violetcrush said:

Nuernberg72 said:

in those days, there wasn't as much to navigating "surfing the web" pretty much anyone could do it, no youtube, no vids, even pics took awhile to download, i can't see anyone needing a lot of training to use it.

PeteSilas said:

violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

violetcrush said:

Mumio said:

Whaaaaat? You mean he actually knew how to use a computer and navigate the internet?? No way!!!!

Yeah, but a very basic user I’m sure. Navigating sites yes - installing software and hardware, no. And I would imagine his basic skills were not “self-taught”. I’m sure his crew that handled technology at PP sat down with him to show him what to do.

Prince(r.i.p.) wasn't good at tweeting. I remember I sent him a tweet of a flawless,immaculate, framed poster in my bedroom and instead of retweeting it he copied & pasted it and sent it out. But I forgave him.because I know he liked it.

violetcrush said:

Mumio said:

Whaaaaat? You mean he actually knew how to use a computer and navigate the internet?? No way!!!!

Yeah, but a very basic user I’m sure. Navigating sites yes - installing software and hardware, no. And I would imagine his basic skills were not “self-taught”. I’m sure his crew that handled technology at PP sat down with him to show him what to do.

I remember receiving a pretty longwinded email response from him via email in typical "I'm not going to answer the question directly" Prince fashion. I first asked him a very simple question about his then-new faith and other things I'm not going to mention. Surprisingly, he emailed me back in the middle of the night, with an email that was a few paragraphs. He was very cryptic when when avoiding a subject, but very direct when it came to his music and the business that came with it. I wish I still had those papers or at least backups of the emails but AOL purges your account 6 years after you close it.

violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

I guess I can believe that. Some people can't figure out shot on their own.

I think it was mainly a generational thing. The younger folks were usually fine. They either already knew the functionality or were quick learners. * Prince was usually busy recording or performing, so I dob’t see him having a lot of extra time to devote to learning the new technology. Although, he was very much in the mix with ideas for getting his music online and the “interactive” sites, but he had people setting that up for him.

Keep telling yourself this.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

kewlschool said:

PeteSilas said:

tell us about it please.

He just sent a message that he appreciated my appreciation of him, essentially. I think he liked how I responded to the negative people who tried to derail the thread. I request that people only post positive messages and no back handed compliments. Yet, that didn't stop people from being negative. I handle the situation with care and of course no name calling.

unfortunately the back handed comments and slamming of others posts is a typical attitude among any forum - there is always someone who "thinks" they know better lol. Fair play for voicing out

violetcrush said:

I think "Grog" was one of the handles he used.

violetcrush said:

Nuernberg72 said:

First the crew showed P how to use the Internet and then they brushed Prince's teeth;))))

Welp, I was a software trainer for an insurance company in the mid 90’s when the “interwebs” was just getting started, and the majority of clients I was training who were in Prince’s age bracket were typically clueless about navigation. * Add to that a guy who had someone slotted to do anything and every little thing FOR him (cook, clean, drive, hair, schedule, clothes...) and it’s not hard to believe that he would need training on how to use a PC - at least initially.

Because you were a TRAINER.
Honey, some of the "old people" you denigrate were on the internet before there was a world-wide web. And before that, we were using computers to manage ideas and federal-corporate data.
Literacy of any kind has nothing to do with age.

How did YOU learn "to use a PC - at least initially"?
Was it some talent instilled in you at birth?

erik319 said:

He was in his mid 30s & tech mad when the internet came into prominence. He not only could "use" it, he was a massive advocate for it, to the point of writing songs about it & having a forward thinking vision of ppv concert streaming... At a point when the information superhighway was still a dirt track. He didn't need a team of helpers to click 'connect' why is he being made out to be a 90 year old doddery person?

Exactly.
Little trainers were always so interesting when they came into our offices, trying to teach us "the basics of email" when we'd been doing it for years. Yes, even through a black screen and Unix commands.

laytonian said:

erik319 said:

He was in his mid 30s & tech mad when the internet came into prominence. He not only could "use" it, he was a massive advocate for it, to the point of writing songs about it & having a forward thinking vision of ppv concert streaming... At a point when the information superhighway was still a dirt track. He didn't need a team of helpers to click 'connect' why is he being made out to be a 90 year old doddery person?

Exactly.
Little trainers were always so interesting when they came into our offices, trying to teach us "the basics of email" when we'd been doing it for years. Yes, even through a black screen and Unix commands.

laytonian said:

laytonian said:

erik319 said:

I tend to think that there were plenty of both, those that wanted to learn and the older, more stuck in their ways people. I went back to college in my mid thirties and I have to say, it seemed a lot harder for me to pick up a lot of things than when i was younger, didn't have the same drive, energy or interest and even now, i have several programs for film and music that i never get around to learning because I just know it's going to be a pain in the ass. the good thing about computers? as a musician, it was possible for me to compose and imitate an entire band,, the bad side? computers and digital equipement is a lot more difficult and glitchy to work with and as I get older, i really don't want to go through that again. Not everyone is the same, I've had teachers in their 60's who stayed on top of new software/techniques etc.., like a young person would. I tend to think most people are like my stepdad and my mentor who would ask me to set his digital clocks twice a year and were both far from stupid but just stuck in old ways of thinking. My stepdad still shows me his record collection and can't grasp that he could have all of it and more on a thumbdrive.

