On Thursday 11 Sep 2003 12:13 pm, Bryan Phinney wrote: > On Thursday 11 September 2003 06:10 am, Anne Wilson wrote: > > On Wednesday 10 Sep 2003 10:02 am, Michael Adams wrote: > > > On Tue, 9 Sep 2003 09:03:42 -0700 > > ..snip > > > > They get sold a box with a firewall, virus-checker and windows > > > update. They wouldn't know it has a firewall, run the virus > > > checker regularly but dont know about the "update" button, and > > > wonder if the windows update reminder is a virus. I myself have > > > only just learned about the joys/pains of system restore which > > > may or may not have been turned on by the retailer. Many of the > > > virus calls i get are solved with Ad-Aware or Sy-Bot Search & > > > Destroy. But it takes 2 hours to show them how to update > > > windows and there virus checker database before i leave the > > > house > > > > Although senior myself, I have been using computers since 1981, > > but I agree totally with your comments. What's really needed is > > for cyber-cafes to offer daytime classes, maybe 5-6 people at a > > time, where someone can teach them these things. I'm sure that > > many would want to know, but need the assurance of a protected > > setup like this, and can't afford one-to-one tuition. > > > > I had hoped to be instrumental in such a scheme at a proposed > > cybercafe, but the whole scheme fell through. I'd still like to > > see it done elsewhere, though. I'll bet reasonable fees for one > > tutor spread among 5-6 people could come up with a very fair > > price. > > Rather than offering day classes to try to teach seniors to hit a > moving target by trying to secure windows, I would suggest day > classes to teach Linux, so once they learn a few easy > administration tasks, they are able to be productive with a minimum > of effort.
The only problem with that is that the idea of installing their own os would terrify the majority, and they would not even have the comfort of family that already use it. It is certainly the way to go, but unless someone has huge amounts of time to offer at low rates I'm not sure that it is feasible. I'm not suggesting that no seniors could cope with this, just that for many it is a leap into the unknown. With a little handholding I don't think it would be any harder than windows for them, but who will provide the handholding? Anne -- Registered Linux User No.293302 Have you visited http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org yet?
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