engineer up north when we've already got a guy up there, and so on (you'd think that would be fairly basic stuff but there we go).
My problem is that I'm 33, and I've never owned my own laptop or PC. I've never created a spreadsheet on Excel from scratch. I haven't lied to my employers about this or anything, they know I'm s
t at it but I thought I'd have a go with predictable results thus far.
I'm not going to ask you good folk for help with my problem, we have an IT department for that and I'll be asking them for help later. I'd love to hear from any other people in my age bracket who struggle though to make me feel slightly better. I was taught how to rebuild engines when I was growing up, computers never factored in at all.
It also doesn't help that I can touch type quite fast, so it looks like I know what I'm doing when really I can just about send an email. GAH
I've been tasked with creating a spreadsheet on Excel for work, which we will then use to populate a map showing where our engineers live and it will also show the various sites we have around the country. The idea is that it will help the service team plan jobs better, rather than sending a southern based engineer up north when we've already got a guy up there, and so on (you'd think that would be fairly basic stuff but there we go).
My problem is that I'm 33, and I've never owned my own laptop or PC. I've never created a spreadsheet on Excel from scratch. I haven't lied to my employers about this or anything, they know I'm s
t at it but I thought I'd have a go with predictable results thus far. I'm not going to ask you good folk for help with my problem, we have an IT department for that and I'll be asking them for help later. I'd love to hear from any other people in my age bracket who struggle though to make me feel slightly better. I was taught how to rebuild engines when I was growing up, computers never factored in at all.
It also doesn't help that I can touch type quite fast, so it looks like I know what I'm doing when really I can just about send an email. GAH
Purely supporting, can offer zero help whatsoever. I'm slightly older than you but the same and spent most of my 20's actively avoiding learning it because 1- bit dull and 2- it might take up useful space in brain. My OH tries to help me sometimes but doesn't understand that phrases like "just bookmark that" are beyond my comprehension. It wouldn't bother me if every single thing in the world didn't revolve around it. Slightly worried i'll end up being one of those people who can't operate their own front door once that inevitably 'goes smart' with everything else
oddsocks said:
Purely supporting, can offer zero help whatsoever. I'm slightly older than you but the same and spent most of my 20's actively avoiding learning it because 1- bit dull and 2- it might take up useful space in brain. My OH tries to help me sometimes but doesn't understand that phrases like "just bookmark that" are beyond my comprehension. It wouldn't bother me if every single thing in the world didn't revolve around it. Slightly worried i'll end up being one of those people who can't operate their own front door once that inevitably 'goes smart' with everything else
I think that's what worries me too, I have a 3 year old and a newborn and I know for a fact that my wife will be doing most of the teaching when it comes to IT. I have to use excel and various other programs for work quite often but it's always just modifying something that somebody else has created, I never know what to do if I need to create something from scratch. Glad I'm not alone.
Can anybody recommend any courses for cavemen like me to get me up to a normal standard?
See if your work have access to something called Pluralsight the training on there can be very good and its all self paced. Failing that there will be plenty of Excel for beginners on YouTube.
ChatGPT is also pretty good at getting you started on Excel things when you arent quite sure
ChatGPT is also pretty good at getting you started on Excel things when you arent quite sure
The first thing to ascertain is what data this software needs and what format it has to follow. Also, talk to whoever is responsible for managing this software and find out how it will use the data in the Excel spreadsheet you will be creating.
It may be that the other piece of software does all the hard work and the Excel sheet is simply the method by which it will import the data.
It may be that the other piece of software does all the hard work and the Excel sheet is simply the method by which it will import the data.
Discendo Discimus said:
Thanks for that, could you divulge what the software is?
Sorry, I don't know what it's called. I work in an adjacent area (workforce scheduling) and our customers often use software that route plans based on pickup/drop off, proximity, traffic, customer preferences, skills etc.I just googled for "workforce route scheduling and planning software" and there were loads of options.
Edited by Bullett on Tuesday 19th November 16:24
okgo said:
Discendo Discimus said:
Thanks for that, could you divulge what the software is?
Why would it matter? You’re not going to be able to do anything with it are you 
I find it utterly baffling that people like this exist.
Use Google / chat gpt to get you started (if stuck use YouTube for guides), accessible on your phone (app) and / or via your smart tv.
My wife started a few years ago with zero knowledge of any MS type programmes, excel, etc, she now does it for a job (forecasting / data modelling) and is certainly more proficient than I am.
Good luck … enjoy.
Moderator edit: no abusive insults
Discendo Discimus said:
I've been tasked with creating a spreadsheet on Excel for work, which we will then use to populate a map showing where our engineers live and it will also show the various sites we have around the country.
There is functionality in Excel to plot locations on a map within your spreadsheet (but this might be dependent on which version of Excel you have). You'd need to start off by creating a table (with appropriate column headers) that shows names and addresses. This quick guide describes how it's done: https://www.supportyourtech.com/excel/how-to-map-a...
Alternatively, you could use the Excel table to create a custom map in Google Maps, as per this video:
Good luck, it's quite a challenging project for a first spreadsheet!
40s, wouldn't quite call myself a technophobe but I think technology stopped getting more useful around 2010. I use Excel for work, but nothing too advanced. I use a smartphone but that's about it. No desire whatsoever for a Ring doorbell, a smart kettle controlled from my phone or a lot of the other gubbins people my age and younger (and older) seem to think they need. I think we're in something like the late Victorian railway age where they built great viaducts and tunnels to connect remote villages by railways which would never be profitable. But the investment kept pouring in from people convinced it was the future.
My first reaction to your problem is to get a map on the wall with pins in where your engineers live and then when a job comes in, look it up on the map and see which ones are closest. No good?
