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Ask Slashdot: Easy Wi-Fi-Enabled Tablet For My Dad?
An anonymous reader writes "I'm looking to pick up a tablet for my father. He is in his 70s and the internet is a bit of a mystery to him, but he asked me about a way to send/receive email and watch online videos. He is not interested in getting a smartphone or changing his cheap phone plan that doesn't include data. But he is interested in getting a tablet and using the free Wi-Fi that is available in his building. Here is my question: can you recommend a tablet equivalent to those phones with the big numbers that they sell to older people? Does there exist a tablet with an interface that would be simple and easy to use for someone who has very little experience with computer GUIs?"
Got one for my mum - problem solved.
Didn't even have to explain how to use it!
Sure, an iPad, if the OP wants to spend twice the money that he has to. A decent Android tablet using large fonts or even a replacement launcher would be perfect.
If he "has very little experience with computer GUIs", why force one upon him?
Why not instead give him something that he can control in a manner that's at least vaguely reminiscent of the way he would have used computers when he was working?
My suggestion -- a cheap, used laptop (say, 3 to 5 years old max.) with a decent wifi card in it, running your GNU/Linux distro of choice, with mutt for mail and mplayer with svgalib for the videos.
With a few carefully chosen aliases added to his .profile, it shouldn't be hard at all to make bash feel "just like" CP/M, DCL, JCL, DOS or whatever he used to use at work, so the only "new" things to adjust to would be mutt & mplayer. Once he's comfortable with that, you can introduce to what's under the hood and gradually remove the "training wheels"...
You may have to help him go through the initial setup, but the GUI is pretty self-explanitory. Its pretty minamalist, easy access to what is needed, etc.
If you want a bigger tablet, though, you may be stuck going with an iPad. But if you want to save a couple hundred bucks and stick with Android, go Kindle Fire.
And don't wine about it not having full Google Apps or access to the play store or anything. You said you wanted something simple. This is simple.
We got one for my dad a couple of years ago who is in his 60s, and he loves it.
Just get an ipad - I got a cheap second hand ipad 1 for my mum (85) and she picked,up using it just fine. I never have to help her much unlike her normal computer.
To the poster who said about CPU / graphics power, potentially don't worry as most older folk are only really looking to use the web and read email, neither of which are intensive.
To the poster who said about full size vs compact : in my mums case she asked me to get her an ipad mini after playing with mine. In her case it wasn't about the screen size but because her arms aren't too strong it's easier for her to hold up and use! The air might be an option these days but it's a lot more money...
In general I think that like children, you shouldn't "dumb down" stuff for old folk unless you absolutely have to. It's not as necessary as many would have you believe. In children having to think more helps them learn and in older folk it helps stop them forget!
Google Nexus
No sig today...
AFAIK, the support for blind-people in iOS is still much, much better than anywhere else.
Not only in iOS itself, but also throughout the apps, too.
Instead of tactile feedback, iOS uses voice-over, where you swipe over the screen and it spells out what you touch (I've never tried it, but that's AFAIK the way it works).
Blind people seems to be OK with that.
Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
For gods sake man, just get him an iPad. The 9.7" model has lower DPI/bigger buttons. It's easy to use.
The older models are cheap. Get a 2 or an Air, the other ones haven't got enough GPU power.
Hate to agree, but yes.
Sometimes the right tool for the job is just that, the right tool for the job.
No sig today...
When my dad asked what he should buy as a computer as per normal I asked what he would be doing with it.
Most people will answer email or web or games. His answer was "I don't know, but everybody has one." I ahve waited all my life to respond to that and the response was "Just because everybody jumps of a bridge, would you too?"
Well, not in those words. I explained that there were better options for him. I do know that there are many old and elder people who are interested in learning how to work with a computer. My parents are just not the type. Buying a phone is a challenge. I was just able to buy a 'normal' cellphone for them. Previously I bought a phone designed for the elderly and that was too complicated. A smart phone? No way! No idea what I am going to do in the future. Perhaps I have an old Nokia lying around somewhere that I can send them.
The ATM is going OK, but was also a challenge. It is technical after all.
So what was the solution I have for them? Something they already have: peoples skills and a phone. If they want to contact anybody, they can call them. No need to send an email and get no reply because people forget to answer. If they want to look something up, they can go to the bar/restaurant (they live in Spain where people live more outdoor anyway) and ask somebody. The worst case scenario is that they have to buy the guy or girl a glass of wine (and get one back).
Instead of calling me on how to turn on the screen to get to the googly page, they have (another) excuse to call me and I do the search for them. Or even worse, explain them that they have been had by entering their credit card to protect their PC and in 10 years still get charged for a program they no longer use. Or thought they were helping this nice Nigerian gentleman.
