I have a client that for years have been resisting my urges to get up to speed on using a computer. Mr G* has, for the 13 years that I’ve been involved with his business, been asking his assistant to print any incoming emails, reports, charts. He would then take his pen, make any particular notes he had to make, and then return the paper to his assistant for digital editing, and replying.
He also insisted that all email attachments, and important emails, be printed and filed (in the killing a small rain-forest fashion)
Recently when he asked me to get him a quote on a new laptop, I asked what it would be used for, and he admitted that it was for him. Because he’s out in the field quite often, overseeing construction sites, he needed to be in contact with his office, and it was not feasible for his assistant to read his emails to him over the phone.
I suggested he look at the iPad rather than a laptop, seeing that he admitted in the same breath that he found the prospect of using said laptop extremely daunting.
Mr G’s wife was listening to me explain the advantages to him, and soon after gave me a call asking where she can get one, his birthday was coming up and I had given her the perfect idea for a gift.
A week later I got a frantic call asking me to help do the initial setup and give some training. With a total of 2 hours worth of training over 2 weeks, Mr G is now reading his own emails, responding to them, and he has started using his iPad as his online diary and phone book. Things that were still paper based for him not so long ago.
At no point did Mr G find the iPad daunting at all, and he has taken to it like a puppy to a juicy bone.
If you have anyone that needs to get connected in the digital age, a computer is not the only option any more, a tablet will be more user friendly, easier and less daunting to learn and use.
*names withheld to protect the guilty