How much time do you spend in the internet?

[Rimms]

When I was working, I remember my CEO in 1996 taking a week off to research the ups and downs of a major company re-engineering project which we were about to undertake. I remember thinking that this would be the most exciting thing to do in the world using this recently and becoming more commonly available and yet exciting new resource, the internet. (Encyclopaedia Britannica wrote it off as a short term fad)   

Now I find myself no longer having to work, I find myself using the internet to keep in touch with family and friends on a daily basis, a tremendous tool to check out the good, the bad and the ugly on meals,holidays or trips we intend to take, having my morning newspapers delivered to my IPad overnight and ready to read when I awake while I enjoy my glass of Ayran followed by a cup of tea in bed each morning.

Keeping in touch with the local community and wider community via CBF, following local news, watching live UK TV, checking local weather (usually sunny) 

Talking to friends and family on FaceTime or Skype each day at almost a free of charge basis.

Managing finances either in the UK or here in Turkey with online banking.

In short, and I'm not making any excuse (queue those 'your sad life' comments) as to the time spent online. The internet helps me enjoy the lifestyle I choose to lead in this foreign country. As far as time spent on it? What the hell, I have it in buckets and it's not like I have to be home sat in my spare room connected to a modem to take advantage of the resources that the internet brings to me.

I've no idea how much time spent online is too much time, it's one of those questions that I think others will decide.

[Ian]

Tomorrow I am taking a newly purchased 10" tablet to my mothers before myself, Gill and my brother devour the 3 course meal she will have spent all day cooking and baking for us :-)

The tablet is a surprise and I have already pre-loaded some apps that she will be interested in along with Facebook and Skype.

She has not used Facebook before just e-mail, Skype and browsing.
I have already set her up a Facebook account and sent invitations out to her 7 grand children and some selected others who have all accepted!

I am staying over and giving her a tutorial on Friday morning as I did when I gave her a laptop 5 years ago that everyone said "she would never get the hang of it"

I know that as she struggles to do the garden daily and even clears the moss off the roof of the garage (which she did last week balanced on her step ladders) she will spend more time indoors in future years and she will be thrilled by keeping track of her grandchildren around the world.

Mum is 89 next birthday and will spend 4/5 highly enjoyable hours a week on the internet

[Highlander]

I do not consider that any time, whether it be 5 minutes or 7 hours is wasted on the internet because it's what I chose to do.

I would agree wholeheartedly with Ian and Rimms posts  

[Marggie]

Ian, good for her, long may she enjoy it and long may she be able to enjoy catering for her family.  Stories like this do my heart good.

[Brianbern]

Ditto what George (Rimms) said! Maria

[Scunner]

My brother recently bought my mum (79) an iPad to keep her in touch with the outside World and friends from places where she used to live. She has no history at all of computer/internet use and I did wonder if it was a complete waste of money.

But no, she has connected up with old friends and colleagues on Facebook etc and reliving old times.

She does appear to have lumped it all in with communications technology though, she puts a full stop after nearly every word for some reason. I think she may be confusing it with telegrams.

[Ian]

Wonderful - when my mother type's her emails / messages she presses the spacebar 2 or 3 times to indent for each new paragraph and uses loads of full stops!

[Lotty]

Lovely heart warming post Ian, like Marggie it made me smile all the way through. She must be a wonderful lady herself to have such a thoughtfully caring family.

[Marggie]

Ian and Keith, your mums are from an era where addresses were punctuated and paragraphs indented.  Had I not worked and trained people how to use software packages, I would probably still use that style for letters.  LOL - bet like me they would think it means "lots of love" but text speak is a whole new language.

[WordBird]

I'm tempted to read these posts out to my MIL who refuses to use the iPad my sis-in-law gave her as a means to easily communicate with us now we're all out of the UK.
We thought she'd like FaceTime because we could still see each other, but no - won't use it because she doesn't like the way she looks.
Doesn't read her emails. Insists Facebook is 'broken' every time we suggest we use the message facility on there.
Just wants good, old-fashioned, landline-to-landline-cost-a-fortune telephone calls.....