When the Sage and I were eating our lunch on Sunday, two elderly ladies came and sat down at the next table. They were obviously good friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while and were catching up on news, and then the younger (or at least less doddery) one said that her son and his family had given her an iPad for Christmas. They talked about it for some time, the friend being very impressed that she had learned to use email and she had a lot of questions. “It’s such fun!” the lucky iPad owner told her. “And it’s easier to use than you’d think. I can’t quite remember my email address yet, but lots of people write to me and I’ve learned to reply to them.” “How much did it cost?” “About £400, I think.” “That’s a lot of money.” “Yes, it is – well, it’s a lot to me. I was so excited when I opened it on Christmas Day. I couldn’t believe my luck!”
And I had tears in my eyes by this time. But then I’m notoriously soppy.
Gosh – I hope she’s learned not to reply to all and sundry.
Yes, double-gosh. We can’t convince Kate (89) to get online, even though we know she’d love it.
I know how Tim feels – I can’t get my mother online, it’s so frustrating. She’s missing out on so much. My stepfather is fine, if rather cautious, so I have to send him links to show her. They can shop with Amazon, but that’s about their limit. If they are ill I can send them their shopping online, which they think is incredible, but I think it would be so much easier if only they could do it for themselves! Maybe when we are 80 our children will be saying ‘Why won’t they teleport?’!
My friend Marian was 94 when she bought her iPad and learned how to use it. They’ve made such a difference to people who couldn’t master the use of a mouse.
My Dad is a practising technophobe…unless he wants me to buy something!
I bought my sister an apple mini computer thingie when she was 80. She was horrified at the time but now she writes novels on it.