Why are older people afraid of and reject or dismiss new technology?

Have you ever had to teach an older person something on a computer or phone that we think is simple? It could be anything like texting or how to work social media or, my favorite, "for some reason it just doesn't want to work!" Calm down, Mom, we'll get through this.

According to this article from Science Daily, older people feel as though it is a hassle put onto them to understand these technologies and get completely overwhelmed. Another point it makes is that they fear social isolation.

What are your thoughts or hypothesis on it?

I believe that as we have often discussed in this class, there is a huge digital divide among the younger generations and the older generations. Though even my grandparents who said they would never have smart phones both now love and use their iPhones often, they are still at a huge technological disadvantage as they have never been taught how to use these tools. Many of us have never experienced life without them, or were at least taught computer use in school. I know that we are aware of how difficult and isolating it can be for older people to try and learn how to use new technologies especially if they are not able to have assistance from family or friends. Yet, I am not sure how we could even go about addressing this problem in order to educate older people on how to work technology. Our world is quickly becoming more and more technology based and it simply is not fair for older people who are unable to figure out this new technology not their own to just be left to struggle and adapt with no help. I think we can all agree that this is an issue that needs to be better address, yet I am simply not sure how we would go about fixing or helping the situation at this point.