A birthday present

My father’s birthday is coming, so I was wondering what to get him as a birthday present. I was thinking about getting him a cell phone, since the one he owned previously was snatched. But then my mom gave me the idea of getting him a new PC. At first I wasn’t sure if it really was a good idea. Thing is, my father is pushing 65 and he has never used a PC before. So I was a bit skeptical that he would be able to learn to use PC at that age and be productive with it. But then I thought about it and said why not. He has never used computers because he never got a chance and never got an opportunity. He served the air force for 26 years. During his service most of the office work was paper based. At home he never needed a computer for anything, although he got me a computer when I was 9, but never ever touched it himself. So now that he is retired and free, he has all the time to start using the computer. With user friendly operating system like Windows XP (no pun intended), even 80 year old grandmas can use computers. My dad is still young. I can show him the world of world wide wait web, and introduce him to all the news websites, since he has great interest in current affairs. I can show him how to use email and instant messaging to stay in touch with his contacts. Who knows, he might even start blogging after a while. I just realized that I am very excited to get him a computer on his birthday. A cell phone wouldn’t have brought such a joy. I can almost imagine my dad looking at the new computer, all confused and scared, asking me how to use it. Back in the days when having a TV in home was still a big deal, we got a new TV with big screen. Since I have always been the techie in my home, I learnt its features and showed everyone else how to use it. The entire family was overwhelmed with excitement and joy for having a big screen TV that only few people had. On my father’s birthday this year, the same feeling will come back when I will surprise him with his new Personal Computer.

Long time ago, when I was a huge supporter of linux (I still am, but my enthusiasm has gone a little down), I had a heated discussion with a friend about the usability of linux on desktop computers. His claim was that linux can never be a desktop operating system because it’s not easy to use and manage. I disagreed that Linux ‘seems’ hard because people are used to Windows. If you introduced Linux to someone who has never used a computer before, he would learn it just like he would have learnt Windows. I am not sure if I can do this experiment with my father.