Ask Slashdot: Touchscreen Device For the Elderly?

Lord Byron II writes "My grandma is in her 80s, is bed-ridden, in a nursing home, and is basically reaching the end of her life. Her legs are weak, meaning that she is confined to her bed, and her hearing is pretty much gone. Her sight is good and her mental facilities are still there, but even so, she spends most of her days just watching daytime TV, like the Price is Right and talk shows. The family has tasked me with finding her an easy-to-use, not overly expensive device that would mentally challenge her. Ideally, I would like to get something iPad like so that she could play card games and such. But the Internet connectivity and advanced features are completely unnecessary. Is there a simple device that will let her easily play some games?"

Re:Touchscreen?

[ZackSchil]

Hahahaha

This is the worst suggestion since Hitler's painting instructor told him to go into politics.

Get an iPad

[Cosmic Debris]

My father (now 83) got the original iPad literally the day it came out. Yes, it was expensive but he's really loved it. He plays online games with my sister, nieces and nephews. We set him up to stay logged on to facebook to get the latest grandbaby pictures from my nephew's wife. My brother taught him to buy ebooks, too. He loves to read and is an inveterate insomniac so this alone was worth it. Now if he can't sleep and nobody is awake to play Scrabble, he can download a new book that catches his interest.

He has a computer (old G5 Mac tower) but rarely uses it now since the iPad can be used virtually anywhere in his home.

It's also reduced the number of "how to" and troubleshooting calls we get from him. For an 83-YO former pastor he does pretty good technically and recently figured out how to properly install the OS/X drivers on his G5 for a scanner/printer on his own.

Short answer: by all means get an iPad. It has the richest set of games and social media connections. My $.02.

Nintendo DSi XL - It was made for her.

[Qbertino]

The Nintendo DSi XL is comparetively cheap, has awsome games that the elderly love (such as the Professor Layton series) and it was built with old-timers in mind. Big screen, modest colors, large pen-like extra stylus and absolut idiot-proof usage. Get her one plus one or two Layton titles and some other slow or non-action puzzle game. ... Most likely she'll ask for more sooner than you'll expect.

And who knows, maybe she'll also be kicking your sorry ass at MarioCart in 2 months aswell. :-)

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