How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"That's three bubbles back, Dad. And you guessed wrong on every one. But at this point you're nearly certified as self-sufficient. You'd have a hard time scaring up any public assistance. The taxpayers are not kind to seniors; old people run too much of the country already." He hesitated. "And after today, my generosity has run out. Mom died two years ago—and dumped you decades before that. But maybe you should wonder about other things. For instance, where are all your old pals from Stanford?" (8.25)
We really cut this quote out just for the part where Bob says that "old people run too much of the country." Which makes some sense if you have the medical technology to keep old people active and smart. Though it is surprising that we hear this after seeing how slow Robert and Xiu are to get with the program. (How can you run the country if you can't even silent message?) But we should also note how Bob hits on Robert's history here—specifically, how Robert kept messing up. He messed up his finances, his marriage, and his friendship (ha!) with his "old pals." So, can Robert fix all these mistakes he made in the past?
Quote #8
"Me, I'll stick with the proven solutions." He patted his laptop. Through some fluke of memory, Robert recognized the model. Twenty some years ago, this gadget had been at the cutting edge of power and miniaturization, barely eight inches by ten, with a brilliant, millimeters-thin screen and a fancy camera. Now ... even to Robert it was a ponderous behemoth. (12.63)
Nothing ages quite as painfully as technology. Seriously, people were amazed by the first cell phones, but have you seen them recently? Right here, Tommie Parker shows a huge problem with growing old, both for people and tech: what was super cool back in the day soon… isn't. In other words, the guy who sticks to the "proven solution" can't adapt to the future and is stuck in the past.
Quote #9
Then Juan had to go help his mother. As he faded away, Robert studied the examples. He recognized some of the steps from the protocol descriptions, but, "How did you know all that?"
Foolish question. The boy looked a little startled. "It's just—it's just kind of intuitive, you know? I think that's the way the interface is designed." And then he was completely gone. (16.13-4)
There's so much in this book about how old people have to struggle to stay current. But let's just take a moment to nod to the young people in the book, like Miri and Juan. Whereas Robert and Xiu have to study and work hard—look at Robert there, studying the examples—Miri and Juan grew up with this stuff. So to Juan, using the computer is largely "intuitive." Of course, Juan shouldn't let that get to his head: one day he'll be old and he might not be able to learn the next system so easily.