[IP] more on yrs from 2003 Re: Louis Menand on Microsoft Word
Begin forwarded message:
From: Brad Cox <bcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 17, 2004 6:51:03 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>, Ip <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] yrs from 2003 Re: Louis Menand on Microsoft Word
I have kept this for a long time to ask you what word processing,
OS and ISP you would recommend for the elderly, whether somewhat
computer literate or just getting started.
Almost any machine and OS will do...what counts is that somebody set it
up for them. They'll explore things from there. And oh yes, don't
forget to enable solid security; no sense adding another zombie
computer to the net.
After years of trying to explain what I do for a living (software!
what's that?), I bought my mom a straightforward computer and printer
from Sears and set her up with an AOL account so that they'd send the
monthly bills to me.
That was all it took for her at more than 82. The only real blocker was
endlessly spelling out my email address by phone and persuading her to
type it exactly that way. She must have found a dozen ways to misspell
it.
Now at 86, she's turned into the local pro. Even signed up for classes
at the local community college, although I can't imagine what for.
Confidence building I suppose.
One last thing: forget Word, your dad probably won't even know what its
for. Email is killer app enough for the elderly, and they've time to
branch out on their own from there.
My dad, 81 (an enthusiast for the basic functions for many years but
not sophisticated about the soft or hardware, just wants it to work!)
needs something less troublesome that Word and Windows, if such is
possible, and has many neighbors who would happily get started if they
had the most elderly-user friendly set-up...
I soldier on with what I find at work and what I have inherited
and cobbled together at home, but I'm a systems analyst, I have help
handy - he doesn't have the time, energy or stamina for the
frustrating struggle.
He has a new HP Pavilion mx 703 with Windows XP and Microsoft
Works with basic Word (an impulsive purchase on sale when his very old
Win98 froze up in Safe Mode), both of which are a pain, and uses
att.net's webmail, but that is also a huge disappointment. About to
get him comcast cable so the slowness is not a factor,any advice would
be welcome.
Have any of your human factors colleagues done a column on
optimum set up for senior beginners?
Hope you had a lovely trip and a good summer, all best,
Jacqueline Fralley
--
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as bcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at:
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
--
Brad J. Cox, PhD, 703 361 4751, http://virtualschool.edu
http://virtualschool/ale Action Learning Environment
http://virtualschool.edu/mybank Digital Rights Management System
http://virtualschool.edu/jco Java Cryptographic Objects (JCO)
http://virtualschool.edu/jwaa Java Web Application Architecture (JWAA)
http://virtualschool.edu/java+ Java Preprocessor (Java+)
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/