Parents/Grandparents Who Use the Internet...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jun 27 2006, 11:43 PM) [snapback]277936[/snapback]</div>

I set up a "family mailing list" so that the extended family can keep in touch. It works like a listserver; you address an email to the "mailing list" and everyone gets it. When you reply to a message, it goes to everyone on the list. My mother (86) is on it, as are several of my cousins who are in their 60's and 70's. One first cousin, a complete computer neophyte, just got on line with the list (she's close to 90). Her prior experience with a keyboard was an Underwood manual typewriter when she worked years ago, but when she found out she could send an email faster and cheaper than a letter, she got her daughter to set her up. Its great being able to stay in contact with people from California, to Missouri, to North Carolina (and a few stragglers in places like Minneapolis, upstate NY and Silicon Valley). For $4 a month, its a great thing!

The family now stays in touch, from my daughter at 21 (the youngest right now), to my cousin who's close to 90. For some of them, the email list is all they use the computer for. Two are programmers, one still working in financial services. Many are retired. Three are farmers. It is the single best thing I have done in the last 10 years.

The key is simplicity at first. Write down the steps, and coach them. It really has to be done in person if the "trainee" is like some of my family and completely clueless when it comes to computers.

 

My parents are in their mid 70s now and have been using a computer for over five years. My Dad set it up. They have AOL. They didn't ask me about anything.

I have managed to teach my mother NOT to use the caps lock key in e-mails.

I've also been teaching her how to sell stuff on eBay. Also how to copy and paste, find a document once it's saved, etc.

Next I'm going to teach them how to SEND in AOL Instant Messenger. In conversation yesterday I've not determined that when they say they know how to use it, that means if someone sends them an instant message, they can reply. But they don't know how to begin an exchange in the first place.

I've promised my mother that when I upgrade to a new Intel MacBookPro I'm going to give her my old Powerbook and set her up at home. It will be a lot easier for her to use and she won't have to share with my Dad. I may even set up the airport base station in their house since I'll probably move up to an express when I upgrade.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jun 28 2006, 01:43 AM) [snapback]277936[/snapback]</div>

I don't think the use or non-use of a computer has much to do with age. I know people well in their 80s who use one daily and some in their 20s who have no wish to. Older people have sometimes asked me whether I think they should get one for email. Usually they have never even had a typewriter. They have no need or wish to produce typewritten letters, etc. They prefer to use books or the telephone as sources of information (not the Net). I don't encourage or discourage them but finally it dawns on them that the cost of installing a computer in both money and learning time is more than they want to spend on something they will hardly ever use.
I always recommend Apple Macs if folk do choose to go ahead but despite the simplicity of a Mac most people find it dreadfully difficult at first and months after installing it are still very incompetent and lack confidence.

 

My husband's grandmother (~85 yo) has used one of those little email stations for the past 4 or 5 years. It helps her stay in contact with far-flung relatives.

 

My mom thinks that machines hate her. She's comfortable with her fax machine and her memory typewriter, but even those frustrate her if anything goes wrong.

A few years back a confusing letter made her think that her largest chain customer would require all its suppliers to accept orders by email (rather than fax, as previously) and she got a computer. She adamantly refused to learn to use it for anything but email, and feared it even for that. I've tried to get her to use a web browser, but she refuses. She will not even click on a link in an email, or open an attachment (e.g., if I want to email her a picture.) She is an extremely intelligent woman, and at 88 still has all her wits about her, but she refuses to use a computer for anything but email and if the email is longer than the size of the window she cannot scroll it. She'll print it out instead.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jun 30 2006, 03:26 AM) [snapback]279024[/snapback]</div>

We just had another cousin sign up (she's in her 70's). She is reading the emails, but hasn't figured out how to respond yet, so her son will go over and give her a tutorial.

It is truly one of the best things I have ever done, and I highly recommend it. In our case it works well because of the large size of the family (my father was one of 10 kids, and I'm one of 6, so there are hundreds of "cousins" out there!)

 

My mother is 71. She has been a Mac user for a LONG time. Most of her friends and family wish she would STOP. My uncle--mom's brother--, and various cousins have asked ME to tell her to stop sending around her lousy jokes. My 49 year old sister, on the other hand, is very close to computer illiterate. She can, mostly, handle email, but her 14 year old son has to take care of pretty much everything else...and her 56 yo husband does only what he must do with a computer at work and doesn't touch 'em at home. My husband's 85 yo father had a computer until about a year ago, when they moved into an assisted living facility and didn't have the room anymore, but he did pretty well, but my husband and his sister--and the 4 grandkids--did most of the setup and ongoing maintenance.

But we just discovered the GREATEST gift for uncomputerized relatives. It is this digital picture frame that the uncomputerized only have to plug into a power outlet and a phone line. The computerized contingent have an online account (subscription is about $8/month) where they upload pics (and can also grant "buddy" rights so others can also upload pix) and each night (or whenever account holder designates) the frame calls in and gets new photos, and voila, the next morning, gramma and grandpa have a new slide show awaiting them! Sorry kids, but though the local telephone # database is pretty big, it is only US #s...

 

Ummm...I'm a parent, grandparent and in my 60's. But I have worked with computers since they used vacuum tubes, and tabulators with control panels for the "programming", so I may not be your average senior. Besides email, I use the internet for PC and similar forums, research whatever I want whenever I want, keep my investments up to date and pay just about all my bills online. I also buy online, as it saves me time, gasoline and sometimes sales tax. The internet also has replaced my daily newspaper, since the local papers now print mostly from "feeds" that I can see online. For the local news my neighbors don't miss a thing.