My 87 year-old father is more connected to technology than I am (age 58). I have been trying to persuade him for several years to get rid of his ancient IMac and get a laptop. When he was here visiting recently, my sister-in-law took him to Best Buy (or rather, he and my brother sat in the car while she ran in and got him an IPad) and sealed the deal. My sister was concerned he would have trouble once he got home, but so far, no worries. His built in camera allows him to Skype (everyone but me, since my laptop is almost as old as his old IMac) his kids and grandkids, while I am happy to browse the Internet.
To save money, I recently got rid of my cable (except for reception in order to keep the price down on my “bundled” services which include the Internet and phone) and went with Netflix streaming. I had it anyway, but use to watch on my computer. So I splurged and got a Blue ray dvd player (on sale) and am a happy camper.
Except now I want to Skype my niece and nephew, who are away at school. And another niece leaves for school next year. And of course, there’s my dad. So I ordered a camera for my laptop, cheap at $14.95. And more RAM, cheap at $35. Can’t get a new laptop for that, and I don’t need one anyway.
My computer guru taught me well. I know PC’s (aren’t they all PC’s?) are more likely to get viruses, but I have a LOT of security and, and this is the most important, I run diagnostics on my PC three times a week. It only takes about 15 minutes and it keeps things humming. Being on my back in pain from the not-so-friendly tumors, I need to stay connected. I honestly can’t imagine what my life would look like without this technology….of course, I read a book or two a week (without a Kindle or a Nook) but it makes a world a differece when you are home-bound!
I’m just hoping that once this stuff gets here before my laptop decides “Okay, I’m gonna crash now” Bite your lip! My only request to dad is that he be dressed when we Skype.
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