Is the ipad a good buy for my technophobe mother

Pythagorous

My mum, good bless her, has always had an aversion to computers and technology - like many people in their 60s I'd imagine. But she has now seen the benefits to getting online and has just ordered her broadband.

So I'm now trying to decide what type of laptop to buy her. She only needs something to bowse the internet and load/browse photos. Can't really imagine her using it for much else.

I'm thinking the ipad might be suitable for her as its easy to use, load up, likely to encounter less problems with viruses etc and she'll be the coolest 65 year old in her village:rotfl:

what do you guys think?

Also does anyone know what the lowest spec price is going to be when it is finally released at the end of may?

kai666

You won't be able to load any photos, it has no sockets or plugs except for the power cable. It's just an over sized ipod. I really can't see the point of them

RobTang

I think its probably quite useless without and actual base computer to load stuff from (apps / photos etc).

As long as you're willing to do all that stuff its probably a great buy.

BillScarab

Essentially the iPad is not a replacement for a laptop/desktop, it's an additional device to use with them.

if all she wanted to do was surf the net and email it would be fine but it's not ideal for Photo storage as it's harder to get the pcitures onto it and it has limited storage anyway.

noapron

I have an iPad (64gb) which dh brought me back from New York at Easter when it was launched over there. I should say I am almost 56 and have been told I need corneal transplants - so no great eyesight and hence I never had a Touch.
I should say I currently have nearly 900 photos on it and I am writing this on it too.
I should say I also have a pc but have hardly used it since I have had the iPad. i absolutely love it.
You may know that Apple is having an argument with Adobe who at the moment won't let them use Flash on the iPad though it's definitely available on the Touch because dh and dd use it. i'm sure this will be resolved.
I'm also looking forward to the spreadsheet and wp apps coming out as well as iBooks.
it is very easy to navigate - I've used email, shopped Tesco, paid bills - well pretty much anything. The Internet radio I have downloaded is particularly useful. I belong to Audible.co.uk and listen to books on it.
When it's launched here, I'm sure the staff in the Apple store would be more than happy to show her the ropes

BillScarab

It hasn't got Flash on it because Apple won't allow it. The iPod Touch and iPhone don't have flash either.

Apple believe that HTML 5 will make Flash redundant in the future so they won't put it on their devices. That may be true but isn't very helpful currently.

MadTechie

kai666 wrote: »

You won't be able to load any photos, it has no sockets or plugs except for the power cable. It's just an over sized ipod. I really can't see the point of them

we talking about a ipad or a radio ?

it has no sockets or plugs except for the power cable and A 30pin data cable!
of course you can load photos!

I look at it as a large ipod touch, for more info click here

gaming_guy

noapron wrote: »

You may know that Apple is having an argument with Adobe who at the moment won't let them use Flash on the iPad though it's definitely available on the Touch because dh and dd use it. i'm sure this will be resolved.

flash has never been available on the iphone/touch as far as i know.

apple must really have something against adobe to disallow flash player and change the developer contract to only allow certain programming languages locking out the flash packager thing of adobe CS5.

Fire_Fox

I too think the iPad (or a future incarnation) could be spot on for my technophobe sixty-something mother! She has had a netbook for a year and can just about e-mail, also has a basic iPod for talking books and a mini DVD player ... did not realise you could put photos on as my father is into his photography.

BillScarab

The thing Apple have against Adobe si simple. There are lots of websites with Flash games on them that are free to play. If the iPad etc. supported flash you could play them, so then there would be no need to download casual games at a cost from the App Store.

noapron

I'll ask dh how hard it was to load photos - he didn't actually moan and I can say it was a very good way to view them. I'm not into photos so I'm afraid I didn't pay attention.
Dd says she has downloaded apps from the AppStore using her Touch, so as there is an AppStore button on the iPad, I'm assuming I will be able to too.