My first reaction to your problem is to get a map on the wall with pins in where your engineers live and then when a job comes in, look it up on the map and see which ones are closest. No good?
To the OPs original post (not looking for an answer to his issue, but asking whether there are others out there who struggle with technology) I know several people, both young and old, who know very little about computers and tech in general. It hasn't prevented them being very successful in their careers and life in general.
I'm pretty comfortable with tech, having worked in IT since the late 80s, although when I started I'd never in a million years have imagined setting up IP networks in my home for the TV and music systems to communicate with a home PC and the internet. I do, however agree with one of the posters above who mentions the end of the Victorian era that things are getting overly complicated almost for the sake of it, and I'm really not interested in being able to control my heating and lights in the house from a smartphone whilst I'm a hundred miles from home. Even in the house, I'm still quite happy to get up and hit a switch on the wall to turn the light on.
Many of the people who struggle with technology haven't really needed to use it very much, often because they weren't particularly interested in it, yet these days are seemingly being forced to do so by the overly complicated and often badly implemented "solutions" being foisted on us by manufacturers in a never-ending quest to sell more and more stuff by "offering" new, improved features, which seemingly are there for no other reason than to "solve" problems that they've made up and weren't really a problem in the first place.
Whether this is stupidly complicated touch-screen based interfaces in cars where you've got to go through some complicated dance every time you want to go for a drive, just to turn off the badly implemented lane assist, or needing to go through some steep learning curve just to work out how to operate your washing machine. It's technology just for technology's sake.
To the OP, yes there are plenty of people out there who struggle with technology, and I certainly would not criticise or look down on them for this. I'm ok with tech, but wouldn't have the faintest idea where to even start with rebuilding an engine - hell, I can't even work out how to adjust a carburettor on a petrol strimmer!
I'm pretty comfortable with tech, having worked in IT since the late 80s, although when I started I'd never in a million years have imagined setting up IP networks in my home for the TV and music systems to communicate with a home PC and the internet. I do, however agree with one of the posters above who mentions the end of the Victorian era that things are getting overly complicated almost for the sake of it, and I'm really not interested in being able to control my heating and lights in the house from a smartphone whilst I'm a hundred miles from home. Even in the house, I'm still quite happy to get up and hit a switch on the wall to turn the light on.
Many of the people who struggle with technology haven't really needed to use it very much, often because they weren't particularly interested in it, yet these days are seemingly being forced to do so by the overly complicated and often badly implemented "solutions" being foisted on us by manufacturers in a never-ending quest to sell more and more stuff by "offering" new, improved features, which seemingly are there for no other reason than to "solve" problems that they've made up and weren't really a problem in the first place.
Whether this is stupidly complicated touch-screen based interfaces in cars where you've got to go through some complicated dance every time you want to go for a drive, just to turn off the badly implemented lane assist, or needing to go through some steep learning curve just to work out how to operate your washing machine. It's technology just for technology's sake.
To the OP, yes there are plenty of people out there who struggle with technology, and I certainly would not criticise or look down on them for this. I'm ok with tech, but wouldn't have the faintest idea where to even start with rebuilding an engine - hell, I can't even work out how to adjust a carburettor on a petrol strimmer!
Edited by C n C on Thursday 21st November 12:48
OP is 33. He would have had tech embedded throughout education from the age of 6-16. IT has been a mandatory subject in schools for an age. I am older than him and it was mandatory. Even someone who has zero interest would have struggled not to have learned how to use basic office programs. Which haven’t much changed in that time.
Obviously there’s older people who are no good which makes much more sense but for OP it would be highly beneficial to learn the basics. The world won’t wait for you. Banks and post offices are shutting daily, analogue behaviours are being phased out.
Obviously there’s older people who are no good which makes much more sense but for OP it would be highly beneficial to learn the basics. The world won’t wait for you. Banks and post offices are shutting daily, analogue behaviours are being phased out.
okgo said:
OP is 33. He would have had tech embedded throughout education from the age of 6-16. IT has been a mandatory subject in schools for an age. I am older than him and it was mandatory. Even someone who has zero interest would have struggled not to have learned how to use basic office programs. Which haven’t much changed in that time.
Obviously there’s older people who are no good which makes much more sense but for OP it would be highly beneficial to learn the basics. The world won’t wait for you. Banks and post offices are shutting daily, analogue behaviours are being phased out.
You'd be surprised, everybody in my year group got a U in IT because our school decided the teacher wasn't up to it so the entire year (9 classes of 30 students in each) failed. Our IT teacher was a bully who pinned me to the wall by my neck because he thought I made a joke about him when really it was about a close friend who was stood next to me. Not the best start!Obviously there’s older people who are no good which makes much more sense but for OP it would be highly beneficial to learn the basics. The world won’t wait for you. Banks and post offices are shutting daily, analogue behaviours are being phased out.
To clarify on some very well made points:
- I'm not usually in the department that needs this help, I'm just having a bit of a quiet patch so offered to help with some of the ways this department is run. I suggested the maps thing and it has now become a project for me - I shall learn to keep my mouth shut in future.
- To the person who wondered why I wanted to create a spreadsheet to create a map, it's exactly as someone else said above. I would then have a master spreadsheet showing the client sites and that spreadsheet could also populate a map, you'd be surprised but they don't currently have a master document with all of their sites listed. Thought I'd hit 2 birds with one stone.
- I've actually gone and bloody done it. Thanks for the advice, the youtube clip above really helped. I was 90% of the way there, my formatting was just a bit off.
- To the guy who couldn't believe people like me exist - I find it hard to believe that some people pay actual money to watch men kick a sack of wind around a field and then get upset when their team loses. I grew up learning how to use a lathe and to rebuild engines, computers rarely factored in.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff