SWMBO wants her own computer
Posted by: Dungassin on 14 August 2010
My technophobic, technologically illiterate wife suddenly announced today that "I want my own computer so I can email and order things on line myself.
This has several potential drawbacks, then main one of which is that I shall have to make sure she can't get at my contributions to this forum
Don't know how it's going to work out, as she can't open directories, and has never got her head round the concept of right/left click, double-click etc.
I tried to suggest that a netbook would be ideal for her, but she "wants a screen at least as big as my laptop". Perhaps I ought to get her something like an iPad, but that really seems like a big expense for something that will almost certainly be a 5 minute wonder .... sigh ....
I've already decided that other than installing antivirus software, she's going to have to figure out whatever she gets for herself. It's the only way she'll ever learn. Just have to get her a book for total computer novices. Wonder if she'd actually read it?
This has several potential drawbacks, then main one of which is that I shall have to make sure she can't get at my contributions to this forum
Don't know how it's going to work out, as she can't open directories, and has never got her head round the concept of right/left click, double-click etc.
I tried to suggest that a netbook would be ideal for her, but she "wants a screen at least as big as my laptop". Perhaps I ought to get her something like an iPad, but that really seems like a big expense for something that will almost certainly be a 5 minute wonder .... sigh ....
I've already decided that other than installing antivirus software, she's going to have to figure out whatever she gets for herself. It's the only way she'll ever learn. Just have to get her a book for total computer novices. Wonder if she'd actually read it?
Hopefully I'll be dragging her off to PC World in Derby sometime this week to look at the various options. Buying one online "blind" for her is not an option. She has already said she wants to pick it herself. Why PC World? Well, it's about the only place near here with a big selection including netbooks, PC laptops, Macbooks, possibly iPad too.
Don't know how she's going to cope with an "Idiot Level" book, though - that's assuming she'll even open one to read. Her standard approach to all equipment (of any description) is to make ME read the manual and then tell her how to work it.
I've already told her she'll have to learn it for herself, but I'm getting those "looks" already.
Me? I'm going to be spending the next 3 hours dismantling and reassembling my AV system (includes AV2 and 282 preamp) trying to track down a mains hum present on front channels only. I'm employing the "take everything out, re-lay the cables and put one thing at a time back in until the problem reappears.
Don't know how she's going to cope with an "Idiot Level" book, though - that's assuming she'll even open one to read. Her standard approach to all equipment (of any description) is to make ME read the manual and then tell her how to work it.
I've already told her she'll have to learn it for herself, but I'm getting those "looks" already.
Me? I'm going to be spending the next 3 hours dismantling and reassembling my AV system (includes AV2 and 282 preamp) trying to track down a mains hum present on front channels only. I'm employing the "take everything out, re-lay the cables and put one thing at a time back in until the problem reappears.
SWMBO is behaving in a fashion very typical of her. Having been vehement in her demands that I get her her own computer, she has now twice refused my offer to take her out to look at and buy one. Her excuse? "I don't feel like it. Perhaps next week"
I guarantee that she will wait until it's grossly inconvenient to me, and then demand to go "NOW".
I guarantee that she will wait until it's grossly inconvenient to me, and then demand to go "NOW".
quote:Originally posted by Dungassin:
SWMBO is behaving in a fashion very typical of her. Having been vehement in her demands that I get her her own computer, she has now twice refused my offer to take her out to look at and buy one. Her excuse? "I don't feel like it. Perhaps next week"
I guarantee that she will wait until it's
grossly inconvenient to me, and then demand to go "NOW".
Good Evening Gentlemen. I love looking at the Website and reading all different threads, surely I'm not the only SWMBO that sneaks a look! We aren't all really all as "blond" as we like you to think we are - love Mrs Rooster xx
quote:Originally posted by Dungassin:
This has several potential drawbacks, then main one of which is that I shall have to make sure she can't get at my contributions to this forum
Given the sarcastic characterisations of your wife and her behaviour on this thread, I'm not surprised you're concerned about this. I know it is all in good fun, but my wife would be filing for divorce if she discovered me going on about her in this manner!
quote:Good Evening Gentlemen. I love looking at the Website and reading all different threads, surely I'm not the only SWMBO that sneaks a look! We aren't all really all as "blond" as we like you to think we are - love Mrs Rooster xx
SWMBO isn't blond. In fact she's got black hair (with a bit of silver now), olive skin, and brown eyes. 8-)
p.s. I know that's not what you meant. My other half is actually very bright, but IMO (and that of our daughters) technology is not one of her strong suits. Alas, her "logic" sometimes completely escapes me ... and I have her permission to say that ...
quote:Given the sarcastic characterisations of your wife and her behaviour on this thread, I'm not surprised you're concerned about this. I know it is all in good fun, but my wife would be filing for divorce if she discovered me going on about her in this manner!
Alas, virtually everything I have said about her is true. I still love her (and hopefully vice versa).
I don't think she would divorce me, but I might get ostracised for a few hours. Incidentally she often reads what I post (over my shoulder), quietly smiles to herself then goes away.
Well, I finally managed to drag her off to PCWorld so she could look at laptops etc. Tried to persuade her to get an iPad, as I thought that would be the easiest thing for her to use, but no. Macbooks were dismissed as "too expensive", and netbooks as "screen too small".
