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December 09, 2006

Help Me Help My Grandma

I think this might be an interesting challenge (it may also be boring). As I recently mentioned, I just helped my grandmother buy her new Apple computer. She is very determined to learn not just how to use e-mail, but how to use the web. We're running into an interesting generational gap, however, because I can't get her to understand that the web is a vast, vast repository of billions (?) of sites. For example, I set her homepage to be the University of Colorado's website (her alma mater), thinking that'd be fun for her, but then she called me up and announced that she couldn't find the internet. I said, "Do you see the Colorado page?" "Yes, but I need to find the internet so I can see how my stocks did." Her son once showed her how to check stocks on Yahoo, so I'm pretty sure she thinks that the Yahoo main page is "the internet." (I'm sure the Yahoo corporation is completely fine with that interpretation.) Anyway, we set that up as her homepage, but I was thinking it'd be fun to give her a set of bookmarks, each clearly labeled, that represent more of the diversity of the internet. Some obvious choices would be financial information she cares about (she still handles all her and her husband's investing personally and extremely passionately, if you couldn't already tell). But I'd like to put in some different stuff, too, either useful or fun. Bearing in mind that she would not approve of anything beyond a PG-13 rating (at least, coming as a recommendation from her undoubtedly-pure-as-driven-snow granddaughter), here's your challenge. What especially simple-to-navigate sites would a 90-year-old woman enjoy exploring? Certain blogs? News? Crossword sites? Especially clear, well-done how-to sites about those pesky internets? Look over your bookmarks and let me know. The goal is a comfortable sampling of the web's wealth without dumping her into the middle of YouTube without a compass or a life preserver.

Posted by holly at December 9, 2006 09:40 AM

Comments

This is a tricky one. I think the key is giving her a clear sense of what the net is comprised of and how web pages work... That will allow her to figure out how to find things she might be interested in. Obviously, a good place to start is Google.

I know that my grandfather has become a net-head and is all about eBay right now. He buys and sells antiques as a hobby, though, so it makes sense for him to use that site. His current challenge is how to get product pictures on the site.

Posted by: AC [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 11, 2006 11:50 AM

Ha ha! Cliffhanger!

Posted by: Jameson [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 12, 2006 12:39 PM

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