When I gave my old iPad to my 91y Grandmother

[apolloa]

Hey guys!
As I said in the newbies topic, I a long time reader of macrumors, but only today I finally decided to became a member of the forum too!
I would like to start telling you what I think is a stunning story.
It is in fact the story of my "old" iPad 2, and of when, having become really too slow for my use, I thought to give it to my 91y GrandMother!

At first, I was hoping that she could learn somehow to browse the photos I put in it (I filled it with the whole family archive!), and maybe to watch the home videos we just digitalized from old super8s.

Well, in just few months, she learned by herself not only to browse photos and videos! She uses the iPad to like and comment the photos we (we are a pretty large family) share via Shared Photo Stream! She watches her wedding video every morning ("to feel your grandpa still here with me"). She writes iMessages to sons and nephews, FaceTime calls.. She uses the iPad even to pray (her fingers are getting to numb for such think paper!), and to watch soap operas in streaming!

We are all so amazed of what she has learned to do, that i decided to make a short video (4.30min) to recount it. It is nothing special, it's been just and iPhone and some iMovie in a half day, but after all I think it gets the point.

We all spend a lot of time thinking about specs, updates, last models. And we finish to forget the power of what we have in our hands!
She's 91, she hardly walks, she spend most of her day by herself at home.. now every time she sees me she says "the best gift you could give to me, it's like a second youth to me!"

I really hope this story has snatched you a smile

see you soon!
link:

What a lovely lovely video. I got my Mum an iPad 3 when it was out, I had bought her a Mac Plastic Laptop but she struggled to use that. She's in her 70's and can watch catch up TV, browse the web, shop online, view photos and videos and even reads her emails! All on her iPad and mostly self taught.
I am going to upgrade her for the new iPad for better sound when she watches TV and the Touch ID, also it will be lighter for her.

Yeah am always surprised at how much she does.

 

[Badrottie]

An iPad doesn't suit everyone, but the OP's story is a wonderful one, and, I do know seniors - and indeed, autistic kids, who have benefitted hugely from having been able to have had access to them.

Yes it was nice. I am the ONLY tech savvy in the family so they are not crazy about tech stuff.

 

[Piggie]

Yes it was nice. I am the ONLY tech savvy in the family so they are not crazy about tech stuff.

You sound just like me.
I've always been THE only tech savy (and we can debate how savy!) one in the entire family.
It's sad, but as a child, sitting there playing computer games, not ONCE in my entire life did my mother of father ever show ANY interest or come up and say, Ohhh, what's this, can you show me how to play it. Perhaps we can have a play together.
Nope nothing.

 

[OneMike]

Thanks for sharing. This was awesome.

 

[Ay_Zimmy]

This was a touching video. Awesome to see that the iPad has given your grandmother so much more opportunity to stay connected

 

[Legendts]

Wonderful story with great following comments. How thoughtful of you to think of doing it and to share it through this forum. Thank you.

 

[chiccociolla]

Wonderful story with great following comments. How thoughtful of you to think of doing it and to share it through this forum. Thank you.

Thank you for your appreciation! At the end it all started with the will to share this story..

 

[708692]

I tweeted this page to Tim Cook - he really needs to put this video into his next presentation. Very moving.

 

[chiccociolla]

I tweeted this page to Tim Cook - he really needs to put this video into his next presentation. Very moving.

thank you! it will remain impossible, but 2 tweets are more than 1!

 

[Nautilus007]

Send that to apple

 

[chiccociolla]

Send that to apple

tried! several tweets (even to the new AppleSupport, but it seems they are filtered somehow!), mails.. but it is pretty impossible (even theoretically I think..)

 

[yaxomoxay]

thank you! it will remain impossible, but 2 tweets are more than 1!

I will add mine tonight.

3.

 

[Badrottie]

You sound just like me.
I've always been THE only tech savy (and we can debate how savy!) one in the entire family.
It's sad, but as a child, sitting there playing computer games, not ONCE in my entire life did my mother of father ever show ANY interest or come up and say, Ohhh, what's this, can you show me how to play it. Perhaps we can have a play together.
Nope nothing.

Yeah I recalled about this when I was kid and I'm the only one that paid my first computer (Atari 1200XL). And my family didn't care when they saw it. so I wouldn't bother buying my mother an iPad even she heard about iPad.

 

[Piggie]

Yeah I recalled about this when I was kid and I'm the only one that paid my first computer (Atari 1200XL). And my family didn't care when they saw it. so I wouldn't bother buying my mother an iPad even she heard about iPad.

I always find this sad when parents take no interest in something their child is doing or interested in.
It just seems like it SHOULD be a part of being a parent.
Mine were just interested in "The Garden, Plants, Birds, and Scenery"
Or in other words things totally and utterly boring as hell to a young boy growing up with Star Trek and Electrical gadgets starting to appear for consumers.
Heck I even made Airfix Model kits, and things out of Balsa Wood pretty much on my own too.

