Nonsense!

 Again the NY Times blames "old folks" for their lack of computer competence. They ramble along saying:

But booking an appointment has been a technological nightmare. ... cannot afford to buy a computer, and would not know how to navigate the internet in search of a shot even if she could. While members of her family might be able to help her there, she avoids seeing them as a safety precaution. ... Advocates for older Americans, 22 million of whom lack wired broadband access at home, say it is ridiculous that a program mostly aimed at vaccinating vulnerable seniors is so dependent on internet know-how, Twitter announcements and online event pages. ... The coronavirus relief bill passed by the House includes $470 million for supportive services for older Americans, including vaccine outreach. The Administration for Community Living is working with the C.D.C. on a public awareness campaign for seniors, said Edwin Walker, the group’s deputy assistant secretary for aging. But that initiative is still in the planning stage.

Nonsense. Let me start with some bona fides. I started programming in machine language in 1962, well before any of these useless Silicon Valley nerds. I was responsible for the first international connection of the ARPA Net in 1976 from Etam WV to Goohnilly UK and Trondheim, Norway. Protocols and all. I developed and deployed the first two video on demand shopping system on Warner Cable. As COO of what is now Verizon Wireless I deployed the first packet based cellular signalling. Then I built and operated the Internet backbone in 20+ countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Along with my MIT PhD in EECS and 17 books, 250+ papers and the list goes on. But I too have found this grossly incompetent "whack a mole" approach to getting a vaccine appointment an example of the Government gone wild. 

To the folks at the Times, it is not age, not inexperience, it is those ruthless and useless politicians you so laud! I got smallpox and diphtheria in 1944 at a NYC Public Health office. Try and find one now. I got polio vaccine at my grammar school, and the list goes on. But as I had noted some nine months ago, prior planning prevents poor performance. And the Governors have done none. Here in NJ the Gov's advisory board seems to be in y opinion a list of untalented cronies. Good for re-election but in my opinion and my experience dreadful for the people.

So dear NY Times, do try to dig a little deeper for the truth.  Instead you blame the older folks. It is not their fault that the State has developed nothing at all. This includes their alleged Mega Sites, which I warned about months ago. They are unreachable by the elderly and at least in my county one cannot under any circumstance even see if appointments are available. That is why tomorrow I drive almost 300 miles in hopes of getting a vaccine on the Delaware border. Lots in Delaware, but in NJ, not so much! 

And another thing. $470 million for support of older Americans! Like the IRS? Are they insane. We are from the Government and here to help you! NOT!

The real issues is NOT that older folk are technologically incompetent, it is that the people who are responsible for establishing access are grossly incompetent. No matter how expert one is, no matter how complex a computer, communications, software, technological capability one has, the systems are dysfunctional. There are a multiplicity of alleged providers with disparate interfaces, lack of supply, having people sign up in anticipation of being informed but never replying. It is a scheduling system coddling the morbidly obese and smokers, the prisons and the Press, those segments of society which are problematic at best. While at the same time satisfying the "select" groups yet disenfranchising the old are infirmed. 

Finally expecting someone to use Twitter, Facebook or any of those corrupted elements of Silicon Valley propaganda, systems which are devoid of any elements of privacy, is another element of gross neglect. Any self respecting person would eschew these systems, systems which clearly are propaganda multipliers, invasive and not at all functional for the purpose intended. The Times and their reporters in my opinion demonstrate clear ignorance of the facts and are nothing but ongoing promoters of a warped social agenda.

Now, I will let you know how I really feel.........