I had an amazing day with one of my favorite clients: a 70-year young retiree possessing almost no technology skills. Her go-to device was a poorly performing [circa 1999] Gateway laptop that she would patiently wait to process under her Windows 8 operating system. Over the years she had continued to use her Microsoft productivity tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) saving files to the desktop with comfort. However, the device was taking forever to download and update new software like the Zoom client, or load pictures and music files.
On top of everything, her Windows 8 was no longer going to receive technical support. As a result, she realized the need to upgrade to a newer device. As a Christmas gift, her daughter bought her an iPad and she must now migrate files from the failing device to what she was afraid of and did not understand: the Cloud! Her biggest concern was she always felt her files were going to be seen by everyone or she would lose her files. So she booked a couple of free consultations where we discussed her goals and she explained some of the problems she encountered.
Patiently, methodically, and often humorously, I coached her through Zoom shared screens and use of her iPad camera eye in order to see what we were working with. It took some time but was very rewarding listening to her begin to verbalize comprehension of the processes. Working with her she was able to use the Defragmentation and Disk Clean utilities to improve performance and free up some space.
Once we finished with the utilities, she then learned to install the Chrome Remote extension so we could set up my access to her device; we walked through her use of OneDrive to upload files to the Cloud for access later. I watched her for a little while, and then turned her loose. By the time we finished working through other concerns, she felt empowered to do some cleanup on her own.
Once we were done with the administrative stuff, she committed to book more time in order to learn how to use Google Suite to produce some reports on her iPad. I also recommended a couple of keypads, which she had no idea she could add for typing! She realizes now she can save some money NOT purchasing a new laptop, which is a win-win in my book.
I love what I do.