As I know them, I knew they would not be using the computer anyway. They have never used or worked with a computer at work. So absolute zero experience. So that is why I advised against it. To me it was a technical solution for a social problem. So no-go. Computers are not always the answer. Obviously YMMV.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
This.
My mother struggled like mad with an ipad after I lent her mine, that she decided that after all she didn't want one and stuck with her laptop. It also kyboshed her desire for an 'iphone' when after I explained that while all her friends may have one, an iphone is just a very small ipad - smaller screen, smaller icons.
Dexterity is a problem, holding the tablet withoyt realising that your contact with the hand you are holding it with is preventing the finger on the other hand from being able to move the icons. She just ended up putting on a table flat to use in case she accidentally touched the screen in the wrong place.
It was quite suprising as I hadn't considered that using an ipad would be that hard.
Turns out my father also struggled with the touch-screen environment on my sister's iphone.
I am no Apple fan but I tend to agree just for the fact that he can take it to the store and get help if/when you are not around.
Keep the Classic Slashdot.
He is in his 70s and the internet is a bit of a mystery to him, but he asked me about a way to send/receive email and watch online videos
Ah yes, he wants to watch "online videos". Really, the old goat will be browsing 4chan and redtube when he hears you closing the front door behind your ass.
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I've set up Android tablets for a number of family members and friends who had limited technological prowess, had very limited goals for what they wanted to be able to do and/or were intimidated by the interface and operation of a tablet. In each case the first thing I do is to replace the stock launcher with something that's more easily customizable. For tablets running Android 4,x I use Nova Launcher. For tablets running 2.x (which won't run Nova) I use Holo Launcher. I use these launchers because you can vary icon size, font size and other visual elements. Then I delete every home screen except one blank one. I disable the "dock" too, just for the sake of simplicity. I set up ONE home screen with a grid of maybe 3 columns by 5 rows, and I make my icons and fonts as large as I can that will still display clearly within that grid size (it's easy to see when you've made things too big). For anyone who finds the interface hard to read I'll go into Settings/Accessibility and make text larger (this setting changes ALL text, including on the display screens and in most apps). I custom build the home screen to fit the needs of my user but a generic example would probably have Dolphin Browser (basic operations like bookmarks are very intuitive), Gmail, theScore or ESPN for sports fans, Google Play Store, maybe YouTube. If they have certain web sites that they want to be sure they can get to I'll put an icon on the home screen that goes directly to those sites. Maybe they'd want the Kindle app, or Facebook, or Google Maps, maybe Calendar or Contacts, but I try to err on the side of simplicity for novice users. I'll drop on a Google Search widget and a Clock/Weather widget that looks colorful and I'll set a nice background photo that looks good but doesn't make things harder to read. In a lower corner I'll add an icon for Apps (having eliminated the Dock) and an icon for Settings. We're talking about tablets but if I was setting up a smartphone I'd have the essential call/text/camera icons on that lowest row as well. I'll spend some time with my novice user going over the layout and functions, make changes as needed and then "lock" the home screen so they can't accidentally delete something. What I deliver to my user is a device that has easy access to ONLY what he/she says is needed (the Apps icon will always get you everything else). I want the user to feel as though they can master the functions they have and become comfortable with the interface (novice smartphone/tablet users often have never used a touch screen or swiped to navigate). As they become more familiar and more confident they, or I if needed, can effortlessly expand the displays and uses. A new user who feels comfortable and confident will use the device and, in time, likely want to learn more. A new user who feels intimidated and lost will get frustrated quickly and stuff the thing in a drawer.
Funny enough I just gave my grandmother an iPad 3 weeks ago. After about 3 1ahour sessions she has become amazingly proficient with it. To add to her difficulty in understanding the UI concepts she also has a severe case of macular degeneration which prevents her from seeing small text and what not AND only speaks French. To my amazement the next day after returning home from visiting her (I live across the country from her) I receding several iMessages and a FaceTime call - I didn't even teach her how to use the former (iMessage).
That being said, I love both Android and iOS devices but I felt that simplicity of use fell in the realm of the iPad - and from her amazing usage of it I am even more convinced of this.
My recommendation: get him/her an iPad.
I got the same situation and went with an Android for my parents. Here's why:
1- With many tablets (all Samsung ones, all rooted ones, many others), TeamViewer Quick Support allows you to remote control the tablet from your PC (like Remote Desktop in Windows), which comes in very handy when doing support to a complete techno ignoramus
2- Widgets make things real easy. The home displays his new emails, the weather, a picture frame of the grandkids, maybe some news, and shortcuts to favorite sites and games.
3- 10" is required, because eyes and fingers are old
4- the price is right. an Asus MemoPad 10 is around $229 (190 euros in my country), there's no reason to spend more.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
For this case I think I would disagree. While I would never use it myself, iPad would be best. Having a Nexus I have to say it takes a lot of configuration and knowledge to get it working. It does not even come with working email out of the box, and needs third-party email and other apps installed to even do basic things like email.
