I optimistically bought my dad a Macintosh and then later a Windows computer. Dude was hopeless, even though he was theoretically smart although in a horribly Aspergerish fashion. He actually knew how to run a spreadsheet on an Apple ][, but could NOT make the leap to a GUI. I always took pride in my computer teaching abilitites, but Dad just could not figure it out. It was an exercise in futility and he always ended majorly pissed at me.
The iPad would not have been any different.
My 76 year old friend who hated the expensive laptops her children bought her, and refused to look at a single email they sent her, is now in love with her iPad and even has a facebook account. Her take on it is that it’s much easier to use, and “it can do anything a computer can, but doesn’t have any of the nasty habits they have”.
One of my friends has a mom in her 70s. She had been notoriously computer-phobic for years (my friend bought and set up for her a PC that she literally did not touch for three years), but she really seems to be warming to her new iPad. Facebook is big, but she’s gradually getting into online shopping as her mobility and driving skills decrease.
So I’m not a huge fan myself of Apple but yeah I think an iPad would be a really great place to start someone who wanted a clean, polished, simple and friendly device that was great for the basic internet tasks (facebook, email, shopping, simple web browsing)