Getting people born in the 60's to understand what a smartphone means can be kind of easy and difficult at the same time depending on the person's educational level, exposure and others. My explanation to a learned person will be quite different from how I will explain to someone with little or zero education.
The good thing is that everyone knows what a telephone is and buttressing the upgrades which are the things the smartphones can do should make things very easy for me.
Before smartphones came into existence, we had land phones and next were the burner phones. All these devices had the same purpose which is to make communication easier, a lot of people born in the sixties must have made use of these phones and all I just have to do is explain the upgrades to them.
Without argument, you will all agree with me that smartphones have made life quite easier for us. Gone are the days when we had to visit the cybercafe before we can do things online, there were Java phones and Symbian phones after the burner phones but the level of comfort the smartphone gave us is huge. The difference is quite clear and if smartphones were to be taken out of existence, a lot of people won't survive it.
With a smartphone, life is more easy and fun.
My mom knows the importance of a smartphone and didn't stress me to understand it. She has been the using the internet since I was a kid and I got to know more about the internet with her help.
Whenever we had assignment that has to do with the cyber cafe, she doesn't hesitate to support me. Her only issue with smartphones was the battery, she always worry that the battery will go off too quickly.
A lot of our parents are very familiar with smartphones today and while some know the importance of the device, there are those who don't know.
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I was on a bus some time ago going to Oshodi and we got stuck in traffic. We were there for some time and the only alternative was to take a bike which many people were alighting the bus to do already.
I was contemplating what to do so I brought out my phone to check what was going on in the road. The navigation map gave me details and I said loudly on the bus that we are almost at the point where the traffic came from and the road ahead was free.
The youths in the vehicle understood but there were many questions written on the face of the elderly man sitting next to me but he said nothing. He would definitely be wondering how I was able to predict such because it happened just exactly how the map displayed.
Explaining what a smartphone means to an elderly person without a demonstration is a complete waste of time. To make them understand clearly, I will ensure I have two smartphones, one for me and the other for the person.
There are quite a lot of things to explain but I will start with the interesting ones just to keep them alive all through the explanation.
Smartphones have helped improve communication and there are numerous ways we can reach our loved ones rather than just making voice calls and sending text messages.
To explain this clearly, I will call the elderly person through video call.
Can you imagine what his or her reaction would be if we can both see each other from our end with a video call?
It doesn't end with that, we will exchange pictures, videos and voice notes. All these things are what they find fascinating and attracted to a smartphone.
Another practical is searching for his or her relative name on different social media. Digging the person's account out and showing them a picture will definitely be interesting to them.
I will make him or her understand that with a smartphone, communicating with anyone across the world is a very easy thing to do.
I will take beautiful pictures of the person, and play music and videos. They will definitely find those things entertaining as well or wouldn't they?
The ability to use bank apps for sending or receiving money, digging any information out on the internet, easy road navigation and many other things are things I will let them see for themselves.
Explaining verbally won't give them the in-depth ability of the smartphone and I just have to let the device do the talking. I believe that the practical explanation will for a long way in making them understand the importance of smartphones in the world we live in today.