And these third party apps are almost certainty going to be 10 times more confusing and complicated than the built in iOS ones.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Yeah, it was a metric ton of money but thus far worth every penny. My mother is home-bound and my Dad is her primary caregiver. He greatly enjoys the iPad and has had no trouble using it. He has virtually abandoned his old Mac G5 tower. The iPad is a great social connection to his remaining college chums and keeps him in touch with the grandchildren on Facebook. He loves to play various word games like "Words with Friends."
To be fair, this could all be done with a modern Android-based tablet and I don't think my Dad would have any trouble with it but honestly I'm not going to change horses mid-stream. But the huge app base for iOS helps greatly plus a good deal of my brothers and sisters plus their children have iPads so things are just easier. I never thought I'd advocate for monoculture like this (or even appear to) but this has brought a great deal of joy into my Father's life as my Mother's health has gone downhill over the past few years. This alone has made the iPads worth every penny.
My advice: look at an iPad first but whatever you do don't cheap out.
One advantage of getting him an iPad that can run iOS7 is the fact that it has a setting to scale the default font size up and down. It only works for apps that support it, but the built-in Mail app is one of them, so you can scale the text size up for him.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Did you read the question? How are the cameras and higher resolution worth anything to a man in his 70s who just wants to read e-mail and watch movies? The high pixel density on the latest displays is wasted on someone with declining eyesight and presbyopia (and encourages app developers who don't understand this to use tiny fonts, just because they can). And I can't recall the last time I used a camera while reading e-mail or watching a movie. He was asking about a tablet for his father, not for you.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
And updates and patches matter in this use case, exactly why? Elderly person wanting to send some emails, browse some sites. Not needing nor wanting nor likely even aware of "latest and greatest"?
Get out of your own headspace and into that of the person using it.
My Samsung galaxy tab 2.
I installed cyanogenmod and its going to get "kitkat" shortly.
Which expensive tablet only allows you to run what the vendor says you can?
Same thing I said to the iPad guy. Being able to install new ROMs matters exactly why, to this use case?
No, OP's dad isn't going to give a crap about cyanogen mod. Nor about any of the other "latest and greatest" that Android fanboyz and iFans each seem to thing is so important as you rush down to give the retailers more money every few months, and then root/jailbreak/mod the shiny you just bought.
Everyone is not you.
"So i can get an IPAD up and running without an ITUNES account which has my personal data? "
Yes.
"Further, i can use some sort of "apple cloud" to store my data with apple and this is clearly different then storing the same data with google? "
Yes. Apple doesn't scan your files like Google does.
"As the AC says below, Apple hardware are front ends for iTunes. "
No. Bullshit. The profit is minimal.
"Some of us do consider ethical problems in tech. Apple has never been in trouble for "in app purchases" by kids? "
Only if the patents are so stupid not to use parental restrictions.
It's the parent fault. Not Apple's.
"My android has had "profiles" for some time now. The kids profile doesnt have a Credit Card attached."
Just like with Apple stuff. Only better. Don't let your ignorance and Apple hate shine so through.
"Read about why Jobs said the i* devices will never be made in the US, "
You mean like Samsung stuff is made with child labour?
"or why apple decided to issue bonds instead of just distributing their massive cash balances (HINT: repatriating that money would have lead to them actually paying US taxes)."
Just like Google who pay a lower tax rate than Apple.
Fandroids are real idiots and applaud themselves.
"a half hour in the car is pushing for my mother."
Well why don't you get their car fixed before you buy them a tablet. Your poor mother...
As someone who is suffering from declining eyesight because of too many years looking at CRTs, I have to disagree. I recently switched from a first generation iPad to a higher version and have to say that the increased resolution means, to me at least, that the screen is a lot easier to reed. The extra resolution makes the characters on a web page or email a lot less fuzzy and I don't have to concentrate to as much to make out what it says.
iPads have VoiceOver, Zoom, Large Text, White on Black, Speak Selection, Speak AutoText, Mono Audio, AssistiveTouch, and Triple-Click Home. What they don't provide, third party developers provide.
photosMy Photostream
A not-so-small subset of the Slashdot crowd don't like the direction that Apple, driven by actually understanding the needs of the average customer, are moving general computing.
They seem to dislike it even more when Apple can charge a premium and millions will more than happily pay it to escape (what they perceive as) the mundane and bizarre decisions fostered on them by decades of techies who never really understood or listened to what the largest segment of the customer base actually wanted - or didn't want to think about.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
There's a ouija board app?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Here, let me explain the GP's post....
http://i.imgur.com/axJmn.gif
Get him a Kindle Fire HDX. It's not the best tablet on the market, but it's a decent one, and it has the "Mayday" button - press it and he has Amazon, not you, doing tech support 24/7/365.