Parents and iPad

[MTXR]

I gave my parents an iPad air for Christmas and they received it in the mail this week. It's my last ditch effort to try and get them to use technology or something easier to use than the computer. They're completely tech illiterate. I just spent 4 hours on the phone with them and tried to get FaceTime set up and didn't succeed. I even created their Apple ID and somehow they still couldn't log in. Either I completely suck at explaining how to type/navigate on the iPad or they don't understand anything I say. I don't have any confidence in my other grown siblings who live near them, who are adults in the 30s to figure it out and help them since they barely know how to log on to the wifi. So I think I just gave them an expensive paper weight. /endrant

 

[Astroboy907]

An expensive paperweight that takes pictures and shows text. Just get them started with iBooks or amazons Kindle app, that's probably where this is headed anyways...

 

[rdowns]

Some helpful videos here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/easy-ipad-video-how-to-training/id372377156

If they live near an Apple store, they can go in for free iPad classes.

 

[Renzatic]

My family got together and bought my grandma an iPad 2 a little over a year and a half ago. She had never touched a computer in her life, and never had much drive to do so up to that point. But now?

...well, there was a fairly steep learning curve, but with a rotating series of scheduled stops by everyone involved, and a copy of iPad For Dummies book she bought for herself to help her along, she eventually got the hang of it. Now she buying ebooks and looking up antiques on eBay like an old pro.

So in short, if they want to learn how to use it, they'll learn how to use it. But you can't force them. All you can do is help them along.

 

[Amplelink]

It should just work if they've setup their Apple ID and logged in correctly on their phone. You may want to tell them to head into the nearest Apple store if they have time and speak with a Genius.

Once they get accustomed to using it, it'll be incredibly easy to use. Just a matter of time. Don't give up on them yet!

Also, I'm not sure what problem they were having, but the Apple ID requires at least one letter to be in caps. Are they perhaps not entering their passwords correctly?

 

[bevsb2]

http://youtu.be/cTrD-c1788s

 

[MTXR]

It should just work if they've setup their Apple ID and logged in correctly on their phone. You may want to tell them to head into the nearest Apple store if they have time and speak with a Genius.

Once they get accustomed to using it, it'll be incredibly easy to use. Just a matter of time. Don't give up on them yet!

Also, I'm not sure what problem they were having, but the Apple ID requires at least one letter to be in caps. Are they perhaps not entering their passwords correctly?

They weren't able to figure out how to hit the arrow for caps. Even after a step by step it's the first icon/figure/"button"/whatever you want to call it on the third row.

I made a mistake some years back putting an underscore in their email address, I couldn't get them to navigate there either. It was excruciatingly difficult to describe to them where the home button was on the iPad.

I don't think the apple store or any books are going to help, they'll just stare at them. Here's the major barrier to entry for my parents, English. Although I've changed it to their native language before I shipped them the iPad, they don't really understand what error or dialog boxes mean when they pop up.

I would say this is like trying to learn math in Kenyan when your language is English and you don't know how to read in the first place, I think this is what they're dealing with.

 

[MTXR]

Success! after about 10 hours of being on the phone total, i finally facetimed my parents.

It took me making a youtube video for them in order for them to understand what i was talking about!

 

[Nhwhazup]

Success! after about 10 hours of being on the phone total, i finally facetimed my parents.

It took me making a youtube video for them in order for them to understand what i was talking about!

Congratulations! All your perseverance paid off!

 

[Amplelink]

Success! after about 10 hours of being on the phone total, i finally facetimed my parents.

It took me making a youtube video for them in order for them to understand what i was talking about!

Just judging from your descriptions, I'm surprised they were even savvy enough to watch a video on YouTube.

 

[MTXR]

Just judging from your descriptions, I'm surprised they were even savvy enough to watch a video on YouTube.

For some reason it was easier for me to explain how to get to their email and click a link today than yesterday. It still took another 2 hours to explain it all over again.... but in the end, they watched the video and replicated it and got into facetime. phew!

 

[NewbieCanada]

Some things I've found helpful in dealing with parents - or end users if you work in IT.

None of the terms we take for granted work. There is no such thing as a desktop (on a computer) an icon, a shortcut, an alias, a dock, a start button, a task bar, etc. Nor is there an understanding of an app or a file or a folder. The word "download" means whatever they want it to mean - it can mean upload, save, open, launch - just about anything but download.

About the only words you can count on them understanding are screen, keyboard and mouse.

You need to use directions - top, bottom, left, right. You need to describe things by what they look like on the screen, rather than name them. In other words, if you want them to go into Safari ask them if they see a picture that looks like a compass on the bottom of the screen.

Also be prepared that the click of a mouse or a touch of a finger may not hit in the right spot - something else may open or nothing may happen.

And if at all possible, follow along on a similar device yourself so you are seeing the same things that they are seeing and you can describe them from observation rather than memory.

