All iPads Those that bought iPads for parents/grand parents, how do they like it?

[aluren]

I'm getting ready to buy iPad 2's for my mom and dad, who have barely in their lives used a computer. I'm considering either netbooks or iPads, but considering the ease of use, the iPad is my primary option. So I wanted to know for those that did this, how's the feedback from them?

Did they like it and use it daily?

Did they left it to collect dust or asked you to return it?

Did they face any difficulties with iOS?

Basically I just want them to surf the net and facetime with me.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Not sure age has anything to do with liking or not liking the iPad. My parents are grandparents in their 70s. My mom has an iPad and loves it -- uses it mostly to find recipes, surf, play games, listen to radio @ night. OTOH my dad thinks it's just a dumb device and has zero interest in it. My mom has always loved gadgets -- had one of the first electronic calculators back in the early 70s when they were hot ***** and mondo expensive. My dad has always hated anything with a chip. We practically had to have an intervention for him to buy a cell phone.

 

[Alectric]

I purchased an iPad for my parent's fiftieth wedding anniversary. My poor mom didn't get anything and it was for both of them. My dad is 78 and he is like a little kid all over again. He uses solitaire and some different card games, maps, 10 pin shuffle and the optimum app that was recently released. When I showed him the optimum app he was tickled! almost 300 hundred live tv stations at the tip of his fingers (literally).
I do the syncing for him. He's never used a pc or Mac before so I have to manage things for him.
I had arguements with my brothers about getting them an iPad and in the end I was rite, I knew he would love it. They said he would never use it. Now they all have one. Ha
I recommend getting one and if they don't like it, you could always return it. Apple's got rid of thier restocking fees. Good luck!

 

[Gav$ter]

I have just been through this with my family. Make sure they are part of the experience of purchasing a product from an Apple store. Let one of the blue shirts walk them through turning it on and setting it up. Have them pick their own SmartCover. Then when they get home just leave them alone while they explore the iPad. Pick out and load a view Apps that they may be interested in e.g. Pulse, Flipboard, Netflix, Skype etc. My 96 year old grandmother loves talking with us on Skype. My parents Skype and read the newspaper and magazines on their iPad. We also share photos and videos. We don't do gaming as they were not interested in an expensive device for playing games.

 

[iggypod]

We just purchased an iPad 2 for my parents and they are blown away at all it can do. They use it for surfing, email and solitaire.

 

[woody888]

@ op,

based on your description on what you want them to do, this will be the perfect device. with that being said, it really depend on the recipient. Some people just don't want to learn as much, and find no interest in it. When I showed the iPad to my dad once, he was intrigued, but never wanted me to show him how to use it. My mom on the other hand, is more adaptive to technology.

the iPad was ultimately bought for my sister. and she let my 3 yr old nephew use it all the time, and he loves it for sure. But there is an audience to be found, young or old.

Good luck. like some other posters said, it may be good to involve them in applestore, and you always have 14 days to return with no restocking fee.

 

[Ratty]

As a grandad I bought one for my grandson (4.5) just so I can get mine back! I now facetime him before he goes to bed and he absolutely loves it. He also now tells me (a developer) where I go wrong!!

 

[makefunnyfaces]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

My mom absolutely loves hers. I don't think she could go a day without it! She was skeptical at first, but that changed quickly.

She uses it to read, play games, PDFs, & surf the web.

My dad, well, let's just say he doesn't see why we're so crazy about them.

 

[aluren]

Thanks for the inputs. Going to an Apple store is good advice. My parents was amazed at my iPhone and played around with photos alot. I know when the iPad first came out, I didn't believe it. But once I saw it at the store, it became a must-have for me. So I think the iPad would work well, especially because it allows Chinese character inputs by writing the words. Now I just gotta convince them to get internet access. LOL...

 

[kuebby]

So I think the iPad would work well, especially because it allows Chinese character inputs by writing the words. Now I just gotta convince them to get internet access. LOL...

A friend of mine just got back from China and discovered that feature when he was playing around with my iPad, we were both pretty blown away.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

They love it! My mom is 56 and my dad is 70 - neither used emails or anything before than and now they all have facebook, ebay, youtube - they use it daily! More than me!

We got one for gf's grandparents and they loved it as well - especially card games lol. Best gift ever for anyone at any age!