Canada Post Woes (merged)

[IKnowNothing]

You’re not giving seniors enough credit. Look if my 90 year old father managed with a stroke, tapping away with one finger on the pop up keyboard then I think most seniors can get by just fine. Most tablets are available with add on keyboards. Modern tablets and phones have voice and facial recognition. Hey Siri…. Hey Google…open my savings account.

We're rapidly reaching an inflection point when it comes to seniors and tech. Trying to enable my then 86 year old grandmother who never had a computer, a cell phone, or even a cordless- was... not successful. Even with a user interface designed specifically for seniors (large buttons, very flat operating system pathways with direct return to home at all times) it was unrecognizable to anything she'd ever handled before. Any form of modern compatibility required learning something new.

The next class up in their 60's and 70's now? Have had computers and emails for decades, facebook and smart phones for almost as long. That doesn't make them tech savants by any means, but keeping them online well into retirement won't require learning something new as long as there remains some backwards compatibility to the OS', UI's, and hardware they're comfortable with, and fonts/ buttons can be made larger.

 

[OldSolduer]

How is the new offer being sent?

A combo of Amazon, UPS and FedEx.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Rough back-of-envelope calculations: say about 2 1/2 million people in Canada over the age of 75, with some (many? YMMV) who can't or won't easily access online services. Does Canada continue to subsidize a public service, or at least the most labour-intensive bits, for them?

It's like transit. People that need it, need it bad. When funding is cut, service sucks more, and fewer people end up using it, leading to others who say, "see, nobody's even using the bus anymore." And so it goes.

I see people on the socials complaining that VIA was going to try a "pilot" where the passenger train from Toronto to Montreal would on longer stop at Cornwall, Brockville, Kingston and Belleville - and even VIA thought twice ....

Via Rail hits the brakes on nonstop Montreal-Toronto service pilot project

Via Rail has hit the brakes on nonstop service on some trains travelling between Montréal–Toronto due to “operational constraints” with CN, according to the Crown corporation.

www.ctvnews.ca

Besides, funny hearing people on the socials who are generally keen on privatizing the service more, or cutting a state service, also pushing 15-minute-city responses like "go to where the density is" and "sucks to be remote"

 

[kratz]

...<snip>

Besides, funny hearing people on the socials who are generally keen on privatizing the service more, or cutting a state service, also pushing 15-minute-city responses like "go to where the density is" and "sucks to be remote"

The same people advocating for a 15-minute city ect... hold a myopic worldview. I have a colleague who swears by the benefits of his electric vehicle. For his lifestyle within the urban area of the HRM, I can not disagree with him. Last spring, for work, he had to drive to Toronto and back. Despite the many issues and struggles he encountered throughout his return travel, his mind is made up and EVs are the way to go. Maybe if he drove through a winter storm?

 

[mariomike]

Last spring, for work, he had to drive to Toronto and back. Despite the many issues and struggles he encountered throughout his return travel, his mind is made up and EVs are the way to go. Maybe if he drove through a winter storm?

I prefer the sleeper train for a round- trip of that distance. 12070

Understood, may not always be practical.

Canada Post thing reminds me when they stopped picking our garbage at the side door. Now you have to wheel it down to the end of the driveway.

You get used to it.

 

[lenaitch]

You get used to it.

Unless I've missed it, nobody is saying that Canada Post will be wound up or privatized; just that service levels and accessibility will adjusted to bring the subsidies out of the stratosphere.

We're rapidly reaching an inflection point when it comes to seniors and tech. Trying to enable my then 86 year old grandmother who never had a computer, a cell phone, or even a cordless- was... not successful. Even with a user interface designed specifically for seniors (large buttons, very flat operating system pathways with direct return to home at all times) it was unrecognizable to anything she'd ever handled before. Any form of modern compatibility required learning something new.

The next class up in their 60's and 70's now? Have had computers and emails for decades, facebook and smart phones for almost as long. That doesn't make them tech savants by any means, but keeping them online well into retirement won't require learning something new as long as there remains some backwards compatibility to the OS', UI's, and hardware they're comfortable with, and fonts/ buttons can be made larger.

