MetaChat - Email only?

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28 December 2006

Email only? My Dad has stroke dementia. He has significant problems converting short term to long term memory. His computer has died, and he is now antsy to get it fixed.→[More:]

He can't really handle another computer, quite honestly. We're talking, this person prints hardcopies of all his email. There is no reasoning with him. Even if you do get through, he will forget. Which is great for him, because everyday is a new adventure. But for those trying to help him (and whom he frequently yells at), not so much.

So we were trying to think of how he could still at least get email and not like we stole his computer. Although we may be wasting our time, b/c he barely understands the Caller ID box next to his phone. Is there such a thing as an email only computer?

Thanks for the vent & sorry for the bring down. *pops another beer*

post by: chewatadistance at: 19:41 | 10 comments

sorry for the bring down
I thought that's why we were here - to be there for each other when things suck. I don't have an answer to your specific question, I just wanted to reach out a friendly hand to you.

posted by getoffmylawn 28 December | 19:56

Chewie, sorry about your dad.

Is there such a thing as an email only computer?

Earthlink used to make something like this, though I couldn't find it when I surfed around the site a little.

posted by initapplette 28 December | 20:09

maybe this is an impractical suggestion, but the fact that he prints everything reminded me that we used to keep in touch with computerless parents by fax (do they still make fax machines?!)

posted by andrew cooke 28 December | 20:20

What do you mean when you say his computer died? If he wants the familiarity of the old computer, can you replace the motherboard and processor if one of those died, and keep the hard disc with all his stuff on it? Or replace the power supply. If the hard disc died, maybe you can put in a new HD - you'll have to reinstall all his stuff and maybe get an HD recovery company to get his documents back, but at least the outside of the computer will look the same, which may give him some continuity.

posted by matildaben 28 December | 20:35

Aw, chewie. I have no advice (although andrew cooke and matildaben have solid suggestions), I just wanted to say it sucks that you have to deal with this and that you're a good daughter.

posted by jrossi4r 28 December | 20:55

Presto.
It's a printer (no computer required) with an email address and dialup connectivity. Saw it the other day, no idea how well it works (for one, how do they filter spam?)

WebTV (are they still around) or one of the AOL/MSN devices-that-hook-to-your-TV (again, if still around) might also be a thought.

posted by it must be bunnies 28 December | 21:15

Sorry, chewie. You're a good daughter.

My mom's 91 and everytime I visit she wants a computer lesson. She tries, bless her heart, but she still can't set the microwave clock. Once, she had several hundred mostly spam emails and no idea how to delete them. (No dementia, luckily, just 91... so glad to still have her in my life, though.)

posted by Pips 28 December | 23:05

I was just reading an article about how computers are helping folks deal with dementia. One way they used it was to email themselves things they didn't want to forget; they knew they'd see it at their next (habitual) email check. Another way was, you guessed it, printing things out that they didn't want to forget. Like emails.

I'm not surprised the poor guy is antsy without his computer. In a very real way it is what has replaced his missing short-term memory; he's probably lost without it. If you can get him a replacement, maybe do it ASAP.

Wish I remember where I saw that article - maybe the NYT? Wasn't more than a week or two ago. Anyone else see it?

posted by ikkyu2 29 December | 01:42

My parents use webtv because they only want a computer for email and for web surfing. They're not interested in other computer applications, and don't want to have to deal with viruses, managing the os, etc. It's perfect for them, and would probably work great for your dad; they can also print from it.

But, reading ikkyu2's comments, I'm thinking that maybe it would be too much of a difference from what he's been used to. He knows how to use his computer, so it's probably best to go ahead and get fixed whatever isn't working there, as matildaben suggests.

posted by taz 29 December | 02:27

Thanks for all the thoughts you guys. We decided to pony up for a new desktop for him since happiness is important (although I've been trying to drill that into my sister's skull for months, who didn't want to get him anything). Apparently my BIL was able to reason with my sister that if he's going to drive us crazy, at least let him be happy while he's doing so. My only suggestion was that we set him up with XP pro so we can do a remote login from my or my BIL's machine to help him out if things get wiggy. He lives about 4 hours from here.

As for what was wrong, we suspect a virus that hijacked his mouse. It would boot but there was no mouse control - it would move on it's own and open whatever it wanted.

Wow pips 91! Thanks for being here you guys. :)

posted by chewatadistance 29 December | 20:44

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