PeteSilas said:

violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

I tend to think that there were plenty of both, those that wanted to learn and the older, more stuck in their ways people. I went back to college in my mid thirties and I have to say, it seemed a lot harder for me to pick up a lot of things than when i was younger, didn't have the same drive, energy or interest and even now, i have several programs for film and music that i never get around to learning because I just know it's going to be a pain in the ass. the good thing about computers? as a musician, it was possible for me to compose and imitate an entire band,, the bad side? computers and digital equipement is a lot more difficult and glitchy to work with and as I get older, i really don't want to go through that again. Not everyone is the same, I've had teachers in their 60's who stayed on top of new software/techniques etc.., like a young person would. I tend to think most people are like my stepdad and my mentor who would ask me to set his digital clocks twice a year and were both far from stupid but just stuck in old ways of thinking. My stepdad still shows me his record collection and can't grasp that he could have all of it and more on a thumbdrive.

I totally agree with you. There are those who, despite being older, are still motivated and able to grasp new technology - assuming they have the time to devote to learning it. My main point was that I just don’t see Prince having or taking the time to learn the tech stuff on his own. He hired people to do just about everything for him, because he wanted to focus on music 24/7. I would love to ask Steve Parke about it, or the guy who set up the first interactive site - forgot his name, or even Alan Leeds. * I have no doubt that Prince was reading about and watching shows about future technology as far back as the 70’s and 80’s and coming up with ideas. However, I don’t think he was sitting at the PC designing and implementing. He told the guys what he wanted and they did the work.

Quit.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

in those days, there wasn't as much to navigating "surfing the web" pretty much anyone could do it, no youtube, no vids, even pics took awhile to download, i can't see anyone needing a lot of training to use it.

You’d be surprised. I had people in my classes who had been working in an office environment for many years, but only processing business manually or using a mainframe system - remember those? Black screen with one font and F commands to move around the program. They would come to my class and not only would they not know how to use a Mouse, they had no idea how to use the Nav bars and hyperlinks. The first topic of my class was to teach them the new tech terms (web address, navigation bar, hyperlink, etc). Then they had to get comfortable using a Mouse - left click to select, right click for drop down window. I’m telling you - NO clue.

I was working in the Wisconsin legislature when PCs came in. Prior to that, we had one - or maybe two - computers in each office. Very basic - they ran Word Perfect and some simple database programs.

When our office was scheduled to get the new computers in 1996, we had a class with the staff from a couple other offices. An older lady who had worked in the legislature for years and had never worked with a computer, took one look at the mouse, picked it up, and started clicking it at the monitor like it was a TV remote.

We got her straightened around eventually.

[Edited 5/6/19 7:30am]

Genesia said:

violetcrush said:

Genesia said:

I was working in the Wisconsin legislature when PCs came in. Prior to that, we had one - or maybe two - computers in each office. Very basic - they ran Word Perfect and some simple database programs.

When our office was scheduled to get the new computers in 1996, we had a class with the staff from a couple other offices. An older lady who had worked in the legislature for years and had never worked with a computer, took one look at the mouse, picked it up, and started clicking it at the monitor like it was a TV remote.

We got her straightened around eventually.

THANK YOU!! Yes, this is exactly what I was trying to explain. I actually had people, both older and younger, who because they didn’t understand the functionality, would complain about the “new process” and criticize the way they now had to use the system. * Those who were too young or not around during the switch from DOS/Mainframe to Windows OS applications don’t understand what it was like for those who were older and had spent years using the basic applications. The Mouse, Nav Bars, Windows Icons, saving documents to a “file folder”...ALL foreign stuff for them - like learning a foreign language.

Up until the early 2000s, I had a co-worker (different job) who would send me messages from the mainframe emulator on his PC. I was part of the Mac community at the company, so getting to the mainframe functions was even trickier for me. I finally told him, "Dude - just send me a frickin' email through [whatever email program we were using at the time] wouldja?"

databank said:

violetcrush said:

databank said: Oh yes, I’ve seen some of those threads. Shame that folks were so harsh not long before he passed I think his music/shows with 3EG is/were very good. I like the rock sound.

You know, it's a bit harsh and I don't wanna hurt anyone because some of those are still here (though most of them have disappeared or become apologetic), but I have to admit I have wondered: are they happy now that Prince is over and done, and unable to release any new music that would upset them? Feels like the haters have won On the other hand those haters who have become all Prince-loving ever since while they were vomiting hate day in day out when he was alive, I can respect that they've been shaken too by P's death, or that they wanna try and show some dignity now, but dignity isn't just about respecting the dead, it's also, maybe mostly about respecting the living. I hope they remember that next time they wanna trash any living artist or person who may read their posts online...

What I got from you wrote is that you feel the void too. We all do. I was frustrated when he alive by fans who kept wanting new music and tours, when his health wasn't up to it. Honestly, if the pills hadn't taken such a toll on him those final years, he would still be around... funkin by day, cheating death on a nightly basis because going to the doctor reminds him that he's mortal(ish).

databank said:

violetcrush said:

databank said: Oh yes, I’ve seen some of those threads. Shame that folks were so harsh not long before he passed I think his music/shows with 3EG is/were very good. I like the rock sound.

You know, it's a bit harsh and I don't wanna hurt anyone because some of those are still here (though most of them have disappeared or become apologetic), but I have to admit I have wondered: are they happy now that Prince is over and done, and unable to release any new music that would upset them? Feels like the haters have won On the other hand those haters who have become all Prince-loving ever since while they were vomiting hate day in day out when he was alive, I can respect that they've been shaken too by P's death, or that they wanna try and show some dignity now, but dignity isn't just about respecting the dead, it's also, maybe mostly about respecting the living. I hope they remember that next time they wanna trash any living artist or person who may read their posts online...