My mother needs help fellas! Help me help her!

[ryudo]

Mother is retired lives in a rent free apt built for her connected to my bros house in LA.
Bro and his wife have 3 kids, makes good money...they refuse to update the only computer in the house which is some imac from 1999 and running the same OS it came with they don't see any need to buy a new one.
Sufficed to say it can't do anything.


She is one of those who is not electronic friendly and thinks the world will explode if she presses the wrong button on a tv remote and if she got a windows machine I know she is the kind who would freak out about managing anti virus and such.
She can turn on the computer do emails and surf online and do her writing but usually not without some freakout.

I want to get her eventually a Macbook so she can avoid virus/malware and such worry as much as possible.
Here is the big thing however is it true apple only supports OS for brief periods of time and makes you pay for SP updates?this will prob be her last computer and need to last a good while and she lives on Social Security checks as income.
Should she get a mac with maybe limited OS support or should she just get windows and I act as tech support over the phone every time she has a windows question or am I going to have to learn linux and have her on that?

Why don't they get her one some might ask,they see no issue sharing the one old outdated POS.

Help!

[davmoo]

I paid for the initial disc of Tiger (OS X 10.4). I paid for the initial disc of Leopard (10.5). Those are what I call "major" updates. Kind of like going from XP to Vista in the PC world. Those almost everyone gets charged for.

I've *never* been charged for OS X minor updates (10.5.1, 10.5.2, etc...I think we're at 10.5.4 right now). About once a week a bouncing icon informs me there are software updates waiting. I click the button to install, and it does its thing. In fact, I don't know of anyone who's been charged for minor upgrades. Weekly updates are as free in the Mac world as they are in the PC world. If you get her a Macbook with Leopard (OS X 10.5) on it, she'll get all updates to Leopard for free...she won't get charged unless down the road she wants to upgrade to 10.6 when it comes out.

If your mom is currently using a Mac, obviously she is probably better off staying with a Mac. But I'll also toss in this. My mother is in her mid-70s, and by her own admission will tell you that she is to technology what Elmer Fudd is to successful rabbit hunting. Her VCR flashed 12:00 for years. If there's not an icon for it on her desktop, she can't run it. She mainly does email and the web. She's had a series of PCs for the last 20 years, all of which I've bought/built for her. She's never had a virus. She's never had spyware. She's never had malware. And she lives 125 miles from me, so don't think I'm standing over her shoulder protecting her. My point is that the idea that a computer illiterate person can only be secure on a Mac is pure bunk and horse poop. But like I say, even making that point, in your mom's situation since she's used to a Mac, I'd keep her on a Mac.

[ryudo]

Thanks for the reply.
Yeah she is almost 70 and she worked with windows/macs when she worked for the newspaper for 10 years but she retired 5 years ago so she would not know vista.(nor do I as I am on XP ATM)
Me being in utah and her in LA just was afraid to put her on something she might need my help every so often.
So sounds like Mac may still be the way to go.

[fishtoprecords]

You know, a lot of the older folks are more open to technology than the middle aged folks I have an aunt who is 94, and she loves email. She is always sending and getting photos of the grandkids and great grand kids.

But, like your mom, she's not a geek. Its gotta be easy to use and reliable.

In general, I recommend modest Macs for these kinds of folks. Or, I setup a Linux box with just Firefox, Thunderbird and Pidgin.

Their needs are modest, a $500 PC from a big box store is more power than they will ever want. Not a lot of chance of video editing or heavy gaming in their future.

For a while, the 'Mac tax" was gone, as Apple lowered their prices. But these days, there are tons of $400 PCs that can do the job, so the tax is coming back. Apple may adjust again, but right now, you can get a lot of bang for the buck at a big box store in a PC. You will have to remove all the crapware, install a real malware program, and do a few things that Apple doesn't make their customers do.

[ryudo]

As mentioned she is in cal and I am in Utah so we won't be at the store together and she would not do that without me.
And my apologies forgot to mention needs to be a laptop (they do have wifi) as she has no space for a desktop.
I know about brands of hardware and such but it's really more about the OS and her being able to write.

[bigshotprof]

Would she have room for a mac mini?

[ryudo]

nope nothing with a extra monitor or needs a desk/table.Laptop is the only thing I am sure on.

[fishtoprecords]

You might want to look at the Mac all-in-one. Its not bigger than a laptop. And I think its a bit cheaper.

Rumours are that Apple will freshen the MacBook line RSN, so if there is no hurry, it may pay to wait for the new models

[murphy1d]

I see a market for a "Jitterbug PC" with large buttons on a keyboard that has no function keys nor Alt keys, and a help button that goes to an online chat room with a low-tech tech.