Not REVOLUTION but RESOLUTION, this being the first post of the 2012 year and all. The genesis of this post comes from installing a fax machine for my grandparents. Back story....
My 92 and 94 year old grandparents still lived independently, much to my mother's dismay and a total test to her patience. To compound the situation, my grandmother is essentially deaf, can not hear the phone ring, but does not acknowledge her hearing difficulties. Communication with her is TOUGH. My grandfather who can hear, but has lost a great deal of mobility, has become so incredibly passive, that getting him to do things is in itself a challenge. I could go on about the difficulties of elder care, but you get the drift.
My aunt in San Diego has taken on the responsibilities of bill paying, insurance and paperwork. Much thanks to her for that. However, this requires sharing of documents and information, which in our modern day, one just says to oneself, PDF's and email. Done! But this is my grandparents you are talking about, and the only computer in their lives is the early 1980's vintage Apple IIC sitting in their basement. So, let us move down the technology ladder, to the fax machine, which is our chosen solution to communicate and transfer information back and forth.
On New Year's Day, I installed a fax machine at my grandparents' house. I pulled it outside of the box and the immediate reaction was, "Take it away, we do not need that". After it was installed, the next step was to teach my grandfather how to use it. Lesson 1, how to receive a fax. Dedicated land line for the fax? You have got to be kidding. We have to teach him how to switch between fax and telephone mode. Sending faxes, actually a bit easier, but still requires calling my aunt and having her turn on her fax machine. I could see in his face HOW foreign this contraption was, but he did it. Now he just needs practice.
Then, this morning, in a total surprise, my grandfather called and was going over the instructions I left for him and wanted to go over them with me. As a teacher, I could totally hear in his voice when something made sense to him. He understood that the receive button was the long oval black one (It is also the only function button showing as I taped over all the over ones). Anyone up for faxing with my grandfather and grandmother?
So back to the issue of resolution. I have been accused, and rightly slow, of being slow to adopt new technology. No iPhone for this boy. Twitter? I have an account but I never use it. Updating this blog to having RSS feed or searchable index? You think I would tackle it, but it has not happened yet. But watching my 94 year old grandfather take on a fax machine? Inspiring. Perhaps it is time to switch from my hotmail account to actually using my gmail account. Ok, maybe this is too radical a step.....
My 92 and 94 year old grandparents still lived independently, much to my mother's dismay and a total test to her patience. To compound the situation, my grandmother is essentially deaf, can not hear the phone ring, but does not acknowledge her hearing difficulties. Communication with her is TOUGH. My grandfather who can hear, but has lost a great deal of mobility, has become so incredibly passive, that getting him to do things is in itself a challenge. I could go on about the difficulties of elder care, but you get the drift.
My aunt in San Diego has taken on the responsibilities of bill paying, insurance and paperwork. Much thanks to her for that. However, this requires sharing of documents and information, which in our modern day, one just says to oneself, PDF's and email. Done! But this is my grandparents you are talking about, and the only computer in their lives is the early 1980's vintage Apple IIC sitting in their basement. So, let us move down the technology ladder, to the fax machine, which is our chosen solution to communicate and transfer information back and forth.
On New Year's Day, I installed a fax machine at my grandparents' house. I pulled it outside of the box and the immediate reaction was, "Take it away, we do not need that". After it was installed, the next step was to teach my grandfather how to use it. Lesson 1, how to receive a fax. Dedicated land line for the fax? You have got to be kidding. We have to teach him how to switch between fax and telephone mode. Sending faxes, actually a bit easier, but still requires calling my aunt and having her turn on her fax machine. I could see in his face HOW foreign this contraption was, but he did it. Now he just needs practice.
Then, this morning, in a total surprise, my grandfather called and was going over the instructions I left for him and wanted to go over them with me. As a teacher, I could totally hear in his voice when something made sense to him. He understood that the receive button was the long oval black one (It is also the only function button showing as I taped over all the over ones). Anyone up for faxing with my grandfather and grandmother?
So back to the issue of resolution. I have been accused, and rightly slow, of being slow to adopt new technology. No iPhone for this boy. Twitter? I have an account but I never use it. Updating this blog to having RSS feed or searchable index? You think I would tackle it, but it has not happened yet. But watching my 94 year old grandfather take on a fax machine? Inspiring. Perhaps it is time to switch from my hotmail account to actually using my gmail account. Ok, maybe this is too radical a step.....