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I just installed an old version of GIMP on Momma's computer late this morning. Little story to do with that...
When her mother died in '04 I ended up with a two-month project scanning in Gramma's lifetime of pics. I was doing a lot of enhancing when needed within the limited range of Lexmark Photo Editor, which is a user-friendly program -I didn't learn to shoop until I took up SMACX custom factions in '09- mostly good for cropping, a little brighten/contrast. Snapshots need a judicious crop, more often than not. She often sat on the bed behind me and watched me work - family pics and all.
She eventually asked to try herself - got cropping nailed instantly from watching and an intuitive program. And then she expressed interest in email, and I set her an account up. All she had to do was select my first name and type hers -they were in the addresses and otherwise the same- but there no experience with joysticks, let alone the mouse, was telling. She had a hand-eye coordination problem that lasted over a month --- until she took an interest in computer solitaire and that practice using the mouse heavily made her selecting-drag ills go right away.
-Same way I learned in the early 80s, playing games.
So she's upstairs GIMPing right now, age 80.5. I'll probably be back to brag on her soon enough.
And I'd also advise anyone with a senior they love to get them to keep a notepad file on the Desktop, where it's Easy to Find, to keep notes about stuff like [cntrl]z and all the shortcuts seniors have trouble remembering. And there's some good solitaire programs downloadable free one googling away. Mom loved playing a variety of types of solitaire I'd never heard of - I'd told her "the Help file is your friend" and she took care of the rest...
When her mother died in '04 I ended up with a two-month project scanning in Gramma's lifetime of pics. I was doing a lot of enhancing when needed within the limited range of Lexmark Photo Editor, which is a user-friendly program -I didn't learn to shoop until I took up SMACX custom factions in '09- mostly good for cropping, a little brighten/contrast. Snapshots need a judicious crop, more often than not. She often sat on the bed behind me and watched me work - family pics and all.
She eventually asked to try herself - got cropping nailed instantly from watching and an intuitive program. And then she expressed interest in email, and I set her an account up. All she had to do was select my first name and type hers -they were in the addresses and otherwise the same- but there no experience with joysticks, let alone the mouse, was telling. She had a hand-eye coordination problem that lasted over a month --- until she took an interest in computer solitaire and that practice using the mouse heavily made her selecting-drag ills go right away.
-Same way I learned in the early 80s, playing games.
So she's upstairs GIMPing right now, age 80.5. I'll probably be back to brag on her soon enough.
And I'd also advise anyone with a senior they love to get them to keep a notepad file on the Desktop, where it's Easy to Find, to keep notes about stuff like [cntrl]z and all the shortcuts seniors have trouble remembering. And there's some good solitaire programs downloadable free one googling away. Mom loved playing a variety of types of solitaire I'd never heard of - I'd told her "the Help file is your friend" and she took care of the rest...
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