 

[MTXR]

My family got together and bought my grandma an iPad 2 a little over a year and a half ago. She had never touched a computer in her life, and never had much drive to do so up to that point. But now?

...well, there was a fairly steep learning curve, but with a rotating series of scheduled stops by everyone involved, and a copy of iPad For Dummies book she bought for herself to help her along, she eventually got the hang of it. Now she buying ebooks and looking up antiques on eBay like an old pro.

So in short, if they want to learn how to use it, they'll learn how to use it. But you can't force them. All you can do is help them along.

Definitely a steep learning curve for my parents too....

----------

Some things I've found helpful in dealing with parents - or end users if you work in IT.

None of the terms we take for granted work. There is no such thing as a desktop (on a computer) an icon, a shortcut, an alias, a dock, a start button, a task bar, etc. Nor is there an understanding of an app or a file or a folder. The word "download" means whatever they want it to mean - it can mean upload, save, open, launch - just about anything but download.

About the only words you can count on them understanding are screen, keyboard and mouse.

You need to use directions - top, bottom, left, right. You need to describe things by what they look like on the screen, rather than name them. In other words, if you want them to go into Safari ask them if they see a picture that looks like a compass on the bottom of the screen.

Also be prepared that the click of a mouse or a touch of a finger may not hit in the right spot - something else may open or nothing may happen.

And if at all possible, follow along on a similar device yourself so you are seeing the same things that they are seeing and you can describe them from observation rather than memory.

So true, they didn't understand any terms at all.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Some things I've found helpful in dealing with parents - or end users if you work in IT.

None of the terms we take for granted work. There is no such thing as a desktop (on a computer) an icon, a shortcut, an alias, a dock, a start button, a task bar, etc. Nor is there an understanding of an app or a file or a folder. The word "download" means whatever they want it to mean - it can mean upload, save, open, launch - just about anything but download.

About the only words you can count on them understanding are screen, keyboard and mouse.

You need to use directions - top, bottom, left, right. You need to describe things by what they look like on the screen, rather than name them. In other words, if you want them to go into Safari ask them if they see a picture that looks like a compass on the bottom of the screen.

Also be prepared that the click of a mouse or a touch of a finger may not hit in the right spot - something else may open or nothing may happen.

And if at all possible, follow along on a similar device yourself so you are seeing the same things that they are seeing and you can describe them from observation rather than memory.

I'm a student assistant at my school's IT Department and let me tell you, it's so frustrating to have to explain to a college professor what a "browser" is. I'm not sure if it's me or they genuinely just don't know. The same goes for college students who SHOULD know this stuff already. BUT I have to be patient with them. I've used this advice before and even though it takes my clients 30 minutes to figure it out.... They eventually get the hang of it lol.

To the OP, just be patient. I've had to do the same thing with my mother and she's only 47 years old. The thing that worries me about her is that she uses a computer all day at work.

But on the flip side, she bought herself a kindle and she's using it 100% better than I am lol.

 

[mpantone]

LOL, there's no way I'd try to get my mom to use anything more complicated than a toaster oven.

I need my beauty rest.

 

[NewbieCanada]

I'm a student assistant at my school's IT Department and let me tell you, it's so frustrating to have to explain to a college professor what a "browser" is. I'm not sure if it's me or they genuinely just don't know. The same goes for college students who SHOULD know this stuff already. BUT I have to be patient with them. I've used this advice before and even though it takes my clients 30 minutes to figure it out.... They eventually get the hang of it lol.

To the OP, just be patient. I've had to do the same thing with my mother and she's only 47 years old. The thing that worries me about her is that she uses a computer all day at work.

But on the flip side, she bought herself a kindle and she's using it 100% better than I am lol.

To better understand their point of view, think of something YOU need to use, but fundamentally have no interest in. Could be a dishwasher - I sure don't know the proper names for most of the parts. Is it a sprayer arm? a washing blade? Damned if I know. Damned if I care.

Do you think I could find the carburetor on a car with a gun pointed to my head? Or fuel injectors, like they now have? I can find the battery and the place where you put the washer fluid.

How many dSLRs ever make it off the fully-automated mode?

 

[iPodJedi]

I gave my parents an iPad air for Christmas and they received it in the mail this week. It's my last ditch effort to try and get them to use technology or something easier to use than the computer. They're completely tech illiterate. I just spent 4 hours on the phone with them and tried to get FaceTime set up and didn't succeed. I even created their Apple ID and somehow they still couldn't log in. Either I completely suck at explaining how to type/navigate on the iPad or they don't understand anything I say. I don't have any confidence in my other grown siblings who live near them, who are adults in the 30s to figure it out and help them since they barely know how to log on to the wifi. So I think I just gave them an expensive paper weight. /endrant

I know exactly how you feel. My father has no clue how to use his ipad mini and he always uses his 6yr old dell laptop instead. And my grandparents always need help and I go to their houses at least twice a month to help them with their iDevices...

