[dekoruotas]

Just three days ago I've set up my 93 year old grandfather on a Lenovo Smart Display 7. I think it has multiple benefits over an iSomething: - Always plugged in - no need to remember to charge - Shows our family picture albums that I can remotely update via my Google Photos - It is loud. Left the volume at 3/4 - Sits on a table and you're never holding it wrong™ - No settings to mess up, two previous tablets were too complicated

[Seanambers]

I had to google it to see what it looked like, looks great if all you care about is photo + videocalls.

In the end i guess it all depends on the persons ability to manipulate and see things.

I've pushed my parents hard into the Apple ecosystem and it has worked out great.

My mom first got the iPhone 4, before that she had a nokia flip phone, she could use it from day 1. Nowadays I buy the newest iPhone, and after 1-2 years or so I sell it to one of my parents for a 'nice' price. The iPad I made them buy (and they upgraded it once) is very popular.

But the most used Apple product is the AppleTV. It has enabled them so watch the news when they want, and Youtube has given them access to content (travel) they'd never had before.

Sharing photo albums, facetime video calls, imessage and ease of use is just on a level I don't think exists with android - of course, sometimes theres the small hiccup.

But they are not 93 years old so the mileage might vary :)

[mod50ack]

For the past few years I've had my grandma using a Linux desktop (for her, it's always the year of the Linux desktop!) She has no idea how to use the system, but I just lock it down for the most part, exposing mostly Skype and a solitaire game, and giving myself full access to SSH and x11vnc (through SSH, with my key required, of course).

To her, it's almost like a television, as family members are able to call her and even initiate calls. (Although we often have to call her on the normal phone to get her to realize that we're calling her on her computer, or to plug it in --- this is the one thing she does do with the hardware.)

[acdha]

Those are good selling points but all but the last applies equally to a tablet (e.g. there’s no law requiring you to use a tablet on battery).

The key point is the single function: a general purpose computing device has more UI & management than some people want to deal with. This is something the industry really hasn’t done a great job with, especially since it overlaps with the problem of treating things as disposable because the revenue model for single purpose devices is mostly broken and so people are often forced to churn them because the device they’re used to has been discontinued or no longer works with their WiFi.

[sgt]

That's cute but also kind of horrific if you want to do anything else. You are essentially ensuring he's stuck in a sandbox.

My grandmother as mentioned uses an iPad which is the only user friendly tablet or "computer" I would ever give her.

She uses it for general browsing and e-mail as well, as well as taking photos and browsing albums in iCloud. No messaging though.