Friday, April 23, 2010

Apple iPad: not just for 2-year-olds but also for almost-centurions

Apple iPad: not just for 2-year-olds but also for almost-centurions



I almost cried today, but I'm not ashamed! There's a new viral video in town, you see, and while it's not quite as cute as the 2-year-old using an iPad, it's just as astonishing. Ladies and gentlemen, Virginia's new iPad (video after the break, too). Feast your eyes upon a 99-year-old using her very first computer. Marvel at the similarities between the genius tot and the geriatric grandma. Gawp as they poke and prod at the iPad's responsive touch screen!

The Oregonian has a cute human-interest piece about Virginia and her iPad -- go read it. It's amazing to think that after 99 years, your life can still be revolutionized by a light, bright touch screen computer. But the best bit -- the bit that really shows off both the prowess of Apple's marketing mastery and the greatness of the iPad -- is that she's never owned a computer before. At the ripe old age of 99, the iPad is Virginia's first computer. Not only can she use it to read books -- she has glaucoma, making paper print hard to read -- but she can also write using the large on-screen keyboard.

I'll leave you with a poem that she wrote as a tribute to the device and the long-gone abilities she has regained.
To this technology-ninny it's clear

In my compromised 100th year,

That to read and to write

Are again within sight

Of this Apple iPad pioneer.
Note: I'm aware that a Centurion is a Roman soldier. It's a play on words!