To think I might actually die trying to sort out DM's iPhone?

My Mum won't take her phone out with her because it makes her bag too heavy!

DM
It is only when I have to do it/explain it for the 60th time that I vent on Mumsnet!

I have a long and distinguished history of firstly putting the phone on mute mid call and then turning the ringer off. I have no idea how I do this, but it happens all the time. I had to get my son to adjust the volume on the tv once as well, but to be fair it was a stuck button.

My late father used to freeze the tv remote on the regular. I'm not sure how he did it but one minute it would be working and the next we would be stuck watching S4C in bewilderment and unable to change the channel. He swore innocence but after the fourth or fifth time I had my suspicions. He also used to regularly change the language on his phone to Swedish, which was an adventure.

This thread is hilarious. I am trying to find the thread for people supporting elderly parents, i think it does exist?

How have I not seen this thread before?!

I am elderly DM's phone fixer in chief. Luckily for me this only involves getting her PAYG credit reinstated to her unused phone every six months. Having to unravel a smartphone would be the end of me...

I’ve come back to update with today’s hilarity. My dad asked where we were going today (as a family, separate cars). I told him, he starts skimming the screen of his tablet. After five minutes he says ‘is it to the south of here or the north?’. I say ‘north’ and he says ‘ah yes’. Skims some more and looks confused. ‘I can’t find it’.
I go over. He’s got google maps open and is just browsing the map to see if he sees the place we’re going to. Fine in the local area but we’re on holiday so he has no bearings.
I put him out of his misery and showed him how the search bar worked but then the battery went 🙄🙄

We’ve just given ddad an iPod touch and a sonos speaker for his 70th.

We’re going to have all sorts of fun and games with this....

I am tech support for 85 year old DM. She manages quite well. Skype's her sister once a week, emails and does FB. ( Unbeknown to her the entire family block her to avoid the "amusing" messages).
Every time I visit there is a list for me to sort out which almost always includes getting her unstuck on Pearls Peril.

The worst incident was when she discovered she could use the iPad as aradio. Except she couldn't turn it off. An hour of trying to talk her through on the phone failed as apparently her iPad has no buttons. I live an hour away and could not face driving 2 hours at night to turn off the radio. Her neighbours are all elderly.
So I got her to put it down the garden in the shed until the battery died. Went next day and not very patiently showed her the volume and off switch which she swore weren't there.

Oh and she also turns her mobile phone off whenever she's not making a phone call or sending a text because she thinks the phone company charge her just for having it on!

My granny is 90 and very dyslexic. She still emails me but her emails have got more and more batshit over the years - they absolutely make my day every time. This is very outing but I can't not share the last one she sent:

the cmweddarling XX (my name), longng to see you in march, a small request when you have time. to bring in march my fingers give me trouble these days!!!! please bring me some plain combsfor putting nowup my long hair once you found one that was greyish colour once in ---- it stays put and i would love a couple of the plane brown ones amazing in sa

I always forward them to my mum and then we read them out to each other exactly as they're written until we're crying with laughter.

Once, in their infinite wisdom, my parents decided to buy her an iPod for Christmas, along with a lovingly (by my dad) word-processed 25 page instruction booklet, complete with screenshots, of how to use iTunes. I think she must have phoned about 15 times in the week that followed for up to an hour at a time as she could not understand how to actually open iTunes in the first place. By the time New Year rolled round, my dad was practically catatonic.

Reader, she has still never managed to download a single song.

Have had this recently with Dm.

The app for our local government has disappeared. Why can’t she get it on her new iPad when it’s on her phone. What’s wrong with it. Etc.

Turns out they don’t have an app. We think she’s saved the homepage to her phone. But nope. She absolutely hasn’t done that.

She won’t silence her phone at all. And has to read every message email WhatsApp which comes through at the time she hears it. Even if it’s the middle of the night. Then she gets annoyed that Biden or whoever have emailed her.

