We just returned from visiting family. It’s truly great to see everyone, yet there’s no place like home. Nothing beats the Flathead for livability and friendliness.
All of our parents are 80 years plus or approaching that milestone. Over the years we’ve upgraded their electronic gadgets and that’s created a bit of a management issue. Last year, I taught my mom how to use iMessage and that’s worked out well.
At my father-in-law’s, I realized that streaming video onto his new televisions is not always easy. I could not get their Samsung smart television to stream video from Amazon Prime. The Netflix connection worked flawlessly, but transitioning from one video to another proved awkward for anyone more comfortable with a VCR.
At my mom’s home, I did a year worth of iPad updates to different apps and operating systems. This created new retraining challenges as programs like video-Skype move toggle buttons around in newer shells.
I spent half a day updating the operating system on my dad’s MacBook Air so that he could AirPlay video onto their old flatscreen via Apple TV. My dad won’t buy a local cable package, so he routinely switches the HDMI cables from their Roku to Apple TV. I tried to get him to buy a $13 HDMI switch box, to no avail.
On their older flatscreen I got Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix streaming. And once I showed them how to AirPlay video from their digital gadgets onto the flatscreen, they sat there in wonderment like little kids.
My parents’ new laundry drier was an odd challenge. They wanted to return their Whirlpool Duet to the boxstore because it left their daily load of laundry damp. With all those buttons on the new machines, it took a bit of time to figure out that getting a 60-minute cycle required turning the dial to heavy duty.
My dad’s Samsung tablet was luckily stable enough for him to continue his quest to read the entire digital library of Florida. On my mom’s iPad, I installed Words with Friends so now she can play games with grandkids and other relatives.
I spent an hour in their Ford Flex assuring them that they could not break the GPS system and that it really was simple to operate.
In Delaware, I updated another round of iPad systems and uncomfortably deleted a years worth of unwanted apps to make room for the newer upcoming stuff. We upgraded cordless telephones, which required a whole new level of tutorial and trials. But new voice caller ID is a fantastic feature for anyone wanting to omit the perversion of sales and scam calls.
I spent hours trying to get her old Dell inkjet working before just driving to the gadget store and buying a wireless laser Samsung printer. The inkjets simply dry up routinely from lack of use. Now with wireless AirPrint, she can print all those emails she wants to save right from her iPad. And as she visits doctors regularly, my mom can copy all the documents in quadruplicate with a single button.
Learning from Florida, I just bought my Delaware mom a push button HDMI switch box for her new Apple TV. Now she can binge watch all the seasons of Doc Martin. Then push the HDMI toggle and easily return to see Denver hand New England their first defeat of the season. I knew the other remote control had an input button to switch to HDMI 2, but you try explaining that feature.
We are extremely fortunate that our parents still live independently, even as technology has rendered their former solid-state lives more complicated. Yet old-timers can learn plenty of new tricks like Skype or AirPlay, if you keep it simple.