Idea to Help Seniors

In my neck of the woods, a lot of middle aged people aren't so proficient with computers.. If I was to take a tour through the local seniors complex, I probably wouldn't find a single computer

While I have the credentials to do so around here, I do not necessarily have the authorization. During my time with the government, part of my duty was to serve senior housing. It was one of the more pleasant aspects, and although I worked internally with the staff, I occasionally had an opportunity to show a retired person a thing or two about our systems (the stuff that was OK to see - like how Windows is used to open a calculator and so forth.. nothing internal or database-wise). It would have been nice to have pushed forward an initiative at that time to give out classes to seniors, but we were busy retraining our staff on the use of Excel and Microsoft Office, much less actual residents

I sincerely enjoy volunteering my time, and as a young person (though, not as young as Mitch), I am making a pretty brazen attempt to go into engineering... it may fail, but I am going to try. Once I find a niche back in the city doing something other than fixing local systems, I am planning on moving towards trying to do some extra fieldwork for free like computer lessons for old folks. It could take some time, but it is a genuinely great idea, Drew. There is a massive learning curve, but even if only one thing is learned, it would be worth it to me.

True thing is, computers can enrich peoples lives. Especially people who could use the Internet to enjoy their retirement time. A long time ago, I took great pleasure in helping someone upgrade Hoyle card games and get it working on their computer. She was an old woman and very kind. It is something burned into my memory, because I got more enjoyment from seeing that woman happy than most of the work I have done since.

Bravo on a great idea.

Mike said:

Bravo on a great idea.

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Amen to that. Once again a situation where I could write a book, but I abstain. But I've done quite a lot of work within the "third sector", mainly fundraising, some active social work, and even some IT-support. And, the IT-part is really as highly appreciated as is nursing. Life quality consists, today, of more than merely good teeth.

Salute, Drew.

Titanic said:

Amen to that. Once again a situation where I could write a book, but I abstain. But I've done quite a lot of work within the "third sector", mainly fundraising, some active social work, and even some IT-support. And, the IT-part is really as highly appreciated as is nursing. Life quality consists, today, of more than merely good teeth.

Salute, Drew.

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Our local libraries hold weekly starter classes in computer usage, senior citizens are the fastest growing block of computer users in this country... I love helping them, it's a good thing.

A bit of a necropost, but the issue is somewhat never-ending... The problem is not the lack of interest by seniors, it's actually oftentimes the lack of money to buy the computer, due to small pensions. Well, I've recently bought two laptops for seniors I know, and offered them basic knowledge --- that's actually the only thing I have.

Came to think, could e.g. Dell offer old laptops for seniors? I mean, youngsters are going forward all the time, and we have lots of fully usable computers ending in the dump... quite stupid.

Just a thought. And in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut, We had the planet of Brain, where they noticed disagreements were the problem, thus they decided to create agreement. They disconnected the disagreement part in brain.

Haa-haa.

Titanic said:

A bit of a necropost, but the issue is somewhat never-ending... The problem is not the lack of interest by seniors, it's actually oftentimes the lack of money to buy the computer, due to small pensions. Well, I've recently bought two laptops for seniors I know, and offered them basic knowledge --- that's actually the only thing I have.

Came to think, could e.g. Dell offer old laptops for seniors? I mean, youngsters are going forward all the time, and we have lots of fully usable computers ending in the dump... quite stupid.

Just a thought. And in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut, We had the planet of Brain, where they noticed disagreements were the problem, thus they decided to create agreement. They disconnected the disagreement part in brain.

Haa-haa.

Click to expand...

One very good place I've noticed to pick up a good used computer is my local thrift shops, they get donated there all the time. Also I've seen very good used computers at hock shops, and refurbished computers really cheap at geeks.com, too.

Titanic said:

A bit of a necropost, but the issue is somewhat never-ending... The problem is not the lack of interest by seniors, it's actually oftentimes the lack of money to buy the computer, due to small pensions. Well, I've recently bought two laptops for seniors I know, and offered them basic knowledge --- that's actually the only thing I have.

Came to think, could e.g. Dell offer old laptops for seniors? I mean, youngsters are going forward all the time, and we have lots of fully usable computers ending in the dump... quite stupid.

Just a thought. And in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut, We had the planet of Brain, where they noticed disagreements were the problem, thus they decided to create agreement. They disconnected the disagreement part in brain.

Haa-haa.

Click to expand...

That would actually be a great idea... too bad we don't have an easy way to make it happen.