Looking back on it, I don't understand why, Mum and Dad just had each other, were only interested in each other, and I was left to entertain myself.
Not bad treated by any means, just ignored/left to get on with my own little hobby/interest, and when this moved from Plastic model kits to games machine and then computers, it carried on in this way.


Neither parent was every interested in ANYTHING technical. I think a "Record Player" was about as advanced as my father even got. Strange really.

 

[pika2000]

I always find this sad when parents take no interest in something their child is doing or interested in.
It just seems like it SHOULD be a part of being a parent.
Mine were just interested in "The Garden, Plants, Birds, and Scenery"
Or in other words things totally and utterly boring as hell to a young boy growing up with Star Trek and Electrical gadgets starting to appear for consumers.
Heck I even made Airfix Model kits, and things out of Balsa Wood pretty much on my own too.

Looking back on it, I don't understand why, Mum and Dad just had each other, were only interested in each other, and I was left to entertain myself.
Not bad treated by any means, just ignored/left to get on with my own little hobby/interest, and when this moved from Plastic model kits to games machine and then computers, it carried on in this way.


Neither parent was every interested in ANYTHING technical. I think a "Record Player" was about as advanced as my father even got. Strange really.

I share your feeling. My dad is similar. He has zero interest in modern tech/internet, even if it means that he can communicate/share things with me and my sister. The only time he cared for a tablet was because someone told him he can watch movies for free on youtube. We bought him a tablet, told him he can do other things with it, and he didn't care. He only asked us about searching for the "free movies" on youtube.

But that just means not everybody is the same. Each people has their own comfort zone.

Going back to OP's post, it is a wonderful thing to see how a device can improve the lives of some, and how some still have that level of curiosity to try new things.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I always find this sad when parents take no interest in something their child is doing or interested in.

From a techie point of view, I was very lucky. My parents were inside computing since the beginning, an Apple II was at my house before I was born (I am a 1980 guy), and we always had multiple computers at home (including the very first Mac). However, many other interests were not shared.
If you think about it, it is a good thing that your parents share only a minimal part of your interests. As a kid, this allows you to express yourself and even to explore "new" fields by yourself. Once a parent shares the interest, he takes over it because he wants to "help", or guide the kid.
Now, showing interest is different. As a parent myself I try to show interest to whatever my kids do. But it's difficult......

Mine were just interested in "The Garden, Plants, Birds, and Scenery"
Or in other words things totally and utterly boring as hell to a young boy growing up with Star Trek

Although I admit I would've been bored, boredom is also in the eye of the beholder. Scenery, Plants and fauna is exactly what the Enterprise goes looking for in its travels.

Not bad treated by any means, just ignored/left to get on with my own little hobby/interest, and when this moved from Plastic model kits to games machine and then computers, it carried on in this way.

Well, parenting ain't easy!

Neither parent was every interested in ANYTHING technical. I think a "Record Player" was about as advanced as my father even got. Strange really.

Then having their help would've probably damaged your creativity and will to learn. If they were masters of gardening, that's where they could've helped you. Learning tech next to you? They would've probably pushed their will upon you.

 

[Easttime]

Love these anecdotes. Senior doesn't mean stupid. Seniors are 20 year olds in an aging body. But aging often brings restrictions and isolation, and computers can be a boon. We need to make the technology more accessible.

 

[batristain]

Thank you for sharing -great story and now I have an idea of how to repurpose my old iOS devices....

Cheers,
Bobbie

 

[chiccociolla]

Dear All
it's been a while since I created this post and the video it contains, and I would like to give you a little update..!
My Gramma turned 92, and incredibly got more and more skilled with her iPad! She now uses it also to read newspapers, watch TV series... and pray!
The most stunning update has just arrived few moments ago.
I have been trying to make the video reach Apple since the beginning, and from time to time I used to mail some random apple staff.. and I tried again this morning.. and BUM!
Craig Federighi answered me!!
Incredible!!
I already passed his email to my gramma (translating it.. even if I am sure she would have been able to do it herself with her iPad!)

 

[bufffilm]

Dear All
it's been a while since I created this post and the video it contains, and I would like to give you a little update..!
My Gramma turned 92, and incredibly got more and more skilled with her iPad! She now uses it also to read newspapers, watch TV series... and pray!
The most stunning update has just arrived few moments ago.
I have been trying to make the video reach Apple since the beginning, and from time to time I used to mail some random apple staff.. and I tried again this morning.. and BUM!
Craig Federighi answered me!!
Incredible!!
I already passed his email to my gramma (translating it.. even if I am sure she would have been able to do it herself with her iPad!)