It will become easier no doubt, but every situation is individual. Lost/diminished eyesight, upper body paralysis resulting from a stroke, etc. Even we who grew up with it have different levels of comfort. I can 'get by' but my wife is fairly basic. Not bad once she learns the rote tasks, but little understanding of the processes in case something goes a little sideways or, as has happened, Microsoft et al decide to come out with a new version that does the same thing completely differently. The wrong button or icon selected that sends you off to never-neverland with no clue how to get back. Cognitive diminishment is a thing.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Unless I've missed it, nobody is saying that Canada Post will be wound up or privatized; just that service levels and accessibility will adjusted to bring the subsidies out of the stratosphere.

For now …

 

[RangerRay]

Unless I've missed it, nobody is saying that Canada Post will be wound up or privatized; just that service levels and accessibility will adjusted to bring the subsidies out of the stratosphere.


It will become easier no doubt, but every situation is individual. Lost/diminished eyesight, upper body paralysis resulting from a stroke, etc. Even we who grew up with it have different levels of comfort. I can 'get by' but my wife is fairly basic. Not bad once she learns the rote tasks, but little understanding of the processes in case something goes a little sideways or, as has happened, Microsoft et al decide to come out with a new version that does the same thing completely differently. The wrong button or icon selected that sends you off to never-neverland with no clue how to get back. Cognitive diminishment is a thing.

Never mind where I work, most of the Gen Z and Millennials are complete luddites compared to the Gen Xers like me. They can get onto TikTok and whatever other social media, but good luck getting them to use a desktop application designed specifically for their job without them acting like a Boomer struggling with AOL…

 

[captloadie]

I drove by my local post office 3 or 4 times yesterday while I was out doing errands. While understand that they are probably not happy to be on the picket lines again, their picketing consisted of sitting in the shade of the trees on their lawn chairs, drinking their timmies and talking to each other with a few signs leaning against things. No public engagement with those walking by, or anything we normally associate with a strike. And by 3:15, you wouldn't have known that anything was going on, because everyone had pack up and gone home. It is going to be hard to get the public support for anything when the employees themselves are displaying such apathy.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I drove by my local post office 3 or 4 times yesterday while I was out doing errands. While understand that they are probably not happy to be on the picket lines again, their picketing consisted of sitting in the shade of the trees on their lawn chairs, drinking their timmies and talking to each other with a few signs leaning against things. No public engagement with those walking by, or anything we normally associate with a strike. And by 3:15, you wouldn't have known that anything was going on, because everyone had pack up and gone home. It is going to be hard to get the public support for anything when the employees themselves are displaying such apathy.

The BCGEU in BC could give them some pointers... looks like a dance party out there every day

 

[Kilted]

We're rapidly reaching an inflection point when it comes to seniors and tech. Trying to enable my then 86 year old grandmother who never had a computer, a cell phone, or even a cordless- was... not successful. Even with a user interface designed specifically for seniors (large buttons, very flat operating system pathways with direct return to home at all times) it was unrecognizable to anything she'd ever handled before. Any form of modern compatibility required learning something new.

The next class up in their 60's and 70's now? Have had computers and emails for decades, facebook and smart phones for almost as long. That doesn't make them tech savants by any means, but keeping them online well into retirement won't require learning something new as long as there remains some backwards compatibility to the OS', UI's, and hardware they're comfortable with, and fonts/ buttons can be made larger.

Considering that cellphones and the internet were invented in the early 1970s, unless someone is 104 or older, cellphones and the internet have been around for more of their life than they weren't. The reality is that it is getting more and more difficult to communicate with someone who chooses not to have a cellphone or an email address (I do know a few of them).

 

[Kilted]

I drove by my local post office 3 or 4 times yesterday while I was out doing errands. While understand that they are probably not happy to be on the picket lines again, their picketing consisted of sitting in the shade of the trees on their lawn chairs, drinking their timmies and talking to each other with a few signs leaning against things. No public engagement with those walking by, or anything we normally associate with a strike. And by 3:15, you wouldn't have known that anything was going on, because everyone had pack up and gone home. It is going to be hard to get the public support for anything when the employees themselves are displaying such apathy.

