Hey, y’all! Please help me give my Gramps some fun things to do with his new Kindle. He received it for Christmas and so far will use it check his new e-mail account (and can send short replies) and read books that are downloaded for him.
This man has never had or used a computer before, nor had any interest in learning to, but he’s being a sport and using the Kindle for the above reasons. But I’m sure that he would love to be able to access articles, news, and such if he knew how to search. He’s pretty stubborn, though, and not one to be convinced or shown. I think if he could figure out where to start without having to ask, he’d take off on his own after getting the hang of it.
So! I’m trying to think of direct hyperlinks to send him that’ll light his fire. “Hey Gramps! Check this out. One click and you’re there!” And I’d surely appreciate advice and recommendations from you bright Dopes. Some I’ve thought of so far are the “Bonanza” page on hulu, and Louis L’Amour’s wiki page. What are some other sites that might entertain an old newbie?
Thanks in advance.
Internet Archive. There’s links to Oldtime Radio as well as a great deal of music from the 20s-40s. (and earlier)
and Project Gutenberg, of course.
What are his hobbies? How does he fill his days right now? Does he like history? Word games? Politics?
I’m sure the teeming millions can probably recommend some pretty cool sites for any particular interests.
He might enjoy Lileks.com–James Lileks has a ton of stuff, and specializes in old-time ephemera, old radio shows and ads, old stuff with funny commentary (like “The Gallery of Regrettable Food”), and that sort of thing. Might be a fun nostalgia-trip-with-a-twist for him.
ETA: Hmm…re-reading the OP, this one might be one to wait until he’s a bit more comfortable clicking around, unless you wanted to search for the good stuff ahead of time and give him some links. There are a lot of places to explore there.
http://www.si.edu/ for the Smithsonian
and maybe
And for additional enjoyment, tell gramps to add the word “naked” to every Google search.
My father used to enjoy reading his hometown newspaper online. If your grandpa moved away from his hometown, he might enjoy doing this, as well.
I happen to know that my father had figured out Google, as well. I was visiting my folks one time, needed to use the computer to search for something…and found that some recent searches were of nude pin-up girls that were popular when my father was a young man.
If the Kindle will let you listen to audio files, your grandfather might
enjoy these sites that have hundreds of old radio programs:
http://www.radiolovers.com/
http://www.otr.net/
http://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio
You could find out what his favorite radio programs were back in the days before
television and show him how to download and listen to them on the Kindle.
Well if he’s got some time on his hands Popular Science has archivedevery issue for the last 140 years. Pick an issue and start reading or use their search engine.
The internet is for porn. Do tell gramps that my elderly uncle ruined the rest of his health by taking viagra and cialis at the same time so to make sure not to overdo it.
