Kela
I get familiar with Kela when a started studying in high school and all way through to when I was studying. In work life I don´t need as much, only when I was unemployed briefly. Pages have changed and it was easier to use compared how it was back then. As a YAMK student I must pay healthcare fee for the first-time last fall. I noticed that there are some other changes coming it this year, for example you can take more student loan from next fall. European Health card I have had for years because I need it for traveling in Europe.
Omakanta
Last time I used Omakanta it was two years ago. I just needed T-certificate for work, so I called for that, because I didn´t find it on the webpages. Call was registered to the Omakanta, and I found it there. Omakanta is good for healthcare, that everything is found in a one place.
Keva
I checked Keva last time year ago and I helped someone with that service. It was nice to see how much time is still left for retirement (it was a lot). Calculators were easy to use in the webpage. If I work longer (to 70 years old) I will ger more pension. Pension wasn´t very much at this point, but I still have many years to work before that.
eBay.com
I have been using eBay for almost ten years. Somethings I do not find in Finland so that is why I have ordered from there. This is dependable if you check information about the seller and keep common sense. If something is too good to be true or something is just off about product, I do not buy it. Nowadays I have to remember customs, so I prefer buying products in Europe. Other sites that I use is huuto.net and tori.fi.
Thomann
Thomann is online music store. Where I live, we don´t have music store anymore, so you have to drive nearest city or order online. Thomann is reliable and prices are industry standard. In Finland, many stores compare their prices to this website, and it is maybe the biggest competitor. Downside in this website has been that some stores have been closed, because not every store can´t match the prices and people order nowadays many things from online stores.
Digitalization and digital gap
Digitization came fast, and more things are moving to digital world. It isn´t always a good thing, because people may have lack of skills how to use them. Even some people lack basic computer skills because some of them are just using smartphones. Some things need human employee if you need detail information about something or ask questions. Luckily, many courses are free of charge where you can learn digital skills.
Digital Competence Test
Digital Competence Test was easy to do, and it takes time just over ten minutes. Competences were quite accurate. I use mainly storage space and I do critical evaluation about digital services. There is more to learn about automation and health for digital point of view.
Self-reflection
Living as a digi citizen it is easy for me. All the services that I need are simple to use. There is still much to learn about and up with the development. I learned many new things, mainly it was recap for that I have previously learn, but I had new insights.
I just saw new Apple Vision Pro on Instagram. Vision Pro blends digital content with physical world. There were eight examples, and one was my field from music. Example was Piano: Flowing Tiles and it was pretty groundbreaking for learning. I have seen some of the students using that on phone and with Vision Pro you can see what keys to play and what time totally different way.
Comment 1
Good presentations about different services and individual experiences. Photos were nice touch to texts and layout was clear and colorful on the pages. It is great that you have tried different services online and use them regularly. For traveling I can not even imagine anymore to go physical travel agency anymore, because it is so much cheaper and easier do it online. Dangers are that if you go to the wrong page you can lose your information to the wrong hands. It was good that you mentioned security point of view and other dangers too. It is valuable to know what is safe to do and know the risks on virtual world.
Comment 2
You have similar experiences with Kela and Omakanta. Keva was surprising, that if you work longer you get more pension. I have goal to work to 68 years old, so your goal was the same. Terveyskylä was new for me. I have heard from that before, but I have not been using that service. I agree on that some digital services are hard to use. Some websites are hard to navigate, and some information is hard to find. Buying tickets are harder nowadays, example we do not have physical ticket sale at our town for events. It is good to maintain digital skills, because technology bring new solutions, like you said.
Comment 3
Good presentation and information from the digital services, that you use. I have not tried booking.com, but I think that is the service that I will use for traveling. Karkkainen.com is dependable and I have visited their website few times. I have not ordered from there yet, but I have been comparing prices. Duodecim terveysportti is familiar from the name and visited their website and it was easy to use. I think also that digital gap isn´t the same in the future because children grow up in digital environment. Digital competence test was great to know own skills. Automation is new skill to learn for me.
You have made a fine representation of the sites you have used. It was well noticed that some people don’t know how to use computers because they only use mobile devices. Knowing how to use TikTok or Snapchat doesn’t help when you need to use Excel or Word. Even diginatives need practise to be perfect, no one is a blacksmith when they are born (Finnish proverb).
You wrote that webstores are a big competitor to traditional stores. I agree. Webstores may expand the selection of products that can be bought, if one has access to them. For people who don’t have access to internet for some reason, losing brick and mortar stores has limited the selection of products . Digital skills are becoming more and more important in everyday life and making sure that digital services are available for everyone and easy to use is a key factor.
Your website is really neat, easy to read and visually well done. Thomann is also an online store I’m familiar with and I’ve ordered musical instruments from there myself. In a way, it’s great that more and more people have access to a wide selection and competitive prices, but at the same time, it’s really sad that some Finnish brick-and-mortar stores have had to close their doors for this reason. Ideally, I would always support Finnish business life and create jobs in Finland.
Nice choice to write about a website that may not be familiar to everyone. I hadn’t heard of Thomann myself before. It’s sad that brick-and-mortar stores can’t compete with the prices, leading some businesses to close down as a result.
It was nice to read your concise and informative blog. Particularly memorable was your critical approach to digital development. It’s good that you dare to genuinely critique digital advancement because it’s a fact that, for example, the elderly find it quite difficult to handle affairs in this digitized world.
Hey! Thank you for a wonderful text and insights on digital healthcare and social service of Finland. I found your shared information very interesting and suitable for this type of digital content.
Reply ↓
Hey Jari,
My experiences with Kela, Keva, and OmaKanta are very consistent with those of yours. Of course, there is still room for improvement in the systems, but generally speaking, the interactions are smooth. Rapid digitalization has transformed society. However, as you write, there is a need for a human touch; it should be possible to ask a person for assistance.
With best regards,
Hannele