I wondered whether memories and information about the older model radio, a type that he used many years ago, might be stored in his long-term memory and make a similar radio easy to use. If I was right, he might automatically turn the dial and get his music. Continue reading
Filed under Seniors and Technology …
The Senior’s Guide to Online Safety
Adult children often find themselves providing technology support services for their aging parents. Now there’s a new, research-based resource to help. The Connect Safely organization has recently published The Senior’s Guide to Online Safety. The publication contains important information, it’s free, and it’s simple to download as a PDF file. Adult children may want to print the booklet and share this … Continue reading
When Scary Virus Messages Appear on Your Aging Parent’s Screen…
Adult children who support aging parents and their personal computers need to be aware of a threat that can pop up on a computer anytime and cause major problems if a person does not understand how to handle the threat. Our parents need to hear about this potential problem. The other day I was working on … Continue reading
Help People Evaluate Health Media With Trust It or Trash It
The moment a person needs health information, the inclination is to Google it, even though there are much better places to visit — places that offer high-quality and reliable health information. A Google search does not guarantee good quality information — especially when it comes to health information, and due to sponsored advertisements and what I call … Continue reading
Help Elders Understand More: A History of the Way the Web Works
My parents and other elders often ask me questions about the Web — the way it works, how it really got started, how it’s evolved, and how why it changes so much. I have the answers to many of these questions and willingly take the time to explain, but often wish I could hand the … Continue reading
Cyber Seniors Documentary: Well Done!
This afternoon at the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) conference in Washington, DC, I saw clips from a documentary, Cyber-Seniors, about teenage volunteers in Toronto who work with elders — people in their mid to late 80s and older — and the rich clarity of their interactions. Many of these people retired before computers appeared … Continue reading
iTunes Scam — Watch Out
If you use an iPhone or iPad, be aware that an iTunes scam resurfaces from time-to-time and is again making the rounds People may receive an email that claims to be from the iTunes store. I got it a couple of days ago. The email points out that an individual’s iTunes account has been used to make possibly fraudulent purchases, … Continue reading
Older Entrepreneurs Start More Successful Businesses Than Younger Ones.
Check out this interesting article, To Save the Economy, Teach Grandma to Code, posted at the PBS News Hour website. Appearing on the Making Sen$e section of the site, the article by Vivek Wadhwa, points out that most businesses in the United States are aging and that one of the biggest and underused resources these businesses have … Continue reading
Is There a Digital Divide Among Seniors?
Adult children who want to help their aging parents learn to use more technology may want to read the April 2014 Pew Internet organization report, Older Adults and Technology Use. This fascinating document, freely available online, describes various groups of technology-using seniors and explains how they use or do not use computers and devices. It also offers … Continue reading
How Does Your Life Resemble a Millennial’s Life?
If you are an older adult or an adult child, you probably know at least one millennial family member who was born in 1981 or later. Millennials are digital natives, born into a world that is markedly different from the world in which we all grew up. So when it comes to life, they also have … Continue reading
Dad’s New iPad: How We Decided What to Buy – iPad for Dad #25
I finally figured out what iPad model to purchase for my 90-year-old dad as a Christmas 2013 present, and I thought I’d share my decision-making process here, just in case others are dealing with the same conundrum. My mom is under strict instructions to keep him away from this blog (he is a regular reader) … Continue reading
Time for a New iPad for Dad — iPad for Dad #24
It is time to purchase a new iPad for my father. If you have followed this blog for the past several years you know that three years ago we (my husband, my daughter, my son-in-law, and me) purchased an iPad for my father’s birthday. The iPad for Dad project, beginning in May 2010, has been an … Continue reading
Wireless: A Primer for the Rest of Us (Including Aging Parents)
When we install wireless access in our homes or in the home of aging parents, it’s common for most of us to use it intensively while understanding few of the details about the equipment and how various components work. We usually know when it’s not working, but that’s about it. Bottom line? We should all learn … Continue reading
iPads for Seniors? My Dad Knows How Cool It Is!
iPads for seniors as a way to decrease isolation and stimulate intellectual curiosity? You bet! After writing over 20 iPad for Dad columns about my dad and his iPad, I could have told them so and my dad can, too. I know that Steve Jobs was not thinking about seniors in the elder years of their lives … Continue reading
Technology Changes Quickly for Digital Immigrants
I like this post, Technology Moving Too Fast for a Girl Born in 1950, over at the Life in My Sixties blog. The author aptly captures many of the feelings and expectations about the fast-paced, always-changing world of technology. Our feelings magnify when our adult children casually take digital life for granted and our elder parents … Continue reading
A Snow Story Never Heard Before: iPad for Dad #23
Read other iPad for Dad posts. Whether or not you help a parent get started writing on an iPad, when you encourage writing activities you often get the opportunity to read wonderful stories like the memory below. I had never heard about this event before Dad composed his short essay. Dad writes on his iPad at … Continue reading
Increasing Numbers of Seniors in Social Networking World
Those of us with seniors and elders in our lives should continually be aware that a growing number of people over 65 are enthusiastically latching on to social networking sites and using them on a fairly regular basis. This amazing graph depicts the percentage of adults at various ages who use social media sites, and … Continue reading
Skin Protection – A New App
Yet another friend has skin cancer. She always used sun blocking lotions, but also enjoyed staying out in the sun for long periods. (I have her permission to write this much.) Check out the post about a new mobile skin-check app at the Health and Medical News and Resources blog. The app, developed by the University … Continue reading
50 Percent of Older Adults are on the Internet: Pew
In another of the excellent surveys from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, data show that more than 50 percent of older adults, 65 and over, use the Internet or e-mail. The survey was conducted via telephone interviews during the month of April 2012. This survey is significant because the older adult age group had experienced … Continue reading
Very Basic Rules for Aging Parent Digital Devices
Are you helping to maintain and secure a computer for your aging parent? Do you find yourself spending lots and lots of time explaining why NOT to click on a button or an update screen, even when windows seem to swoop in and personally invite a user to click (or worse download)? Here is an … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age 