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Just got my 66 year old dad his first Mac

L

levitynyc

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 19, 2006
1,127
3,770
I finally had enough of my 66 year old dad complaining about his 6 year old Dell with 512MG of RAM. The thing froze constantly and was a piece of ****. He only really uses it for photos, email, internet browsing, facebook, and taking my niece to Nick Jr. sites.

I said "Dad, I dont care how long it takes you to learn it, we are getting you a Mac. I'll walk you through how to everything, and if you have specific questions when I'm not around, I can control your mac from my house."

At first I suggested a Mac Mini or an iMac, but he insisted on a laptop. My next suggestion was for the 11.6 inch Air or the 13" Whitebook.

We took a trip to the Apple store yesterday so I could show him the 2 models and have him try the OS a little bit. Pretty much as soon as he saw the 11.6 Air he was amazed at how light and small it was but was sort of like, "its nice, but the screen is kinda small." Next we went to the Whitebook and he liked the screen size, but felt that the machine felt kinda cheap. Ok... so we went over to the 13" Pros. Again, he liked the screen size, but felt it was too heavy....

I took him to see the 13" Air and wow that thing is impressive. The screen is fantastic and you can really tell the difference in screen resolution right away. He picked it up, clicked around a little bit and said, "Ok, I want this one."

So I went home and ordered him one on Amazon.com for $1,250 and no tax (save roughly 130 bucks from retail).


I'll tell you what... for most users, the 13" Air is a better machine than the 13" Pro. Its truly incredible when you have it in your hands.

I'm kinda jealous of it compared to my 13" pro. For his birthday this month, I'll get him the USB Superdrive.

I can't see my dad filling up a 128GB hard drive even with his 12 gigs of photos.

I'm proud that my dad is a member of the Mac family now. I'm sure my niece is going to love playing with it too.

My wife's sister's kids love my Mac and on the phone the other day, my 3 year old niece said, "We want a Mac like you Uncle Steve." Made my heart melt.
 
You're a good son!

Even at 66 your dad will have no problem learning how to navigate the Mac OS. My parents are nearly 70 and have always used Macs since they got their first B/W G3 many years ago. "Tech support" calls to me are few and far between; I can't imagine what they'd be if they had a Dell.
 
LOL, Ok... I'm feeling really old right now with you young whippersnappers!

Good for you and your dad
I'm sure it will be a good experience for him, and for you
I am sure it was frustrating trying to support his previous environment
 
Nice story and great gift. I think I am more impressed that a 66 year old man would want the 13 higher res model and not complain about this eyes. I am in my 50's and had to sell my 27" iMac and can't handle any high res model. Good for him!!!
 
I got my Dad a Mac mini about 5-10 years ago. He was ~70 at the time & it took a few years before he really started using it & now (he's just turned 81) it's indispensable - he mostly uses it for Skype, email, banking, web

Best of all is skype where he can turn the volume up higher than the phone will go, and see his grandchildren in Jordan

I barely have to help him with anything as it 'just works'
 
My dad's 72 this year. Loves the new MBP 13" he picked up before xmas.

We were gonna wait until the new models came out but someone burgled his house and took his 12" Powerbook. He was 24 hours in to not having the machine and was desperate for a new Mac. Like father, like son. :D

He's gearing up for an iPad now.
 
That's awesome! I'm really impressed with your dad! Especially since my dad (aprox same age) can barely handle a plain old cell phone...

To you dad: Enjoy!!!
 
The perfect thing for him would be an iPad, but since his Dell was such a POS, there's no way he could have gotten it to sync
 
I am 78 and bought my first Apple in 1981. I've had Apple II the IIE and a Macintosh since they first came out. I had used an HP desk top and sold it after a couple of months. I have used a Mac in my job when no one else did in the company and it served me very well. I am not a fan boy since I know it is a tool not a way of life but it is the best tool out there! I have an iPad, iPod touch and iMac 27"a Apple TV 2 and a refurb MacBookAir, and I am happy with them all. They all work in concert with an excellent OS.
You don't have to be 20 yrs of age to understand computers. Some of us "Old Timers" have done quite well thank you.;)
 
very nice story.

i got my parents a mac mini last year when their old pc was on it's death bed.
the moved the computer to the main floor since they were shocked how small a computer can be and picked up the OS instantly. they play bejewelled too often and my dad is on skype all the time now with his brothers and sister from portugal and italy.

i still have my 4 year old white macbook (which i'm selling for a mbp and soon ipad 2)

now the rest of my family around town wants to get a mac mini. :rolleyes:
 
Kudos to Dad. I'm 63 now switched when I was 59, after years of Pc's;)
I've got 6 gigs of Ram in my 2007 BMB, and just added a 512 OWC SSD.It simply flies, and does everything I need it to do:cool: I use it closed tethered to a 24" Dell Ultimate Monitor on an ergonomic arm, mounted on a 36" Anthro cart, with a Bluetooth Keyboard,Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse on the lower level.
I basically use it most for Aperture, and running my Airport Shuttle Business and the few things I can't get done with my beloved iPad.
I love Apple, and so will he!:cool:
 
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