After years of putting it off my Uncle decided to finally have knee replacement surgery. There were a number of practical things to take care of during his rehabilitation. In my family I am known as the handy-man, both technological and for home repairs. I received a message from him on a Friday morning asking if I could take a look outside his apartment and see if a railing could be installed.
I texted him back that I would take care of it later that day and let him know. It is important to the story to note that my Uncle does have an iPhone and has had it for a few months. However, when I saw him on Sunday he asked why I hadn’t gotten back to him. I asked if he checked his texts and after a pause he admitted he didn’t know how on his phone. My uncle is a well-educated man who has a degree in dentistry and takes pride in his encyclopedic knowledge, and yet texting has him stumped!
There are two points to this story. The first is that through no fault of our own often we fall behind technology and need assistance in catching up. The second lesson is that styles and methods of communication are generational, and that if we want to stay connected we need to level the playing field.
As this article is a follow-up to the importance of seniors staying connected we are going to focus on the step-by-step technical side and getting things setup. The first step is to make sure you have an internet connection of some type. You can either use a mobile data plan through you cell phone carrier or a home internet service provider. In the case of a home internet connection the company usually will give you a modem/router. The router allows your devices to connect via network cable directly to the box or through the wireless connection, known universally as Wi-Fi. This includes: laptops, tablets, smartphones and smart thermostats.
This link will allow you to search service providers in your area by zip code- http://www.highspeedinternet.com/providers
This paragraph is fairly technical so take it step-by-step:
Once you have internet service you can connect using the Wi-Fi password that is usually on a sticker on the bottom of the router. It is helpful, but not absolutely necessary, to install Google’s Chrome browser. The first step is to create an email account, open your browser and type gmail.com or login.live.com into the address bar. The first lets you create a Gmail email account while the second directs you to Microsoft’s email page. I find that it can be worthwhile having both types of accounts. In fact, if you create a Gmail account first you can make a Microsoft account with that same email. Once this is done create a Goggle Voice account. This will allow you to send texts and use Hangouts which gives you access to video chats. Having the Microsoft account gives you the ability to use Skype. Skype is one of the easiest video communication programs out there to use.
Daniel Rosenblum is a Licensed Social Worker serving the Rockland County area in Suffern NY. He’s the families go-to tech and handyman.