So, in the end she got a fairly basic 15.6" widescreen Toshiba, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard drive, integrated graphics. Did try to persuade her to get a higher specced machine - 17" screen, proper graphics card etc, but no go. I did manage to steer her away from a Samsung which was £100 more, had less RAM, and whose only virtue seemed to be that "she liked the red colour" of the case.
I was going to install my own Norton 360 v3 on her new laptop, but salesman told me I couldn't do that as I had had my copy for more than 5 months. Seemed a little dubious to me, but SWMBO insisted we got a new copy of v4, so I didn't argue.
When we got home, I had problems installing the new v4 on my own laptop - installed OK, but didn't ask for product key, gave wrong subscription data, and still showed the key for my old v3. Just now finished a session with their "help" online chat, and pucka new key now OK, and have successfully transferred the remaining subscription to the new version.
What is it with Norton? Every time I've upgraded it, I've had problems. Never seems to uninstall cleanly on the first attempt. This time I just followed the instructions, told it I wanted to keep my settings, and it said it was uninstalling the old version, seemed to finish OK, but then the new version wouldn't start up properly. Finished up uninstalling it manually, then installing the new version, leading to the wrong subscription data as detailed above. At no time during the installation did it ask for the product key etc.
At least this time I didn't have to download a special uninstaller from their website.
The only questions remaining are :
1. How long before SWMBO actually gets round to trying her new toy out. Knowing her, it may be a few days.
2. Will she be able to do it without running to me every 5 minutes for assistance. Alas, we don't play well together when she does this, as she never seems to listen to what I tell her. I recall when she tried to use a mouse on my desktop PC (when I still had one), and kept picking it up and waving it around in the air, expecting the pointer on screen to move.
So, in the end she got a fairly basic 15.6" widescreen Toshiba, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard drive, integrated graphics. Did try to persuade her to get a higher specced machine - 17" screen, proper graphics card etc, but no go. I did manage to steer her away from a Samsung which was £100 more, had less RAM, and whose only virtue seemed to be that "she liked the red colour" of the case.
I was going to install my own Norton 360 v3 on her new laptop, but salesman told me I couldn't do that as I had had my copy for more than 5 months. Seemed a little dubious to me, but SWMBO insisted we got a new copy of v4, so I didn't argue.
When we got home, I had problems installing the new v4 on my own laptop - installed OK, but didn't ask for product key, gave wrong subscription data, and still showed the key for my old v3. Just now finished a session with their "help" online chat, and pucka new key now OK, and have successfully transferred the remaining subscription to the new version.
What is it with Norton? Every time I've upgraded it, I've had problems. Never seems to uninstall cleanly on the first attempt. This time I just followed the instructions, told it I wanted to keep my settings, and it said it was uninstalling the old version, seemed to finish OK, but then the new version wouldn't start up properly. Finished up uninstalling it manually, then installing the new version, leading to the wrong subscription data as detailed above. At no time during the installation did it ask for the product key etc.
At least this time I didn't have to download a special uninstaller from their website.
The only questions remaining are :
1. How long before SWMBO actually gets round to trying her new toy out. Knowing her, it may be a few days.
2. Will she be able to do it without running to me every 5 minutes for assistance. Alas, we don't play well together when she does this, as she never seems to listen to what I tell her. I recall when she tried to use a mouse on my desktop PC (when I still had one), and kept picking it up and waving it around in the air, expecting the pointer on screen to move.
quote:Oh well, good luck. And Norton? Why? It has an awful reputation.
Has it? I've never had any trouble with it other than installation problems. Seems to work reasonably well.
Thanks anyway for the wish of luck. I tried to steer her to a better machine because I suspect hers will soon become a white elephant, and at least I could have got a better laptop out of the deal.
She's out at the moment (glucose tolerance test), so I've actually started up her new laptop, configured the wifi access to my router, and setup Norton for her. I've already set up a subaccount for her on my BTBroadband Yahoo stuff - hopefully I will be able to persuade her to use it. If she goes for something like hotmail, it'll probably keep expiring due to lack of use. Think I'll try to get her to set her home page to Yahoo for ease of use (webmail etc).
What's the betting that I get told off for helping her when I said I wouldn't?
Well, she's running true to form. Had it for a week, and the only time she's fired it up is once - with me standing over her to make sure she registered her copy of Microsloth Office 2010 (I didn't want to have to reinstall it just because she left it so long it time-expired). That involved lots of arguing (from her) when I tried to explain the simplest concepts - such as how to move the pointer using the trackpad.
As I said, I think it's going to be a white elephant.
As I said, I think it's going to be a white elephant.
quote:Originally posted by Dungassin:
That involved lots of arguing (from her) when I tried to explain the simplest concepts - such as how to move the pointer using the trackpad.
For goodness sake get her a USB mouse ya skinflint.
quote:For goodness sake get her a USB mouse ya skinflint.
Tried that. Still haven't cured her habit of picking up the mouse and moving it (about 2" above the surface) when she's trying to move the pointer.
So she'd rather use a touchpad than bother with a real mouse?
Good luck.
Good luck.