I mentioned my parents, I think I need to mention my grandpa.
He decides he wants a computer about 5 years ago. He purchases a top of the line (back then, that's like a <1GHz PIII) computer, which will be used for....like nothing. But he's loaded, and pisses the money away on it.
I got the pleasure of setting it up and showing him how to use it. He's a very impaitent man. So, of course, that would go well
The first place where he gets confused is when I tell him to click the mouse. "What does that mean?" So 10 minutes later, after explaining left click and right click, we've got that concept down.
Time goes by, he's calling me often with questions. Then, a year later, he says "I want AOL". Well, what he wants, he gets. So I go over there and install AOHell. He has endless problems with that, but keeps it for a couple years.
Then he wants something faster. He doesn't know if he should get cable or DSL. I tell him we have cable, and it's good, and he should get that. But he calls up SBC (DSL), and asks them what's better. Well, of course they'll say DSL is better than cable (even though its more expensive for slower speeds) so he gets DSL. I have the joy of installing that for him.
So a few months later, his computer is basically unbearable to use. It's Windows 98, and is completely filled with spyware and god knows what else. Instead of buying XP and letting me do a clean install with that, he decides to buy a new computer. Off to Circuit City we go. He basically gets a top of the line HP (I would've recommended a Mac, but I didn't want to go through the hell of teaching him OSX). Then the salesman at Circuit City is like "You should get the extended warranty on the computer, the printer (fancy all-in-one), and the monitor (17" LCD)" Before I had a chance to tell him no, he says "Sure, I'll take it." Probably an extra $500 added to his total. He's spent nearly 2 grand on this thing.
So we get it to his house to set it up, and I make sure to install everything to prevent spyware and viruses. Windows is set to auto update. Adaware updates and runs on its own. Same with the antivirus. Everything is set up so he should never, ever get anything. The only thing I didn't do was install Firefox because he believes that the blue E is the internet, and explaining to him that the orange fox around the blue globe is the internet would just confuse him.
A few months ago, he calls me and says "I keep getting popups." My first thought is "What the hell? He shouldn't be". I go over there, expecting IE to be spawning ad popups. Well, we boot up the computer. The first popup he complains about is the SBC software window which says it's connecting. The second popup is the antivirus software's message in the systray saying it updated itself. He takes the mouse. The third popup is the right click menu. That's right, he's right clicking the mouse (probably doesn't know it...he had a stroke recentley and doesn't have much feeling in his hands) but in the meantime, he's b*tching about all of these so-called "pop ups." I explain that everything is completely normal, and to be careful not to click the right button.
So, does he learn? Probably not. Where we stand right now, is he'll frequentley say to my dad, "I try to use the computer, but I get sick of all the popups and turn it off!" So his expensive, overpriced, HP heap of crap is basically sitting there, getting maybe an hour of usage each week. I think he's basically given up on computers. Yet, I'm sure shortly down the road, he'll want a new one that doesn't have popups
