My Dad Gets an iPad

My dad doesn't handle technology well. He didn't grow up with it and really has no desire to learn, but his friend convinced him to get an iPad. This has been both good and bad.

The good:

• My dad doesn't drive any longer and he's home alone all day. This gives him contact with the outside world.
• Not only can he read the news, but he gets emails from my cousins with pictures of their children and he loves this. He also sends short emails to friends and family.
• It allows me to text him from work because I have an iPhone and iMessage works between Apple devices. My dad's hearing isn't the best so this allows me to tell him something quick without having to shout on the phone while I'm at work.

The not so good:

• Even after months and months, my dad still makes the same mistakes, and although I've shown him over and over and over again how to fix them, he still brings the iPad to me.
• He uses a stylus. This by itself wouldn't be bad, but it makes a loud clatter every time he puts it down and he puts it down a lot. Which drives me crazy because he moved in with me after my mom died and that noise is super annoying.
• He wants to share every word of every email or message he receives with me. It doesn't matter if I'm busy, he'll rush in to tell me someone message him. "John told me hi and asked how I was doing."  Sigh.
• This ties back to item one--I am tech support. 24/7 tech support.
• He hasn't figured out how to use the home button, making Touch ID impossible because he holds it so long, Siri always pops up. I wish we'd waited until Face ID was available and bought him that version of the iPad instead.

Despite the lengthy list of negatives, it's still been really good for him. I just wish more people he knows had iPhones because it's much easier for my dad to message someone than to email. For some reason, messaging makes more sense to him. But because he doesn't have a phone number, he's limited to iMessage which only works between Apple devices.

Overall, I'll call it a win for him, although not so much for me. :-)