My grandma does online banking!

For my three generations I chose my brother who is a financial advisor, age 30, my dad who is an accountant, age 60, and my grandma who is 86. All three of them actively use the internet even my grandma! My brother uses the internet on a daily basis with his job as well as my dad. My grandma primarily uses the internet for communication along with a couple other things.

So my brother…He is a financial advisor so he is always checking stocks online and communicating with clients. He is very comfortable with the internet and can use it without a problem. He e-mails regularly and of course uses Google on a daily basis like most people. He can use the wonders of opposite internal cultures to work as well. He can be at a conference on the other side of the country and still be able to be connected with his office.

My dad is an accountant and uses the internet on a daily basis as well. For my dad it is a bit different, he can use the internet and his computer perfectly at work. He uses it to book his clients, communicate with his clients and look up other businesses online. It is part of his everyday use at work. Thanks to his secretary he knows how to use his computer in the office and all the software along with it, but when he comes home it’s a different story. When he is home he doesn’t have his secretary to help him so he struggles a bit. He can open up the internet and browse but he has no idea how to log into his e-mail from his computer at home. He won’t admit to this, but he mentioned something along the lines during my interview with him. I find this quite amusing, but keep it to myself. We have a new addition to our family, my first niece. Since she lives in Arizona, we don’t see her often. So, my dad has fell in love with his new webcam. He uses it to talk to my brother and baby Cameron on a daily basis.

Now my 86 year old Grandma…she uses the internet all the time. It amazes me how much she can do online. She uses her webcam to see baby Cameron as well, which I think is amazing. She e-mails her grandkids on a regular basis and she even does online banking! How many 86 year old women are paying bills online, I don’t think very many. She loves the internet. Everything I teach her how to do on the internet she writes on a 3 x 5 note card and files it away in case she forgets how to do something on the internet. I am amazed at what my Grandma can do with the internet. She loves uses her webcam like my dad to see Cameron

After the interviews I learned that the older the person is the less dependent they are on the internet. For my brother it is a part of his everyday life even when he is home in the evenings. For my dad he uses it all day at work but only on occasion while he is home in the evening. My grandma uses it sporadically and only when she needs to. This shows how our society has changed over time with the internet. My brother has grown up with the internet so I don’t think he could live without it whereas I had to teach my grandma how to use the internet from scratch.