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Post by leannec on Feb 18, 2023 0:04:57 GMT
Ack! My mum is 76 tomorrow and has never used a smartphone in her life! I took her to the mall today and we got her a VERY simple iPhone so that she can sort of move into this century and at least text once in awhile. She's still a little afraid of the thing but I think she will be OK. Do your senior citizen parents text you? Are they using technology? (My mum will never own a computer - she refuses! )
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leeny
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Posts: 4,637
Location: Northern California
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Jun 27, 2014 1:55:53 GMT
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Post by leeny on Feb 18, 2023 0:11:16 GMT
My Mom (80 yo this year) got her first smart phone a few years ago. She has bad arthritis so I showed her how to talk to text. My sisters, me and mom have a text group. We also installed the LIFE360 app, which is a GPS app. Since she still drives, we can see where she is at.
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Post by lucyg on Feb 18, 2023 0:12:50 GMT
Congrats to your mom for stepping outside her comfort zone. Wait till she discovers social media. My 93yo mom has an iPhone and uses it, but sometimes it befuddles her. But she has a bunch of kids and grandkids around to help her. Sometimes if I text her, she responds right away. Sometimes she never responds, and then I don’t know if she saw it and didn’t bother to respond, or never noticed that she had a text waiting. oh well, it’s better than nothing. And she does use a computer, but that’s starting to befuddle her, too. BIG difference between 93 (almost 94) and 76, though.
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valincal
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Southern Alberta
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Jun 27, 2014 2:21:22 GMT
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Post by valincal on Feb 18, 2023 0:14:22 GMT
I was just at my 83yo mom’s showing her how to close the apps on her iPhone and explaining the difference between apps and browser tabs. 😬 Good luck! 😄
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Post by quinlove on Feb 18, 2023 0:22:12 GMT
Ha. I totally get it. But, from the other side. I’ve had a iPhone and iPad for years. I generally get a new one every 2 years or so and definitely need help with the new one. I am always asking my dd 45, for help with both. All. The. Time. She is quite used to it. I have 3 adult children, but she’s the one with the most patience. I’m 72.
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Post by melanieg on Feb 18, 2023 0:28:30 GMT
My dad - the most untechnical person on the planet - got an iphone a few years ago. He texts us kids all the time now. They are shorthand and sometimes hard to decipher but he is communicating. He has an app for YouTube, the Weather Channel and solitaire...the rest he doesnt use.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Feb 18, 2023 0:35:24 GMT
My mom had a flip phone at 94 y/o but did use an iPad. She loved Facebook and seeing everyone's photos. We were contemplating upgrading her to an iPhone, but her health took a turn for the worse (she died this past July).
I have a great many friends in their 80s and 90s who successfully use iPhones. Good luck to your mom!
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Post by mikewozowski on Feb 18, 2023 1:05:59 GMT
i hooked my 86 year old mom up with one last week. not going great. :/
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Post by leannec on Feb 18, 2023 1:19:13 GMT
i hooked my 86 year old mom up with one last week. not going great. :/ That's what I'm afraid of .... let's hang in there!
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Feb 18, 2023 1:49:54 GMT
Lol, I was much younger when I learned to text and it was on a flip phone. Family showed me how to use it. I was out when day and tried to text dd. It was one complete sentence. I forgot to put a space between the words. Dd recognized the number and said “Mom” and I said yes. Then she asked if I was ok,lol. Has your Mom ever had a phone before?
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Post by leannec on Feb 18, 2023 2:08:07 GMT
Has your Mom ever had a phone before? Just lame flip phones with no texting ... she always said that was fine but it just wasn't! I think she was a little excited today!
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Post by cadoodlebug on Feb 18, 2023 2:17:58 GMT
I'm less than a year younger than your mum and I've had smart phones and computers for decades. She can do this! Back in the day before DVRs, I had 5 VCRs that I programmed to watch all our sports/TV shows. And they were all different brands! I thought about starting a business teaching people how to program their VCRs!
