The Computer Next Door

Setting up an Older Relative with a Kindle

Sometimes older relatives need a little help getting started with eReaders

 

I just had a very long but satisfying experience helping my father (who is almost ninety) and my stepmother get set up with a new Kindle.

They live out in a remote rural area, and my father was feeling a little isolated and far from it all.  He wanted to be able to keep up on news (regional and national newspapers and journals) easily, and expressed a keen interest in getting an eReader. They also wanted easy access to books. They had never ordered anything from Amazon, and did not have an account. They needed some help getting started.

A few family members and I subsidized the purchase of a Kindle for them.  Here are the steps we took:

1) We found out which one of the five types of Amazon Kindle eReaders they wanted.  We all agreed it would be better to have a little hands-on with the devices, so we waited until they could experience them for themselves at a BestBuy. They chose the Kindle Keyboard 3G with Free Wi-fi (which has built-in special offers).

2) I then set up an account on Amazon for them. The Kindle was ordered on this account, and sent to their address, so it was pre-registered.

3) After they received the Kindle, they played around a little bit with the device.  By the time I called today, they were somewhat familiar with the buttons and the interface.

4) I walked them through first getting connected wirelessly, then downloading a Free Sample Book, then navigating around the Sample to learn the ropes.

5) I then walked them through their first purchase of  "Today's Daily Deal" on the Kindle, which was a history book for $1.99.  This process included receiving an email, then clicking back from the email to the Amazon website, thus  their first experience with buying an item on Amazon (not everybody has done this yet, you know). 

6) The final step was to go to the Kindle's  "Home," button, click on "Menu," and "Sync & Check for Items." Then, their first purchase was delivered wirelessly to the Kindle.  They were in business.

The Kindle can make the life of older people much easier, once you know the basics.  Having someone on the other end of the line can be really helpful to get started. It also helped that I had a similar Kindle I was holding it at the time I walked them through their first eBook purchase.

I think this Christmas gift was a hit, and am glad to have made the effort to help get two more converts going with the wide world of eReading.

Hacked at Zappos.com - an Online Consumer's Nightmare

I always have liked Zappos.com, the online retailer that sells shoes first and foremost.  Firstly, they have great shoes - at great prices, so I have indulged my feet over the years with their wares.  Therefore, my name is among the many millions of customers (24 million, by some accounts, although that seems like a lot) whose account information were compromised over the weekend by hackers.

Zappos sent out a timely email this morning that began by saying "First, the bad news," and then went on to explain the problem in detail.  The good news, apparently, was that the database with full credit card information was not accessed or compromised.

However, the bad news is bad - hackers got information including the last 4 digits of the credit card, and PASSWORD information along with email information, along with lots of other personal information (name, address, phone).  That's pretty bad.  Although they have "expired" all our passowords, what Zappos wants their customers to do is this: 1) update their passwords on Zappos, and then, 2) go around the Web updating any other Website that might be using the SAME PASSWORD.

Wow.  Really?   That's a tall order.

Who out there could think of a way to do that?  This is an online consumer's nightmare.  Cleaning up and changing Website password information proactively.  Does anyone keep a list of ALL the Websites where you shop online?  I seriously doubt it, which means more trouble may be in store for all us chickens. Hackers may try to do something with our personal information other online etailer sites - it's just unclear what.

I have rarely felt like pulling back from doing online shopping as I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, but today's experience with Zappos has given me pause to regret my online shopping persona. But Zappos just did.

The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls: A Great Online User Experience

Sometimes Google gets it right - really, really right.

Like their recent collaboration with the Israel Museum to digitize the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It's a great online experience, and an educational one.  I perused the version with English language online tour of one of the scrolls - The Great Isaiah Scroll.

As you mouse-over each line on the scroll, you can simultaneously view a short translation of that piece of text.

It's a beautifully designed and engineered digital user experience - one of the most satisfying "translations" of real world to digital that I've seen in a long time.  And it's addictive.  The more you play with it, the more you want to read the whole thing.

Intrigued?  You should be.  It is our collective heritage - and our digital future.

Can Anyone Borrow an EBook? (They can Try)

Digital rights management is not for the faint of heart.  And so it is with eBook borrowing rights. That's right, you heard me - you can borrow eBooks, just like regular books.  From libraries, and from friends.

Or so it would appear.

I must say I have yet to borrow an eBook, but the idea certainly is a sound one. Why not? Libraries can purchase the titles and then circulate them to members.

But not so fast - publishers are balking (yes, balking!) at the idea, and some are insisting on limits on the number of times an eBook can be circulated, effectively limiting the shelf life of Library eBooks. This would make sense if eBooks were SO much cheaper than regular books, but they're not any more - and in fact, some are now as expensive (or more!) as buying the book.  So, why expire the borrowing privileges?  It doesn't make any sense.

Publishers are, I suppose, the New Dinosaurs resisting technological change.  More recently, film studioes and recording labels have resisted digital innovations, but the publishing business is now doing better than ever before.  eBooks have effectively boosted publishing.

So why the resistance to eBorrowing?  Just the usual - fear.

Check with your local library to see if they have a list of eBook titles you can borrow.

A Technical Care Package for Parents

One of the basic tenets of this blog is that there is a HUGE technology gap between the "know it got it" and the "don't get it" folks in this world.

I'm talking about my Dad.  I'm pretty certain he will never read this post, so I will just tell you that my Dad is a brilliant guy, with a life full of success and achievement (he was a heart surgeon and runs a winery) but he has a heck of a hard time with current computer technology.

This is somebody who wants to be in control.  He needs to be in control.  And he just doesn't get it - most of Windows, the Web, email, you name it.  The reason? He's 88 years old.  Although computers were still an important part of his business when he was running his practice, personal computer technologies and the NUANCES of how to do things largely escape him.

It's so frustrating because I want to help him do everything, but I just can't be there for him all the time.

Which brings me to the subject of this post, which is this great little site Googe rolled out recently, called TeachParentsTech.org.  I love the concept here, and how simple they've made it to send this to someone you want to help.