How to help old folk get connected to the Internet?

[tim...]

what great stuff would that be? Playing radio programs?

(My friend's turns his light on and off for him. But I bet that doesn't come "out of the box")

[Michael Chare]

Maybe in a city you have public internet classes. There were shops that had rows of terminals that you could use for Internet access. I did visit one once.

[Jethro_uk]

Internet cafes ? Not seen one for *years*.

[polygonum_on_google]

I think my biggest reservation is that you cannot (or could not?) simple remote desktop to an iPad (or whatever you want to call it).

When I was faced with this, I ended up getting an ordinary PC. If she could switch it on, I could manage it. But a tablet would likely have been better in several ways.

[Andrew]

they're *over* 70 !!!

[Andrew]

Have fun finding one that is open.

[T i m]

Agreed. Protected workspaces or something?

That's how we started with Mum but luckily she took to the tablet (iPad) quickly enough and we are only a walk away if she needs help.

For my Mum they are a lot more manageable than a laptop (physically) and a lot more versatile than a PC for her usage.

I'd say her key uses are (in no specific order):

Playing Rumykub, IM with family (currently using Whatsapp (she also has an iPhone)), getting emails (not sure she's ever sent one) and one of her biggest uses, as a camera.

We set her up with an iCloud account (79p/m for 25GB or summat) so all her stuff is backed up and auto shared across the iPads(old, new) and iPhone.

If going anywhere she packs her iPad along with her meds *first*. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

My Mum is 90 and has an iPhone 6 and an iPad?

She's never worked in an office or really used a qwerty kbd dill Dad died a few years ago.

Cheers, T i m

[charles]

When SWMBO (then 71) asked our 8 yo granddaughter what she was doing. she got the reply "Using an iPad, Grannie, you wouldn't understand"

"Grannie" got an iPad for Chrismas and has never looked back.

[charles]

Ours are open, but the computera are not available.

[Jethro_uk]

The more I ponder this, the more I think moving the grunt into a cloud service and just using the tablet/iPad/desktop/laptop to access it via like a dumb terminal.

[T i m]

I have, on a pen stick on a quad core Atom and whilst it's OK performance wise, it's weird (for someone familiar with most the current Desktop OS's anyway).

Not to say if setup specifically for someone (browser tabs to their key places) that it couldn't be a workable solution.

The other issue though is how easy would it be for them to get help from others (which is where Windows generally works out).

Watching my Mum (90) using her iPad the most common issues seem to be a function of speed, or lack of when switching between things and her dabbing and tapping multiple times because things haven't happened.

I really think these things should have a 'Wait' light on them that flashes up when the system is more than 25% loaded. ;-)

Like the HDD LED that I miss so much on this Mac Mini ... ;-(

Cheers, T i m

[Andrew]

Don't believe that. Even the tier-3 libraries in West Sussex in places like Petworth are open 6 days a week for about 4 hours a day.

[Theo]

Apparently you can screen share on iOS 11. Although I don't know if you can also control it, or have to tell the person what to press.

I'm not sure there is much 'management' needed on iOS, although the ability to help with 'how do I...' questions is very handy.

Theo

[Adrian Caspersz]

Start them with a cheap PAYG smartphone first. It might be all they need, or want to be involved with.

I've given up volunteering assistance in this vein. It's really not the end user that is the issue. It's the failure of technology. Not everyone is impressed by video games and playing 'spot the hotspot'.

We need to go back to black and white terminals, command line interfaces and get rid of the mouse.

or jump forward to voice controlled everything...

[Adrian Caspersz]

I had a game to explain what 'up, down, left, right' was in the context of using buttons on a remote control matching that to the highlight of a selected item on a smart television menu.

Of course the highlight moving has subtly changed the picture, but the user is thinking it's a whole new screen displayed and now ye need to press another button on this here remote. It's half a inch to the left and next to that one I last pressed. Lets remember that to this scrap of paper, because that is how it is.

Imagine driving a car like that. Absolutely no exception handling ability at all!

-&-

On a more serious note, the above was an explanation attempt to a recent Widow, whose husband was the sole presser of all buttons complicated. During the lockdown, she couldn't do a lot with some really basic tech. Major stumbling block was moving from HDMI2 to Digital TV, and back.

Share your talents folks!

[T i m]

That's stage one ... now they have the required selection highlighted ... but they just sit there looking at it, not 'activating' that 'selection' with Ok / Enter.

I sometimes find it very difficult with the what seems like never ending repetition of the exact same information / instruction. I was an IT instructor for 8 years and have been helping people for much longer (IT Support / Telephone Helpdesk etc) but most of those people just needed to be given the information, they would then run with it / repeat it tomorrow etc.

Maybe *because* I have been doing that most my life I find it particularly difficult, how much and how quickly it stretches my (normally 'patience of a saint', when it comes to 'things') as it does.

I don't think I would make a good carer as I know what I should do but not if I could do it. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

[bert]

In article , Clive Page writes

Local libraries and other local groups tend to run computer/tablet courses. It took me a while to persuade them that a tablet was a better/easier way to go for older people as the technology is less visible. But there is a hard core who just will not contemplate the idea of even looking at a computer

[bert]

In article , charles writes

They will if there's money in it for them. Age Concern used to run courses locally - I was a volunteer tutor for a while, until they merged with Help the Aged to form Age UK then the courses stopped.

[Dave Liquorice]

I was wondering what this "great stuff it can do" is as well.

Quite...