In the past, I’ve written about my Nana and her computer issues. Then she got an iPhone and that was fun on a bun. However, in this multi-year series, we have yet another new chapter: a new computer. This time, Nana has gotten a new computer with Windows 11 and most importantly, she has switched from a tower to a laptop. I started on this journey with some trepidation, but since it was here idea and her computer was getting old, we started shopping. However, unlike in times past with technology, this time was completely unique.
I will admit that I had to have a little coming to Jesus with Nana about computers. She has been a computer user for almost 40 years, but computers have changed a great deal in the intervening decades. I told her flat out that she had to help me, help her, and be more willing to learn these processes and be willing to do them. I’ve seen her do quite complicated things when she has the incentive to do so. But I’ve also seen her stymie herself unnecessarily around the computer. Our latest interaction about technology started with her new stereo.
On Black Friday, we purchased a new computer, and we purchased a new stereo for her to listen to things on. The laptop needed to come to me first, so I could get it ready for her, but the stereo went to her directly. She ended up getting something bigger, so she could have a remote and 5 disk changer. The moment it arrived, and she put it out of the box, she simply rejected it. It hardly got unpacked. Confused, I asked her what was wrong with it. “It’s just not for me. I can get like this. It’s really frustrating for others.”
It was simply too modern, too confusing, and too much. In the past, Nana has prided herself on being a luddite and not engaging with modern technology. However, this stereo situation and my little talk has triggered an exciting new change. Knowing that we were about to transition to a new computer and a new operating system, I was not enthusiastic about this development. I decided to make my own thoughts known.
The reality is that for the past decade, I had been doing the heavy lifting when it came to Nana and technology. Any time anything went wrong, I fixed it. I listened to rants about the computer and other technology. The same thing happened when she decided, without telling me…
