iPhone For Mom?

[lilnyc]

My mom is not tech savvy, but she is a self employed attorney without a blackberry or laptop. How she conducts business when away from her home computer, I don't know. I do know that I needed her to look at a legal document today right away. If she had an iPhone, she could have. But she has some cheap freebie type phone.

I think the iPhone is great for non tech savvy people because as cool as we geeks think it is, its also simple. I think it's simpler than a BB would be to my mom.

My only concerns would be

1. Someone used to freebie phones may drop or lose an iPhone.
2. The iPhone may catch the eye of some criminal in her small town, whereas in my state (NY) the hype has kinda simmered down.

What are your thoughts? Hav you bought an iPhone fir a non geek or non tech savvy person?

 

[queshy]

Don't buy it if you're going to make her pay the monthly fees...the phone itself is quite cheap compared to the extra charges for data and what not.

I think she would love it, but only if you showed her how to use it and how it would be helpful to her. Before you give it to her, set it up with her e-mail account (if you can), and show her how she can look at her legal stuff anywhere.

 

[emotion]

What format are the documents to be viewed in? The iPhone can't view MS Office docs for example (unless you filter it through Google docs - if she isn't tech savvy I'd say this was less than straightforward).

 

[zed2]

What format are the documents to be viewed in? The iPhone can't view MS Office docs for example.

yes it can

 

[emotion]

yes it can

Really? How?

 

[Sobe]

I think that it could be fine but a lot of people just aren't that into tech and no matter how good the iphone is, it's only useful if you actually want to use it.

I'm sure my father could use an iPhone no problem even though he is relatively unsavvy with consumer tech.

But he never would never use it. He prefers his crappy free nokia. And he's happy doing things the way he does them.

 

[patrickvanzandt]

Really? How?

Office docs attached to e-mails are very easily viewed. Open the message, and tap on the attachment at the bottom to view the doc. I don't know how much simpler it could possible be.

 

[emotion]

Office docs attached to e-mails are very easily viewed. Open the message, and tap on the attachment at the bottom to view the doc. I don't know how much simpler it could possible be.

OK, I stand corrected. Remember we haven't got our iPhones yet in the UK.

 

[Hellenek]

What are your thoughts? Hav you bought an iPhone fir a non geek or non tech savvy person?

Not an iPhone but I've got 3 real die hard Nokia non-techy female users and 1 male to buy Treo 680s and they love the fact that their phones can do more for their businesses. They aren't interested in third party software, just manage addresses, appointments, go online and keep track of emails in a simple way.

Take your Mum to an Apple/AT&T store and have her play around with the iPhone while you explain its value to her business. If she realises its value she'll be willing to pay for its monthly costs.

Oh those ladies and gent who simply love their Treo 680s? They're looking for buyers because they want iPhones after seeing mine. And this is only after less than 1 year with the Treos...

 

[Avatar74]

First thing you need to do is actually identify her business needs. The iPhone is a great device, and I have one... but she may or may not need one.

Example: Lawyers frequently need to be able to print out documents to sign or have them signed... the iPhone doesn't facilitate this and being able to view documents on a tiny screen may prove not really useful to an attorney. I have yet to meet an attorney who responds to e-mail while on the go. If they have to look up any kind of legal briefs, or statutory law, to answer a question, no portable access to e-mail is going to be of any use. Also, lawyers tend to be very frugal with their money when it comes to business expenditures. They want minimal expense for maximum return. iPhone is a great user experience but it might be overkill pricewise for someone who wants to keep business costs as low as possible.

Find out what she does and how she does it and why... then you'll have a better understanding of what might be the right tools for her.

 

[gceo]

1. Someone used to freebie phones may drop or lose an iPhone.

So if your number 1 concern is her losing or breaking the phone, then it stands to reason that it would be good to get her a phone that you can back up yourself on a mac or pc..... oh wait, the iphone does that.