Once she gets the hang of texting, she'll be texting everyone!
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Feb 18, 2023 3:24:42 GMT
Let her know to charge it more often and keep a charger in her car.
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Post by Neisey on Feb 18, 2023 3:27:39 GMT
My 76 year old mom has a phone, for emergencies only…except she never turns it on so when things like hurricanes ravage her neighborhood we have to actually find someone to go there and check on her lol. She has an iPad but no interest in using her phone gif any other reasons. She had to give up her flip phone for a smart phone a few years ago as her provider would no longer support the old phone.
My exMIL(79) is a regular texter. Uses lots of emojis too!
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Post by taylortroop on Feb 18, 2023 4:28:01 GMT
My mom is 80 and we talked her into getting rid of her landline and getting a cell phone about 4 years ago. She doesn’t have internet or use a computer so the cell phone was a big learning curve for her. She’s totally fine with it until she accidentally changes something and then she needs help. She’s at my house regularly and always needs help with the phone.
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Post by ntsf on Feb 18, 2023 6:56:52 GMT
siri is the best!!! go in and look at all the disability functions and adaptations.
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Post by katlady on Feb 18, 2023 7:43:22 GMT
Congratulations to your mom! Hope she has fun with it!
My mom has never been tech savvy. She can do basic things but don’t ask her to program a VCR/DVR, change the temperature on the heater, etc. She had a cell phone before but she didn’t like to use it. She always had it turned off or she would leave it at home when she went out. She said she has a hard time hearing on a cellphone (she has hearing aids). She doesn’t have a cell phone anymore. I wish she did. She uses my old iPad to play games and sometimes browse the internet. I made sure the iPad doesn’t have any credit card information on it. Lol!
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snyder
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Apr 26, 2017 6:14:47 GMT
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Post by snyder on Feb 18, 2023 8:30:37 GMT
I love it when I see the older generation using techie stuff. My mom is 92 and she has beginning dementia. She gets confused and then she doesn't remember how we told her how to do "stuff" on her android phone even if we write it down for her. But, she discovered FB and she loves her FB. SHe loves seeing what the family and her friends share/post. I'm not a huge poster on FB, but my sister posts a lot to her page so she continues to enjoy it.
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maryannscraps
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Post by maryannscraps on Feb 18, 2023 12:32:22 GMT
My mom is 83 and has had an iPhone and iPad for years. She does great with them. She plays games, FaceTimes with us, emails, texts, looks at things online, and googles everything in sight. She’s been having some dexterity issues with her hands, so she keeps hitting the wrong things and that frustrates her, but otherwise she uses her phone exactly as I do.
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Post by mollycoddle on Feb 18, 2023 13:34:42 GMT
i hooked my 86 year old mom up with one last week. not going great. :/ That's what I'm afraid of .... let's hang in there! I am technically a senior, but have been using technology for years. But I know seniors who struggle with it. I think that part of the problem is that younger folks are so familiar with technology that they sometimes skip over the basics. It’s a natural thing to do when you are very familiar with something. Here is a growing series of iPhone tips for seniors. This is the first one, and it is very basic. Maybe it will help. youtu.be/-Q-fvcy20JgIf you search smartphone tips for seniors on YouTube, there are more videos, some of which might be helpful. HTHs.
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Post by Jockscrap on Feb 18, 2023 13:45:00 GMT
My folks are both in their eighties and have been using iPhones for about five years. Mum has just upgraded to an iPhone SE. They are amazing with them and their iPads. During Covid we set up shared shopping lists so they could add things they needed and I could get them for them. We still use the shared Costco shopping list. They WhatsApp the family and a few of their more tech-able friends all the time, adding photos to their posts and emails. This tech has enhanced their lives no end. Occasionally they need a wee bit of help. Mum panics if she sees anything new coming up on screen and needs to be encouraged to take a deep breath and read what the message says and see if she can work out how to handle it. I sometimes get a little impatient and have to remind myself how brilliant they are with these gadgets compared to many their age. There is a scene in Modern Family where the young ones are trying to teach the old dad to tap tap not taaaaap taaaaap and we have laughed at that so many times because it is exactly like the conversations we have.
