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As some of you may know, I went down to my parents at the weekend to help them set up their brand new expensive PC, which I'd previously spent the last weekend trampsing around the shops looking for. What makes it worse is that it's better than mine, and it's the first one they've ever owned (if you discount that terrible Amstrad word processor monstrosity - anyone interested in buying it?!) so they were hesitant at installing the scanner or any other software in general.
Now, my dad had the box open and all the bits and pieces out the day he bought the thing. I am proud to say that he's not a technophobe and he took to windows like a duck to water. By the time I had driven to their house on the following Sunday, he had mastered using the word processor and watching DVDs (which I lent him), so my job here was pretty easy.
After installing the scanner software and printer, I showed him how it all worked and the cool effects you could get in the paint package. He loved the free MP3 player and now he wants a portable player to download all his MP3s to. I also showed him the nifty little Autoroute Europe program, so that next time he has an urge to drive across Spain, he'll know how much it costs and how to get there. No problems there!
Now, we came to my mum. She hesitently took to the seat and sat about an arm's length from the computer, as if it would suddenly reach out and bite her. After convincing her that it was indeed safe enough to sit that much closer to the screen, she finally grabbed the mouse and started moving it around. This is where my problems really began!
Never having used a mouse before, my mum was finding it extremely hard to move the pointer around the screen, making it look more like a bumper car driven by a drunk blind man. I showed her how to open Word and use the program to write a letter, but every time she wanted to click on the icon or the menu, her mouse would move in the other direction. Funny at first, but it got a bit tiring after a while.
So, I had an idea. I closed the word processor and loaded Freecell (explaining to my dad where it was for later on) After taking my mum through the rules, I gave her the hot seat back and watched as she tried to figure out how to get the Ace from behind a couple of Kings. After 10 minutes and 2 more games, she was moving the mouse around with the speed and finesse of Michael Schumacher on an F1 circuit, enjoying the thrill of rescuing that 4 of spades from behind two Queens. It really pleased her that she could finally get the hang of using the mouse and she was much happier with the word processor and all the other bits and pieces after that.
Both of them learnt a lot that day, although they are in different leagues. They will be attending a computer course next week, so hopefully they both can learn about the wonders of computing.
Now, my dad had the box open and all the bits and pieces out the day he bought the thing. I am proud to say that he's not a technophobe and he took to windows like a duck to water. By the time I had driven to their house on the following Sunday, he had mastered using the word processor and watching DVDs (which I lent him), so my job here was pretty easy.
After installing the scanner software and printer, I showed him how it all worked and the cool effects you could get in the paint package. He loved the free MP3 player and now he wants a portable player to download all his MP3s to. I also showed him the nifty little Autoroute Europe program, so that next time he has an urge to drive across Spain, he'll know how much it costs and how to get there. No problems there!
Now, we came to my mum. She hesitently took to the seat and sat about an arm's length from the computer, as if it would suddenly reach out and bite her. After convincing her that it was indeed safe enough to sit that much closer to the screen, she finally grabbed the mouse and started moving it around. This is where my problems really began!
Never having used a mouse before, my mum was finding it extremely hard to move the pointer around the screen, making it look more like a bumper car driven by a drunk blind man. I showed her how to open Word and use the program to write a letter, but every time she wanted to click on the icon or the menu, her mouse would move in the other direction. Funny at first, but it got a bit tiring after a while.
So, I had an idea. I closed the word processor and loaded Freecell (explaining to my dad where it was for later on) After taking my mum through the rules, I gave her the hot seat back and watched as she tried to figure out how to get the Ace from behind a couple of Kings. After 10 minutes and 2 more games, she was moving the mouse around with the speed and finesse of Michael Schumacher on an F1 circuit, enjoying the thrill of rescuing that 4 of spades from behind two Queens. It really pleased her that she could finally get the hang of using the mouse and she was much happier with the word processor and all the other bits and pieces after that.
Both of them learnt a lot that day, although they are in different leagues. They will be attending a computer course next week, so hopefully they both can learn about the wonders of computing.
I never let my parents near my PC...
Good points.
I like they way you showed your mother mouse control by using FreeCell, pb. Good move. I’ll steal that idea sometime.
I was under the impression that Christine (my own mother) was useless when it came to tech. It’s funny, but after she got divorced from a guy who liked to take the tech side of life under his wing (even though he was an idiot), Christine dropped her ditzy image and took control.
Do you reckon some people pretend to be ditzy around technology when they are really looking intensely at people who make mistakes?
Like, “Oh, no, well, I don’t, yeah, well, oh…”
But really they are, “Got it, got it, got it, got it…”
Like someone pretending to be deaf.
I like they way you showed your mother mouse control by using FreeCell, pb. Good move. I’ll steal that idea sometime.
I was under the impression that Christine (my own mother) was useless when it came to tech. It’s funny, but after she got divorced from a guy who liked to take the tech side of life under his wing (even though he was an idiot), Christine dropped her ditzy image and took control.
Do you reckon some people pretend to be ditzy around technology when they are really looking intensely at people who make mistakes?
Like, “Oh, no, well, I don’t, yeah, well, oh…”
But really they are, “Got it, got it, got it, got it…”
Like someone pretending to be deaf.
