Buying Guide

Making Technology Easier for Seniors

The pandemic has changed the world. More people have been pushed online in new ways, and for senior citizens this can be particularly challenging. Even registering for a COVID-19 vaccination requires going online in many countries. Plus, social gatherings and other appointments have gone virtual. Don’t add to a seniors’ social distance. Here’s how we can help seniors with their technology needs.

Think of all that has moved online in 2021:

  • telehealth
  • scheduling services
  • service appointments
  • church, club, association, and neighborhood meetings
  • shopping
  • selecting and reserving library books

It’s not that these things weren’t using technology before, but there were other options. Now, seniors may need to get online to take part in weddings, funerals, or baby showers. Thus, it’s essential that they have the right tools and know-how to log in and connect virtually.

Another problem? The senior is stuck at home and can’t go out to get computer help the way they might have done before. Meanwhile, family members may not yet be able to visit to help out.

How We Help Seniors with Technology

Socially distancing can have an especially negative impact on senior citizens, and factoring in a technology barrier doesn’t help. A managed service provider can help seniors tackle tech challenges. With their coaching, the senior can connect confidently and securely.

To stay in touch with family today, the senior has many online channels available. They can get on Facebook, use FaceTime on a mobile phone, start a video call on their desktop, or send an email. They also might play online games with family members, or join a watch party on a streaming service such as Amazon, Hulu, or Netflix. The list goes on and on.

All this requires technology in the home. Deciding on what kind of computer to get or upgrade to can be daunting, not to mention the challenge of setting it all up and connecting it to other devices in the home … or installing a router … or making sure the software is up to date and patched to lower the risk of malware or hacker attack.

Then, once the technology is installed, the learning curve doesn’t flatten out entirely.

In our digital environment, there are so many more devices to connect to one another. Maybe the printer is wireless and connects to the phone, or the router provided by the cable service isn’t giving a good enough signal throughout the house. A residential IT expert can help with that, too.

Our IT team can also suggest software solutions to make life easier for seniors online. We can recommend ways to integrate all the technology to simplify the environment. We know about changing default passwords for cybersecurity, and we can also set up password wallets. This can help forgetful seniors who might otherwise repeat access credentials across accounts.

Connect with Our Residential Support Team

You can rest assured that you or the seniors in your life have the IT help needed to stay connected. We’re able to explain, coach, and troubleshoot at any time. As we’ll get to know the technology, we can often help faster, too, plus we can do a lot of our work remotely if that makes the senior feel safer.

Some seniors fear technology. We get it. We can address concerns about going online. We will reassure with the right precautions and by setting up a secure system. Our experienced techs are always happy to help. Contact us at (978) 346-4087!

Senior Shopping Hours

Grocery Stores

  • Market Basket – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 5:30 am – 7:00 am
  • Star Market & Shaw’s – Tuesday, Thursday 7:00 am – 9:00 am
  • Stop & Shop – Every day 6:00 am – 7:00 am
  • Trader Joe’s – Monday 9:00 am – 10:00 am
  • Whole Foods – 1 hour before official opening hours. Check your local store
  • Roche Brothers – 7:00 am – 8:00 am
  • Price Chopper – Every day 6:00 am – 7:00 am

Others

  • Target – Wednesday, 1st shopping hour
  • BJ – Every day, first hour before official opening, 8:00 am – 9:00 am
  • Cosco – Tuesday, Thursday, 8:00 am – 9:00 am
  • Walmart – Tuesday, 6:00 am – 7:00 am
  • Dollar General – 1st shopping hour
  • Walgreen – Tuesday, 8:00 am – 9:00 am

Buy A New Computer With Guidance. No Markup.

Buying a new computer can be a bewildering experience for consumers and small businesses as there are plethora of choices on top of ever changing technologies.  Some times, we would arrive at customer sites only to find the new computer(s) with incompatible or missing components. And no one wants that.

There are no shortage of articles on the Internet giving you 10 must haves, 9 new features, 7 steps on picking computers. These actually lead to more anxiety and confusion.  I confess that I am adding one more piece on this topic.

Our goal is to help you make the right choice without angst.  Call us before your next purchase.  We have no brand or system bias. We do Windows and Apple. We simply want the best fit computer for you.

That’s why we don’t mark up computers.  You can buy the ones that we recommend directly on your own or prepay us to purchase on your behalf.  Whichever is more convenient. Either way, you pay the same sales price, sales tax and shipping charge.  Instead, we charge a fixed consulting fee of $39. More often than not, we save you time, aggravation and more.

Our approach is to learn more about you.  We talk and listen.  We answer your questions and we ask questions like:

  1. How do you use your computer?
  2. What do you like about your current computer?
  3. How often do you use the computer?
  4. Are there any existing applications that you would like to continue to use?
  5. Do you still want to use the same monitor?
  6. Do you want to use the same printer?
  7. What’s your aptitude to learn new things?
  8. Do you travel, moving around the house with your computer?
  9. Is your current computer a Windows computer or Apple?
  10. Do you want similar system?
  11. What about a tablet?
  12. Do you have a preference, brand or otherwise?
  13. Aside from email, web browsing, what else you use the computer for?
  14. What is a comfortable screen size for you?
  15. Any particular color preference?
  16. How many people are going to use this computer?

We would learn if you like to open many tabs in the web browser or not, streaming Netflix, You Tube or playing Spider Solitaire, Type A or not and more. These snippets of information give us a pretty good idea on your needs.  You notice that there’s no mentioning of CPU speed, memory size, graphics card and hard disk speed.  Because through the conversation, you gave us a pretty good idea what would work for you.

We will then research and propose 3 alternatives within your price range with costs and where to purchase.  We give you the pros and cons of each alternative. You may choose or ask more questions. It may take several iterations.  And that’s O.K. We are here to help.

We hope this makes your next computer purchase a little bit less daunting and a more pleasant experience.

3 MUST HAVE NEW PRINTER FEATURES

You Google printers and a zillion of them spit out on your screen. That’s not helping.

Put aside your brand preferences for the moment and forget about the glitz and fancy features.

Here’s my 3 MUST HAVEs.

#1 MUST HAVE. Printer has to be easy to install and maintain.  So, a LCD screen on the printer is my #1 MUST HAVE.  I don’t want to look up in the manual or remember all those esoteric button combinations in order to set up/review printer features. No screen, no go.

#2 MUST HAVE. Then you want to see if the printer provides Ethernet and/or Wifi LAN feature.  With the LAN enabled printer, printing can be shared among family/staff members.  I prefer Ethernet connection as it is less error prone and drama, in my view.

#3 MUST HAVE. AirPrint. Look for the Apple AirPrint compatible logo before you buy. Invariably, someone wants to print from an Apple device. With AirPrint, printing from iPad and iPhone will be a bliss.  Otherwise, it gets complicated.

Aside from the 3 MUST HAVE features, there are many other items to consider. Most printers offer all-in-one features, including multi-page scanning, copying and faxing.  Print quality in general is good enough unless you are looking for high definition printing. Then you should find ones that provide higher resolution.

Paying more means faster print speed, better durability, more paper sizes and possibly color laser.

Most importantly, don’t be too cheap.  Spending $150 +/- should get a decent new home/small office printer.