Personally, I just wouldn't bother showing up, but I would also never join a union.

 

[CountDC]

Never mind where I work, most of the Gen Z and Millennials are complete luddites compared to the Gen Xers like me. They can get onto TikTok and whatever other social media, but good luck getting them to use a desktop application designed specifically for their job without them acting like a Boomer struggling with AOL…

AOL was home for boomers!!! Now where is that box thingy????

Considering that cellphones and the internet were invented in the early 1970s, unless someone is 104 or older, cellphones and the internet have been around for more of their life than they weren't. The reality is that it is getting more and more difficult to communicate with someone who chooses not to have a cellphone or an email address (I do know a few of them).

Didn't know a single person that had a cell phone in the 70s or 80s. 80s there were lots of pagers though. 70s internet?? As I recall the internet didn't become big in homes until the late 90s, prior to that there were a few of us that had computers and internet in the early 90s. Don't think it was really available before then in the homes.

 

[IKnowNothing]

Considering that cellphones and the internet were invented in the early 1970s, unless someone is 104 or older, cellphones and the internet have been around for more of their life than they weren't. The reality is that it is getting more and more difficult to communicate with someone who chooses not to have a cellphone or an email address (I do know a few of them).

Invented does not mean the same as in daily use for the majority of the population.

 

[YZT580]

Invented does not mean the same as in daily use for the majority of the population.

and there are those of us who prefer to leave the phone at home so having it attached to the wall is not an inconvenience. Every time we go into a restaurant or ride public transit we are astounded at the way people are glued to their cells instead of appreciating what is going on around them or conversing with the person sharing the table. Without a cell you have time for living as the Association once sang.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Every time we go into a restaurant or ride public transit we are astounded at the way people are glued to their cells instead of appreciating what is going on around them or conversing with the person sharing the table.

There's a video of a woman in China on the spine of some nountian who unclips form the tether to take a selfie and promptly slides down the snow and over a 300 meter cliff.

 

[Nvlgzr]

AOL was home for boomers!!! Now where is that box thingy????


Didn't know a single person that had a cell phone in the 70s or 80s. 80s there were lots of pagers though. 70s internet?? As I recall the internet didn't become big in homes until the late 90s, prior to that there were a few of us that had computers and internet in the early 90s. Don't think it was really available before then in the homes.

The first cell networks in North America didn’t start appearing until late 80’ s . I remember being in SAN Francisco with my brother-in-law (Nortel Engineer) and he practically had a hardon when he spotted a cell tower (Nortel made cell tower gear) there. He had to explain to me that it wasn’t the same as VHF car phones that might be found in rich man’s limo.
As for the web, it didn’t start until early 90’s. I was working for a simulator company that installed a dedicated internet computer in 92 or 93. I was one of the few whom used it and I found it was of limited use then. Some of our engineers used it to perform remote support of a simulator. Few companies had web sites and most of those had 1 or 2 photos of staff or building, contact info and that’s it. It didn’t take long for it to catch on.

 

[Nvlgzr]

There's a video of a woman in China on the spine of some nountian who unclips form the tether to take a selfie and promptly slides down the snow and over a 300 meter cliff.

I constantly see people crossing the road or driving glued to the phone.

 

[YZT580]

I constantly see people crossing the road or driving glued to the phone.

there are thousands of similar anecdotes so tell me again why it is necessary for people to accept and be forced to use a system that is convenient (at times) but certainly not contributing to any real improvement in lifestyle. There are dozens of 20th century inventions that have improved our lives and made them richer but I wouldn't include the internet in that group. It is simply a convenience sometimes.

 

[CountDC]

Now at work they have made it mandatory to use the authenticator app to login to our dedicated network. The catch is the app has to be installed onto a cell phone so I asked if they are providing the phone. of course the answer is no, you have to install it on your personal phone. To me this is a problem as it is assuming everyone has a cell phone and that they are willing to use it for work. I know someone that every time they get a new phone they strip basically everything they can from it so that it is just a phone (they are extreme about not being tracked) so they would not install the app. I on the other hand have always refused to allow work to treat my phone as a work phone and do know of a few people that don't have cell phones at all.