Simplify Things For Senior Citizens
Simplify Things For Senior Citizens
Thought I would post this in the HowTo section so other users could contribute tips and success stories. It's a good theme: take those machines that are lying about doing nothing and put them to good use for a generation largely ignored by the computing fraternity.
In my case I have an old AJP (Kapok) 7200 notebook, a breeze block of a thing but useful in it's day (around 10yrs ago). Could never bring my self to part with it even though it has sat on a shelf for most of the last 7yrs. After having great success with Puppy on my Sony VAIO PCG-505FX I gave it a go on the AJP. It's usable if not practical given a more capable (or *any*) alternative. So what to do with it? My neighbours are both in their 70's and like playing traditional card/board games so I plan to offer it to them. However to avoid giving them a heart attack I aim to simply the menu's and desktop and generally dumb things down as far as possible. I need to do this in a way that doesn't make it difficult for me to sort out any problems in the future. I will await the next CE release and then do a HD install, primarily in the hope that it will boot faster. So any/all tips appreciated for:
1) Simplifying without losing features
2) Idiot-proofing (not that I'm suggesting my neighbours are idiots )
3) Speed-ups, especially when booting
4) Game suggestions
5) Any other potential issues
PS: In my case security is not much of an issue since they don't/won't have internet access.
In my case I have an old AJP (Kapok) 7200 notebook, a breeze block of a thing but useful in it's day (around 10yrs ago). Could never bring my self to part with it even though it has sat on a shelf for most of the last 7yrs. After having great success with Puppy on my Sony VAIO PCG-505FX I gave it a go on the AJP. It's usable if not practical given a more capable (or *any*) alternative. So what to do with it? My neighbours are both in their 70's and like playing traditional card/board games so I plan to offer it to them. However to avoid giving them a heart attack I aim to simply the menu's and desktop and generally dumb things down as far as possible. I need to do this in a way that doesn't make it difficult for me to sort out any problems in the future. I will await the next CE release and then do a HD install, primarily in the hope that it will boot faster. So any/all tips appreciated for:
1) Simplifying without losing features
2) Idiot-proofing (not that I'm suggesting my neighbours are idiots )
3) Speed-ups, especially when booting
4) Game suggestions
5) Any other potential issues
PS: In my case security is not much of an issue since they don't/won't have internet access.
- Lobster
- Official Crustacean
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The menu program I developed here
http://tmxxine.com/tv/
can also be used as a simple front end for elderly users. The code is very easy to understand and modify
http://tmxxine.com/tv/
can also be used as a simple front end for elderly users. The code is very easy to understand and modify
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue 16 Jan 2007, 11:12
I have news for you.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... nweb17.xml
Be careful not to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... nweb17.xml
Be careful not to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.
Simplify Things For Senior Citizens
I teach Seniors how to use their computers - unfortunately windoze.The main problem is often not the menus, but the mouse. With arthritic hands, controlling the mouse is a nightmare.Trackballs are easier - just roll the ball.
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire
Mouse for seniors
I use what is called a stick mouse or to use the correct term an Erogonomic mouse. It is designed for people with restricted movement of their arm. 3d sell a version although a cheaper version is available on Ebay.
Senior Citizens
I applaud efforts by members of this community to bring Puppy to users with minimal computer skills. I don't understand why, in this thread, "senior citizens" (which I suppose is a euphemism for old people) are being singled out as needing special attention. Some old people haven't used computers much, are afraid of them, or have diminished mental or physical capacities. Some, however, have none of these disabilities. I myself am old and not very knowledgeable technologically, but I know young people far less expert than I am. Some young people even have arthritis of the hands, a problem mentioned in this thread.
Keep up the good work, but go easy on the stereotypes.
Keep up the good work, but go easy on the stereotypes.
listening to radio
My main drawback to getting old is memory measured in nanoseconds,
Can somebody put a dotpup together so that we can listen to the bbc, I
get rather annoyed when the announcers insist an telling us we can listen over the internet, I tried to follow scoticus some while back when he was trying to listen to radio 4 but got lost.(I blame it on my short term memory.)
I have gone back to 2.01 at least I can listen for ninety second then let it repeat
ted
old age always comes at a bad time of life.
Can somebody put a dotpup together so that we can listen to the bbc, I
get rather annoyed when the announcers insist an telling us we can listen over the internet, I tried to follow scoticus some while back when he was trying to listen to radio 4 but got lost.(I blame it on my short term memory.)
I have gone back to 2.01 at least I can listen for ninety second then let it repeat
ted
old age always comes at a bad time of life.
- scotto_puppy
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Thu 22 Mar 2007, 21:56
- Location: Elvina Bay, NSW,Australia
I too , teach seniors computer tricks based, of course, on MS software. However for those that I feel are ready for it, I give a copy of Puppy on CD for them to try at home. As you would expect, they are amazed at the speed of loading a browser.
A couple of more advanced students have brought in an empty pen drive (having seen me use one) and asked me to set up Puppy with appropriate mail settings.
They love to show their kids how clever they are
A couple of more advanced students have brought in an empty pen drive (having seen me use one) and asked me to set up Puppy with appropriate mail settings.
They love to show their kids how clever they are
The "guru" I see everyday @ work is 70 This year! I started on cpm,dos,windows,linux and now thanks to the great edu I got
here on this Great forum I'm installing solaris so unix can be
added to the list so the OS has come full circle unix clone
to unix after so many years of clones I think I should have just
studied unix to begin with!
I guess the question is who said we needed help!
here on this Great forum I'm installing solaris so unix can be
added to the list so the OS has come full circle unix clone
to unix after so many years of clones I think I should have just
studied unix to begin with!
I guess the question is who said we needed help!
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Re: Simplify Things For Senior Citizens
Easier still...mouse keys! NOT the arrow keys, but using the numeric keypad as a mouse. I have fibromyalgia, and use the mouse keys a lot.Marcel wrote:I teach Seniors how to use their computers - unfortunately windoze.The main problem is often not the menus, but the mouse. With arthritic hands, controlling the mouse is a nightmare.Trackballs are easier - just roll the ball.
Click START > SETTINGS > CONTROL PANEL > POINTERS
Somewhere in there, you'll find settings for mouse keys. Enable this, and your arthritic friends will find they experience far less pain.
That's the one downside of using Puppy, for me...no mouse keys means increased pain.