Was the gift of the computer to your parents a blessing or a curse?
You live far away from your parents or grandparents and you gave them a computer. You thought it would be a great idea to get them a computer so you can communicate with them more easily. You know what I mean; Facebook, Skype or email. You saw them during the holidays and gave them a computer. Heck, you set it up for them, showed them how to use it, and it all worked fine when you were there. What happened when you left? They forgot how to use the communication apps that you set up for them and it became a nuisance for them. You may have called them to set up a video call on Skype, so they can see their children or grandchildren, and it no longer works. They won’t bother to call you because they know how busy you are troubleshooting your computer. From a distance, can you really explain to them how to make it work? Will suggesting a computer repair company fix the solution? They will have to pack up your computer and transport it for repair. TOO MUCH ANNOYING!
The truth is that you bought them a computer with internet access. This is the story I’ve seen too many times. When you left, after presenting the gift and setting everything up, they went to explore all the features you showed them on the information-rich world wide web. They surfed the web like we all do, but they don’t know the pitfalls that being online can cause. That Facebook account you set them up with took them to a website that was bad and they downloaded bad stuff onto their computer. They received an email from their friend that had a link that they clicked on that caused damage to their computer.
Let’s be a little compassionate here. They did not navigate to these links with the intention of going to a place that could cause harm. They just didn’t understand the risks of being online, as you know. You can’t tell them NOT to click things, it’s human nature to do so. I myself have gone down this rabbit hole, with dire consequences.
Look your intentions were great. We are dealing with the human characteristic of curiosity. Are you ready to deal with the consequences of your gift? As they say, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Your parents or grandparents don’t want to bother you, but you want to communicate with them using the computer you gave them and set up. That damn computer worked fine the day you left.
Let’s be realistic. You set them up with a nice new computer and a fast internet connection when you left, everything worked. You may know that a computer requires a bit of maintenance like your car, but do they? He only had two weeks to show them all the neatness of being online with a new computer and the powerful communications platform it represents. Did you have time to show them the computer hygiene skills you know in computer maintenance? Did you show them a disk cleanup, a disk defrag, a disk check? What about clearing the cache of your browsers? Over time, these maintenance keywords mentioned need to be done in order for your parent’s or grandparent’s machine to function as it is supposed to. These keywords are some of the maintenance items you can do yourself that would definitely improve your computer experience. It’s much easier to direct them to a link that shows them how to perform regular maintenance than it is to try to walk them through each procedure over the phone.
Not having to contact you with every problem they have with their computer would be an anvil off their chest, for example I don’t have to pester my son or daughter to help me solve a problem. Going to an easy to follow link would be a relief for you because you don’t have to try to help them over the phone.