 

[AppleFanatic10]

To better understand their point of view, think of something YOU need to use, but fundamentally have no interest in. Could be a dishwasher - I sure don't know the proper names for most of the parts. Is it a sprayer arm? a washing blade? Damned if I know. Damned if I care.



Do you think I could find the carburetor on a car with a gun pointed to my head? Or fuel injectors, like they now have? I can find the battery and the place where you put the washer fluid.



How many dSLRs ever make it off the fully-automated mode?

No need to get rude with me. I was just stating the same thing the OP was going through with his parents to my job. Goodness. I'm just saying the students should know simple things like this. I know most high schools make you take a computer class or something like that. At least mine did, and most students went to school in the same state so we pretty much learn the same stuff.

For the record I also EXPLAIN to them what a browser is. I even describe what it is to them, they still don't know. I say simple things like the "internet" they still don't know.

I'm not bashing them for not knowing. I'm very patient with them and I help them through everything. So I don't understand why you're being so rude with me.

 

[NewbieCanada]

No need to get rude with me. I was just stating the same thing the OP was going through with his parents to my job. Goodness. I'm just saying the students should know simple things like this. I know most high schools make you take a computer class or something like that. At least mine did, and most students went to school in the same state so we pretty much learn the same stuff.

For the record I also EXPLAIN to them what a browser is. I even describe what it is to them, they still don't know. I say simple things like the "internet" they still don't know.

I'm not bashing them for not knowing. I'm very patient with them and I help them through everything. So I don't understand why you're being so rude with me.

I had no intention of being rude to you in the slightest. I was hoping to explain to you how people think.

I now have a far better grip on the frustrations those people must face in dealing with you.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Parents and iPad

I had no intention of being rude to you in the slightest. I was hoping to explain to you how people think.



I now have a far better grip on the frustrations those people must face in dealing with you.

They actually don't. If they did they would've said something. They tell me how much they appreciate what I do... Even though I tell them I'm only doing my job.

It's the way YOU said it.... Just think of it that way. There's a way you say things and the way I saw it was slightly rude. Just like what you posted just now. I'm no where rude to people, I'm respectable and patient with them like I've said before.

As you read in my initial post, I wasn't rude when I was explaining what I did at my job. The way you came off to me was rude. U have to realize when you're typing something like this people can read something you wrote as being rude just by the way you type something.

 

[ant69]

They actually don't. If they did they would've said something. They tell me how much they appreciate what I do... Even though I tell them I'm only doing my job.

It's the way YOU said it.... Just think of it that way. There's a way you say things and the way I saw it was slightly rude. Just like what you posted just now. I'm no where rude to people, I'm respectable and patient with them like I've said before.

As you read in my initial post, I wasn't rude when I was explaining what I did at my job. The way you came off to me was rude. U have to realize when you're typing something like this people can read something you wrote as being rude just by the way you type something.

Totally! - different people can read the same things very differently, i actually didnt think NewbieCanada was being rude at all but just giving examples.

Ant

 

[Night Spring]

Totally! - different people can read the same things very differently, i actually didnt think NewbieCanada was being rude at all but just giving examples.

Another vote for thinking NewbieCanada wasn't being rude. I can see how it may have rubbed AppleFanatic the wrong way, but just because person A is offended by something person B said, doesn't necessarily follow that person B was being rude. NC may have misunderstood or misjudged AF, and AF may have found that offensive, but it's like -- if I mistakenly bump into someone, that's not being rude, even though the other person was inconvenienced by me. If I walk away without apologizing, now that's rude. But if you accuse me of being rude without giving me a chance to apologize, that's called jumping to conclusions.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Totally! - different people can read the same things very differently, i actually didnt think NewbieCanada was being rude at all but just giving examples.



Ant

Another vote for thinking NewbieCanada wasn't being rude. I can see how it may have rubbed AppleFanatic the wrong way, but just because person A is offended by something person B said, doesn't necessarily follow that person B was being rude. NC may have misunderstood or misjudged AF, and AF may have found that offensive, but it's like -- if I mistakenly bump into someone, that's not being rude, even though the other person was inconvenienced by me. If I walk away without apologizing, now that's rude. But if you accuse me of being rude without giving me a chance to apologize, that's called jumping to conclusions.

I understand where both of you are coming from. I apologize to NC if I offended him/her is someway.

 

[Tobster3]

Success! after about 10 hours of being on the phone total, i finally facetimed my parents.

It took me making a youtube video for them in order for them to understand what i was talking about!

Excellent. Really happy for you. Hope this is the start of many happy FaceTime calls in 2014!

 

[Supra Mac]

Success! after about 10 hours of being on the phone total, i finally facetimed my parents.

It took me making a youtube video for them in order for them to understand what i was talking about!

MTXR you rock!

Its refreshing to see a post about such time and energy being focus on someone else rather than ourselves.

Blessed parents you have.