Their latest skill has been to read newspapers and magazines on line. They’ve had digital copies of their newspapers for years, but I’ve set them up with Pressreader so they can use their library membership to read for free any of the 10,000 or so publications on there and they quite like looking at the Chicago Tribune or a French newspaper or Good Housekeeping. It’s amazing how much content they can access.
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Post by worrywart on Feb 18, 2023 13:57:12 GMT
My dad is 90 and he texts a LOT! He uses the microphone so sometimes they are unintentionally funny and at times very long. I'm sure she will get the hang of it!
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J u l e e
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Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by J u l e e on Feb 18, 2023 14:24:12 GMT
I had to remind my mom to read her texts before pressing send because there was usually half a dozen autocorrects in each one and I nearly always had to guess at what she was saying. I could print a book from the hilarious autocorrected texts she has sent me. I’ve gotten very good at using context clues.
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iowgirl
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Jun 25, 2014 22:52:46 GMT
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Post by iowgirl on Feb 18, 2023 15:30:51 GMT
Do your senior citizen parents text you? Are they using technology? My 82 YO monther-in-law has always embraced tech. I see her showing very young people how to AirDrop photos. She wirelessly prints, can search for ANYTHING online, lol. Get's her eBooks from the Library... she is GOOD! I would start simple with your Mom and let her get comfortable. I see people get overloaded at first, because there is just so much you can do!
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amom23
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Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Feb 18, 2023 17:44:30 GMT
Before my mom got dementia she was a wiz at technology. Now my MIL is VERY technology challenged. Always has been and always will be.
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Post by librarylady on Feb 18, 2023 21:12:47 GMT
Did anyone consider getting the Jitterbug phone for the elderly or technology incompetent?
I see it advertised as the easiest phone to use.
FWIW, I am 77 and the person friends and family ask about technology. As a school librarian I had to know all the technology details and taught the teachers how to use the programs as well as hook up the computers to printers etc. Since I have retired, I am now lagging behind on things.
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Post by AussieMeg on Feb 18, 2023 23:17:18 GMT
I'm less than a year younger than your mum and I've had smart phones and computers for decades. Okay, so you're the same age as my mum. You come across as younger because you're so up with technology and all the travel and fun stuff you do. My mum has one of the newer Samsung smart phones, a Samsung tablet, and all the social media, and knows how to use them as well as I do. I plan to remain technologically current until the day I die. My dad, on the other hand, has only just started answering his mobile phone when I ring it..... it's only taken 20 years. He still doesn't ever reply to a text, and claims he can't see them.
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Post by Zee on Feb 18, 2023 23:21:11 GMT
My dad is 72 and is the biggest techie around. He's had the latest iphone since they were new. He's a ridiculous and unreasonable apple cult diehard. Don't let your mom drink the Kool aid!
J/k I hope she really enjoys it.
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Post by originalvanillabean on Feb 18, 2023 23:29:37 GMT
My 77 yo mom got an iPhone a couple months ago too - it's great and I hope your mom loves it!!
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Post by Gem Girl on Feb 18, 2023 23:31:24 GMT
My mom is 80 and we talked her into getting rid of her landline and getting a cell phone about 4 years ago. She doesn’t have internet or use a computer so the cell phone was a big learning curve for her. She’s totally fine with it until she accidentally changes something and then she needs help. She’s at my house regularly and always needs help with the phone. That kind of makes me nervous for your mom. They change things all the time, and without a landline, it would concern me that the phone wouldn't be available to her in an emergency. But, I'm the worrying fussing type.
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