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Good news, bad news. The good news is that my mom just celebrated her 82nd birthday. The bad news is that we did it in the palliative care wing of the hospice she’s in.
As one of her gifts, I upgraded her iPad.
My mom uses technology purely on a utility basis: I mean, she hasn’t worn a watch since she was an RN. She’s never had a cell phone. She didn’t even get her driver’s license until my Dad died.
But about five years ago, against her protests that she’d never use it, I got her an iPad so we could FaceTime. If you have a senior relative, you know why. They’re not going to have a good time setting up a USB webcam and figuring out Zoom and Windows Audio. But anyone can use FaceTime without much explanation.
And she did, and it was great. And over time, she started using it for email and Facebook and news and whatever else seniors do online. It’s been her lifeline in many regards. Certainly, for communication, it’s been essential since she’s been ill.
Now, to be honest, we don’t FaceTime all that often. We’re both introverts in many respects, but I’ve become far too accustomed to hearing from her several times a day via iMessage, or to the odd long philosophical dialogue we both enjoy, with the added benefit of “think, then type, then send”. Missing that daily correspondence will be one of the hardest parts.
But her old iPad was a 32GB model, so the OS couldn’t even be upgraded at this point. And the microphone was getting weird. And yes, she knows with military confidence that she was NOT covering the microphone by resting it on her lap. Honest. It was time to replace it.
I’ve got autism. No idea if my mom has it, but suffice it to say, “she doesn’t like change.” And no matter what, if you’ve ever been tech support for a senior relative, you appreciate that you can’t just show up at a birthday party and just say, “Here’s your new device, replacing the one that you love, good luck! Shoot me a text when you get it all set up!”
And that’s where Apple shines. You point the camera of one iPad at the screen of the other and wait a few minutes. Suddenly, your new iPad *IS* your old iPad, from apps to photos to icon locations.
She did have to adjust to the lack of a Home button – but that was the biggest change, and it took no time at all.
Kudos to Apple. And call your mom.
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