Geeking by proxy

Dr T & I are getting to look at geeky things (with a purpose) as my parents are after a new 'pooter.

They aren't very computer literate (anything beyond basic web browsing/ e-mail/ MS Office/ photo downloading and they're a bit stumped), although my mother has more geek in her I think than she realises (and listens more carefully when you explain how to do something). Hmm must remember not to let dad have administrator rights (if poss.)when we set it up as he does seem to have a tendency to muck things up! (the phrase "a little knowledge ..."). That said if we give them to mum, he'll try to tell her what to do instead of what we've told her to do ... (in the same vein as his daughters can't be more geeky than him ... but their partners can (hence 'pooter probs = Dr T = easier to sort out)).

So last night we offered the idea of a laptop as a solution to think about for what they were after as well as desktops. We're slowly getting their requirements out of them (again mum has some more concise answers than dad ... powerpoint for presentations would be good, as she's being asked more to do seminar talks for her area of specialism). Meanwhile dad got confused about what they need to do to get their 2 phone lines to become 1 (the 2nd is an offshoot of the original line), and how they go about getting broadband (ie the ISP won't sort out your phonelines ... that's BT {x2 now}).

Oh well guess what we'll be doing over the Christmas period (and maybe a bit before depending on where the 'pooter is purchased)?