She told me off today for not replying to an email she sent me yesterday. To my work email. I’m on maternity leave and am not checking it. She knows I’m on leave. I saw her yesterday. But the email was full of news which she could have told me in person.

Last year, my lovely DF (sadly no longer around) was in hospital. He was a late but very enthusiastic smartphone adopter. He phoned me and left a message on my home phone to say there was a problem and could I give him a call urgently. Naturally I thought the problem was to do with his health, which was deteriorating. No, he couldn't get on to the Internet on his smartphone and wanted to buy something on Amazon so could I fix it. By the time I called back, the old duffer in the bed had fixed it - turns out it was on airplane mode. 😂😂😂

Teenmum- I get them from my dh. He'd be useless at having an affair as he'd be accidentally calling me all the time.

I regularly get phone calls from my dad. From his pocket 🤦🏻‍♀️

Chesntoots
LOVE that picture!! Just how I feel to my mother!! 🤣🤣🤣

We've installed TeamViewer on my DP's laptop so my DSis or I can see their screen remotely to fix things. They currently have a steam powered laptop with Windows 7. I am not looking crossed forward to when it breaks and I have to set them up on Windows 10...

They're quite good with brick Nokias - they are not allowed smartphones - touchscreens would be a disaster

My brother visited my sadly departed granny and wanting to save his phone data asked if she had wireless, she pointed to the kitchen counter at the portable Radio and said of course I have, it's right there

Thankfully my very elderly parents have never attempted to embrace modern technology; they can just about manage the washing machine and tv. My DH however thinks he knows everything about technology and frequently ends up in a pickle. It took the guy in CarphoneWarehouse 45 minutes to sort out his basic android phone last week (I absolutely refuse to get involved anymore!) because it had frozen.
He had every email, text, What's App and search since he bought the phone 6years ago. Nothing had ever been deleted, plus he had random apps that he swears he didn't download 😡😕
It actually works very well now!

My dad is pretty decent with tech as in he has Spotify etc etc but sometimes he baffles me
Dad "Where will you get those screws from? You could try going to Wickes but it'll be closed now"
Me "well there's this thing called the internet. I'll type the name in, send them pennies and a nice person will deliver them to my door"
My dad "you're not too old for a smack you know, and sarcasm is vulgar"

I've watched her sit at her computer and type www.google.co.uk then when she's got to Google she's searched for the name of the website she wants to visit
My students do this. Digital natives my arse.

It's not limited to the older generation. My friend is younger than me (he's early fifties). Won't have internet banking, won't use ATMs, very hesitant about online shopping. Because 'they' are spying on him, you know.

Really it's because he's no idea how any of it works and, being a control freak, he really can't handle that!

I work on a switchboard in a hospital.

People dial out and leave voicemail messages, but this has often confused pensioners, who can't hear very well, didn't know their mobile number was known to others and have no idea why anyone in the hospital would call them.

Days after the message was left, I have often had people on a landline trying to play voicemail messages from their mobiles to me.

Trying to get them to understand Speakerphone is an uphill struggle.

"It's a little button that looks like a megaphone!"

"IT'S. A. LITTLE. SYMBOL. THAT. LOOKS. LIKE. A. MEGAPHONE!!!"

"Did you hear it that time?"

"If it was important, they'll ring again"

My parents also think I am an IT genius because I use a laptop for work. They don’t get that it came fully set up with all the software, my email was given to me and we have an excellent IT helpdesk, which I use regularly, as I am really no good with IT at all.
They think I should be able to solve all their IT problems but I am pretty useless. Especially as their laptop uses the new Windows system and I am still on the older version.

My folks won’t entertain the idea of internet banking at all. They also won’t make any purchases online so no Amazon, no booking tickets. They are more than happy for me to do this with my credit card though! I often get calls asking me to book stuff or order something, I then get given the cash the next time I’m around.

My dad won’t use cash machines either, but is okay with getting cash back at the local shop. Can’t see the logic in that.