A few years ago I had a car that was pretty much a rusty tin can on wheels.  Things went wrong with it often and I used to call my Dad to find out what the problem could be.  The calls would go something like this:

Me: Dad, the car is making a funny noise.  It sounds like this: <Insert pretty appalling impersonation of car noise>

Dad: How am I supposed to diagnose the issue over the phone, based on that?!

I bought a new car a few years ago, before the tin can rusted itself away into nothing and the phone calls like that weren’t needed anymore.

But what goes around comes around…  Mum and Dad invested in an iPad a few months ago which has resulted in a lesson of some sort pretty much every time I see them.  They are getting there – slowly – and they are trying new things which is great.  Dad is starting to get his own back on those phone calls about the car though.  The most recent ones went a bit like this:

Dad: I’m trying to leave a comment on your blog, but it is coming up with an error message.  What do I do?

Me: I can’t see your screen – we’re on the phone.

I didn’t think about suggesting he did a screen shot and mailed it to me, but I thought either the iPad or dad might collapse in the process.  I sorted it out next time I went to see them instead.  However, a few days later:

Dad: I’m trying to leave a comment on your blog, but now it’s asking me my name.  What do I do?

Me: I would suggest you type in your name, Dad

Dad:  But what is my name?

Me: ….

We’re not quite there yet, but we will get there.  One day…

One of our lessons involved showing Mum and Dad Siri.  They were very impressed…until Dad decided she cheated by sending him links to websites rather than giving him a direct answer for ‘Pi to 20 decimal places’.  I think I must have explained it badly.

I thought I’d ask Siri about my parents and their Ipad use though.  This is what I got:

I’m obviously not the first with this issue :o)