Here's a sample size of The Internet, Rip VanWinkle. Now what?

• You used computers extensively in the era of the ddial, but never got on the Internet. Someone gives you just a few hours of Internet access for your aging PC. What do you have to do and see? My dad was really into computers in the Amiga/Atari ST era. In fact, he was rockin' an Amiga 2000 until last month when it finally died. But, right before the Internet became popular, I went to college (with my 1200 bps modem) and he moved to the middle of nowhere. I sent him an XP machine a few years ago, but, being unconnected to the Internet, it's gotten no updates. He has a phone because I sent him a disposable Virgin mobile phone. Now Virgin has a http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband and I'm thinking of sending it to him. I can't afford to constantly recharge it, though. 1) Is this cruel/worth it? - I want to send him pictures, email, etc. rather than sending him data DVDs of pictures every few months and let him update his own http://ask.metafilter.com/74799/What-do-you-get-the-guy-whose-seen-everything rather than going over it on the phone with me - Could just a "dose" of the Internet make him depressed once it runs out? Or is there a way to make this experience awesome without withdrawl? 2) Security/virus stuff - I'm going to ask a friend of his to sneakernet XP service pack 3, but I'm worried that a direct connection sans firewall might just make it explode with viruses/malware or spend all his bandwidth just updating software (AVG, VLP, handbrake, random software we've installed for him as well as questionable software he may have received from local friends with warez connections). What can I do to keep him safe or jump start the updating? Is there something I can mail with the dongle to prep/safeguard? Or is this a trainwreck waiting to happen? 3) "Street" savvy stuff He's a bright guy who could scam anyone on the streets of LA, but he's never seen a phishing scam or a banner ad. How do I prep him for the HUGE variety of things he could encounter. (He doesn't have a credit card, so I'm not worried about anything but destroying his computer.) 4) If I get through #1-4, where do I guide him to? Watching hi-res videos will immediately eat all his minutes/bandwidth, but Flickr, ebay, wikipedia... What is "can't miss" tourism on The Internet? He's an artist, cult movie buff, tattoo artist and has a goofy/"Jackass" sense of. I've set up a Flickr account for him of all the pics he's sent me on CD, a blog of the writings he's sent me, but I want to show off this "Internet place" that I spend all my time in. What's awesome that doesn't require all the backstory?

• Answer:

  Since I read this question yesterday the thought of having a taste of the incredibly wide world that is opened to one via the internet and then losing it sounds quite awful to me. I might not be the best data point seeing that I'm probably 3-4 decades younger than your father, but since I keep thinking about it I feel compelled to answer. Part of it is just my gut reaction and the other part is an experience I've had with a senior in a similar situation. I recently helped my boyfriend's grandmother (in her late 70s) get fully set up to get online. She has a rather quiet, isolated life in a remote area and is taking care of her husband who has been ill for many years. Watching her kind of "wake up" to the world she's been hearing about for so long was really quite neat, and the experience has really broadened her perspective-- even on what I find to be a very torturous dial-up situation. To take that away from her now, and close her world back up when she knows what she's missing, would seem to me to be really unkind. If there's any way at all, I think you should try to find a solution that takes care of the security problem and allows him continued access. The sites recommended above also sound like a great start to me. There are "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Y3W&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=software+for+seniors&aq=f&aqi=g1g-m1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=" portal-type applications, and though I can't recommend one in particular, they sound like they might be interesting and could save you some telephone training time.