My parents are ok with the PC, my dad gets a bit frustrated with his online banking but my mum doesn't do much more than play Freecell, she can't send e-mails to her friends and it's annoying when she wants to send one, instead of learning she just asks me to do it while she makes a cup of tea...
I have to back up all my, files, as my dad has a habit of acidentally deleting things!
The problem I have with my Mum (one of them, anyway) is not that she is afraid of the PC, it's that she isn't. After gaining a fundamental grasp into what a computer is, she automatically feels brave enough to attempt anything and everything, which more often than not ends up with re-installation of software, hardware, or the drivers she's deleted because they had a funny file extension that she didn't recognise.
I envy those people with technophobe parents who just leave things alone.
I envy those people with technophobe parents who just leave things alone.
Ah yes, that was another problem I had. My dad ended up shouting 'hold the mouse down while you press the button...' every 5 minutes!
I know the problems you have pb, my friend.
I tried to show my mum how to use a computer over easter.
She couldn't hold the mouse properly and whenever she pressed the left mouse buttn, she would move the mouse in the process (somehow), so it never worked anyway!
Argh!
I tried to show my mum how to use a computer over easter.
She couldn't hold the mouse properly and whenever she pressed the left mouse buttn, she would move the mouse in the process (somehow), so it never worked anyway!
Argh!
As some of you may know, I went down to my parents at the weekend to help them set up their brand new expensive PC, which I'd previously spent the last weekend trampsing around the shops looking for. What makes it worse is that it's better than mine, and it's the first one they've ever owned (if you discount that terrible Amstrad word processor monstrosity - anyone interested in buying it?!) so they were hesitant at installing the scanner or any other software in general.
Now, my dad had the box open and all the bits and pieces out the day he bought the thing. I am proud to say that he's not a technophobe and he took to windows like a duck to water. By the time I had driven to their house on the following Sunday, he had mastered using the word processor and watching DVDs (which I lent him), so my job here was pretty easy.
After installing the scanner software and printer, I showed him how it all worked and the cool effects you could get in the paint package. He loved the free MP3 player and now he wants a portable player to download all his MP3s to. I also showed him the nifty little Autoroute Europe program, so that next time he has an urge to drive across Spain, he'll know how much it costs and how to get there. No problems there!
Now, we came to my mum. She hesitently took to the seat and sat about an arm's length from the computer, as if it would suddenly reach out and bite her. After convincing her that it was indeed safe enough to sit that much closer to the screen, she finally grabbed the mouse and started moving it around. This is where my problems really began!
Never having used a mouse before, my mum was finding it extremely hard to move the pointer around the screen, making it look more like a bumper car driven by a drunk blind man. I showed her how to open Word and use the program to write a letter, but every time she wanted to click on the icon or the menu, her mouse would move in the other direction. Funny at first, but it got a bit tiring after a while.
So, I had an idea. I closed the word processor and loaded Freecell (explaining to my dad where it was for later on) After taking my mum through the rules, I gave her the hot seat back and watched as she tried to figure out how to get the Ace from behind a couple of Kings. After 10 minutes and 2 more games, she was moving the mouse around with the speed and finesse of Michael Schumacher on an F1 circuit, enjoying the thrill of rescuing that 4 of spades from behind two Queens. It really pleased her that she could finally get the hang of using the mouse and she was much happier with the word processor and all the other bits and pieces after that.
Both of them learnt a lot that day, although they are in different leagues. They will be attending a computer course next week, so hopefully they both can learn about the wonders of computing.
Now, my dad had the box open and all the bits and pieces out the day he bought the thing. I am proud to say that he's not a technophobe and he took to windows like a duck to water. By the time I had driven to their house on the following Sunday, he had mastered using the word processor and watching DVDs (which I lent him), so my job here was pretty easy.
After installing the scanner software and printer, I showed him how it all worked and the cool effects you could get in the paint package. He loved the free MP3 player and now he wants a portable player to download all his MP3s to. I also showed him the nifty little Autoroute Europe program, so that next time he has an urge to drive across Spain, he'll know how much it costs and how to get there. No problems there!
Now, we came to my mum. She hesitently took to the seat and sat about an arm's length from the computer, as if it would suddenly reach out and bite her. After convincing her that it was indeed safe enough to sit that much closer to the screen, she finally grabbed the mouse and started moving it around. This is where my problems really began!
Never having used a mouse before, my mum was finding it extremely hard to move the pointer around the screen, making it look more like a bumper car driven by a drunk blind man. I showed her how to open Word and use the program to write a letter, but every time she wanted to click on the icon or the menu, her mouse would move in the other direction. Funny at first, but it got a bit tiring after a while.
So, I had an idea. I closed the word processor and loaded Freecell (explaining to my dad where it was for later on) After taking my mum through the rules, I gave her the hot seat back and watched as she tried to figure out how to get the Ace from behind a couple of Kings. After 10 minutes and 2 more games, she was moving the mouse around with the speed and finesse of Michael Schumacher on an F1 circuit, enjoying the thrill of rescuing that 4 of spades from behind two Queens. It really pleased her that she could finally get the hang of using the mouse and she was much happier with the word processor and all the other bits and pieces after that.
Both of them learnt a lot that day, although they are in different leagues. They will be attending a computer course next week, so hopefully they both can learn about the wonders of computing.