Online access
Say you're over 70, you've never typed, and you're generally afraid of technology. What would it be like to try a computer for the first time?
It's daunting. I saw the process tonight. The letters on the keyboard aren't in any useful order (”where would I find an R?”); the idea of dragging a cursor around is perplexing; and everything is too small and too light-colored to see properly. The notion of an inbox almost makes sense, but embedded replies and the “sent messages” file don't. A trackpad is even worse than the impenetrable keyboard, because for no reason things seem to just disappear from the screen.
After the initial email lesson was done (too much to attempt web access during the first lesson), a visiting 9-year-old showed the 70+ his web site. “See?” he said, “Here are my pictures, and here's more about me, and….” He's part of the We Generation – comfortable with technology, likes online videos, ready to look things up. The 70+ looked a little tired.
We warned her not to stay up all night with the computer. “It's safe with me,” she said. She said earlier in the evening that she was afraid of “losing her soul.”
I'm hoping that being able to send messages to her friends and grandchildren will be worth it. Right now, it seems like a very steep learning curve for her.
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My mother has recently discovered the internet. While not 70 years old, she has definitely been intimidated by digital technology in the past (except for the television, which she seems to be the only one who can operate.)
I'm so proud, watching her go through the baby steps of sending email, using search engines, dealing with spam, chain letters and porn. Her motivation, as you say, it to stay in touch with her far-flung family.