Glad the video caught the attention of those at Apple.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Dear All
it's been a while since I created this post and the video it contains, and I would like to give you a little update..!
My Gramma turned 92, and incredibly got more and more skilled with her iPad! She now uses it also to read newspapers, watch TV series... and pray!
The most stunning update has just arrived few moments ago.
I have been trying to make the video reach Apple since the beginning, and from time to time I used to mail some random apple staff.. and I tried again this morning.. and BUM!
Craig Federighi answered me!!
Incredible!!
I already passed his email to my gramma (translating it.. even if I am sure she would have been able to do it herself with her iPad!)

That is great!!!

Gustati ogni secondo che hai con tua nonna; i miei mi mancano molto

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Hey guys!
As I said in the newbies topic, I a long time reader of macrumors, but only today I finally decided to became a member of the forum too!
I would like to start telling you what I think is a stunning story.
It is in fact the story of my "old" iPad 2, and of when, having become really too slow for my use, I thought to give it to my 91y GrandMother!

At first, I was hoping that she could learn somehow to browse the photos I put in it (I filled it with the whole family archive!), and maybe to watch the home videos we just digitalized from old super8s.

Well, in just few months, she learned by herself not only to browse photos and videos! She uses the iPad to like and comment the photos we (we are a pretty large family) share via Shared Photo Stream! She watches her wedding video every morning ("to feel your grandpa still here with me"). She writes iMessages to sons and nephews, FaceTime calls.. She uses the iPad even to pray (her fingers are getting to numb for such think paper!), and to watch soap operas in streaming!

We are all so amazed of what she has learned to do, that i decided to make a short video (4.30min) to recount it. It is nothing special, it's been just and iPhone and some iMovie in a half day, but after all I think it gets the point.

We all spend a lot of time thinking about specs, updates, last models. And we finish to forget the power of what we have in our hands!
She's 91, she hardly walks, she spend most of her day by herself at home.. now every time she sees me she says "the best gift you could give to me, it's like a second youth to me!"

I really hope this story has snatched you a smile

see you soon!
link:

[doublepost=1506007159][/doublepost]

What a wonderful, positive and utterly life affirming thread. A pleasure to read. Thank you, OP, @chiccociolla, for starting it and for sharing this with us.

Thank you for sharing this here on this forum,made me cry, tears of joy and love

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Dear All
it's been a while since I created this post and the video it contains, and I would like to give you a little update..!
My Gramma turned 92, and incredibly got more and more skilled with her iPad! She now uses it also to read newspapers, watch TV series... and pray!
The most stunning update has just arrived few moments ago.
I have been trying to make the video reach Apple since the beginning, and from time to time I used to mail some random apple staff.. and I tried again this morning.. and BUM!
Craig Federighi answered me!!
Incredible!!
I already passed his email to my gramma (translating it.. even if I am sure she would have been able to do it herself with her iPad!)

Thanks for the update and thanks for sharing this story. I watched the original video again today, and still think it beautiful and rather moving. Actually, it is absolutely fantastic, life-affirming, up-lifting, charming, sweet and wonderfully positive.

Fantastic to see your grandmother becoming something approximating to a digital native - and wonderful, too, to see how this technology can be such a useful, challenging, fulfilling and supremely rewarding activity & outlet for seniors (and indeed, as has already been remarked upon, for some on the spectrum), allowing them to communicate with far-flung friends and family and to feel involved, engaged and an active part of the wider community.

Well done you. You should feel proud of yourself (and of your grandmother).

 

[chiccociolla]

Glad the video caught the attention of those at Apple.

mee to!

That is great!!!

Gustati ogni secondo che hai con tua nonna; i miei mi mancano molto

hai ragione, cavolo se hai ragione..

[doublepost=1506007159][/doublepost]

Thank you for sharing this here on this forum,made me cry, tears of joy and love

^^

Thanks for the update and thanks for sharing this story. I watched the original video again today, and still think it beautiful and rather moving. Actually, it is absolutely fantastic, life-affirming, up-lifting, charming, sweet and wonderfully positive.

Fantastic to see your grandmother becoming something approximating to a digital native - and wonderful, too, to see how this technology can be such a useful, challenging, fulfilling and supremely rewarding activity & outlet for seniors (and indeed, as has already been remarked upon, for some on the spectrum), allowing them to communicate with far-flung friends and family and to feel involved, engaged and an active part of the wider community.

Well done you. You should feel proud of yourself (and of your grandmother).

You're right.. maybe we should think about a term to pair with "digital native" for her

Thank you all guys!

 

[AlliFlowers]

You're right.. maybe we should think about a term to pair with "digital native" for her

The term "digital native" has been disproved, and falling out of use, so you can make up your own term without the comparison.