Parents Just Don't Understand

My parents are in town and as usual I have to deal with technology issues. I just set up a new WiFi network in my house and brought a new laptop, BTW great laptop for just over 400 bucks, the link has it listed at $499 but I paid $450??. My excuse for getting the laptop was for my 4 year old Lauren. Funny, how she has barely touched it. It is great sitting in my lounger, surfing the web while everyone else is watching TV.

My parents did not understand how it was hooked up the internet. My mom, who always knows EVERYTHING - told my Dad that the internet 'waves' went through the air and the laptop 'captured' them. In front of my dad, who thinks he is the techno geek between him and grandma, (which in actuality simply means that he can find where he saved photos on the computer) I say in a mocking voice ( I am good at that)"So let me get this right, internet 'waves' (insert wild hand gestures) just flow through the air and the computer picks it up?" Of course my dad joined in my derision of this obviously flawed concept. After a few minutes of this....I had to break it to Grandpa that Grandma was right and this was as close to an explanation as I would be able to explain. Grandpa said it was Bull$#%$#. I took him upstairs showed him my wireless router and tried to explain it to him. After a while I reverted to the previous explanation Grandma had told.....Dad...there are these 'waves' of internet and the laptop is capturing them.

Most of my technology issues surrounding my parents are getting them to a web site. I have given up on trying to get them to type in the URL and now simply have them type a website in google. Dad, type HTTP// Ah....F*&^ it just to google and type Woot.com. this seems to work better than typing in the URL.

I have another older person I help out with computers. I think the mistake I make is trying to give them simple 'steps' to take to help them out. I am going to start explaining more holistically what they are doing so they may be able to figure it out. It is like the old joke, 'hit any key' where someone can't get past this command because they are looking for a key that says 'ANY'. I don't know how many times I have got a telephone call that started with 'I pushed the key you told me too' Uhhh you have to have the window OPEN FIRST. As the world changes, we are going to have to take account of these changes, we can't afford to have these folks left behind. The digital divide is not simply one of economics but of culture.