Adjusting to the Technologically Challenged (or, this is for my mother)

Technology is amazing. With our phones we carry maps, Bibles, internet access, news reports in an instant, thousands of songs and videos, thousands of picture to place on social media outlets, teaching and preaching series, watch TV and movies, keep a datebook, have phonebooks, entire library collections, calculators, and of course, candy crush (or whatever game keeps you busy – for me it is Risk), and lastly, a phone.

But my mother is technologically challenged. She no longer needs a cell phone and can’t figure out a tablet (always forgetting to charge it.) I know she is challenged with short term memory dystopia, and we adjust to that. There is no doubt that family is important – but we don’t make it easy for her. We have moved all over the globe. Until recently, one son was even in Dubai. So getting together is not normal for us. Reunions rarely take place, and visits have to be scheduled. Even me, though I live in the same state – it a seven hour round trip. So it is an all day event to visit even for a short time.

I can not express how grateful I am that my bro, her eldest son, moved closer and is helping in all this now that mother is twice widowed.

But I have discovered a new toy, a piece of technology that will enable all her family to stay connected a bit more … and more than just a phone call. It is a digital frame. Wait, you say. They’ve been around. Yes, but these are WiFi enabled and photos can be shared from a phone by email or simple app.

Click – send – and it shows up on the picture rotation on the frame in her room. It holds 8 gigs on the frame and 50 on the cloud. With a subscription, you can even do small vids (think TikTok for grandma). Entire photo albums can be organized and shared by an app on any phone or tablet, even android based. Some give the date and time. Others even have weather updates. All on an attractive frame that sits on a table near her chair. I can control the frame from wherever I am … turn it on, change settings, and manage all the pics. Pretty cool.

Before this, it took weeks for me to get our son’s wedding pictures to her. But now, it’s there in mere seconds. Already my niece, her granddaughter, has loaded her family’s Christmas pics on the frame … within minutes of the frame being set up – and from three states away.

Now you may still live in the community with your family of seventeen generations, where everyone sees everyone everyday and everywhere. This technology may be unnecessary for you. But for us, I look forward to being connected just a little better. Especially with the technologically challenged.

And if that brings a smile to my mother, it’s worth it.

Have a blessed day.

Post Script. This is not an advertisement. But if you want to know, we went with the NixPlay Smart WiFi Cloud W10F HD frame. There are some with more bells and whistles, some that do less and do more. But this seems to work for us.