Uh-oh, Non-techie Dad got a Kindle for Christmas

If you’ve followed me on Twitter or Facebook you might’ve seen that I occasionally like to poke fun at my parents. I adore them immensely, but they just say and do the funniest stuff. It’s hard to resist. Plus, my family is known for teasing those we love. Not sure I’ve ever shared some of their funnier moments here on the blog. I figured it was time to remedy that.

My dad’s incredibly smart, especially when it comes to repairing things and working out problems, which is what makes this story even funnier. He also has this little problem of not listening after he asks a question.

So, he got a Kindle for Christmas. He’s been wanting to try out reading e-books and this past year libraries started offering e-book loans for the Kindle. He doesn’t have the 3G version or wireless at home, so I gave him the instructions for loading a library book onto his Kindle via USB. In an effort not to confuse him, I read the instructions right off the website while he followed along with the first book.

It went great. He was reading on his Kindle in no time.

Then…

He tried to load his second book.

He ran into a few problems and gave me a call. Here’s how the conversation went.

Dad: When I click to get the book, it says Save or Find. Do I click to save it?

Me: Yes, then drag it to the Documents folder on the Kindle.

Dad: Okay, I’ll try it and call you back if it doesn’t work.

A few minutes later…

Ring…

Dad: So I drag it to the Kindle?

Me: Yes. Into the Documents folder.

Dad: Okay. I did that. Let me unhook the Kindle and see if it’s there. I’ll call you back.

Ring…

Dad: When I plug in my Kindle the book is there, but when I look at the Kindle it’s not.

Me: When you plug it into the computer, you see the file on the Kindle?

Dad: Yes, it’s there on my Kindle’s homepage.

Me: What homepage?

Dad: The one I see when I UBS the Kindle.

Me: (trying desperately not to laugh at “U B S”) Did you put it in the Documents folder?

Dad: Yes.

Me: In the actual Documents folder on the Kindle?

Dad: Yes.

Me: Okay, when the Kindle window opens on your computer, what do you see?

Dad: Let me plug it in and I’ll call you back.

Ring…

Dad: Okay, I have the Kindle with the UBS to the computer. It says… (reads from the screen the list of directories on the Kindle then below those the name of the book he’s trying to load)

Me: Okay, that means it’s not in the Documents folder.

Dad: Oh, okay. So I put it in the Documents folder?

Me: Yes, just drag it to the Documents folder.

Dad: Okay, let me try that and then check the Kindle again. I’ll call you back if it doesn’t work.

Ring…

Dad: It worked! I guess you have to put it in the Documents folder. The Kindle didn’t load it unless it was in that folder.

Me: Ah, that must be it!

Isn’t that a priceless conversation? I couldn’t stop laughing after I hung up.

It reminded me of this video

7 thoughts on “Uh-oh, Non-techie Dad got a Kindle for Christmas”

Gotta love that dad. And bless you for your patience, Sloan!!

Oh! That’s priceless Sloan, I was giggling as I was reading what your dad was saying. Reminds me of trying to explain to my grandma (who was born in 1917) how a fax machine worked…I wish I could remember it more clearly, I just remember saying “no” a lot and finally just giving up, going to my car and laughing until I nearly couldn’t breathe. I am doomed, cause my son will surely be explaining things to me in VERY few years….I can USE stuff, just don’t have a clue of the how you know? Loved the video too!

I torture my poor son like this. My phone and my computer aren’t compatible. It’s possible for me to transfer songs and pictures back and forth, I just can’t remember the trick and have to call him every time. I get the patient sigh, and then he walks me through it. :)

LOL!

My dad is really techie (he was an IBM computer design engineer for 30 years and now does freelance computer programming), but he doesn’t listen the best, either. Getting him set up with Dropbox and able to access the folder I shared with him so I can transfer his photos to disk while he’s on vacation was the most painful process ever….

Jenna: Thanks! He’s too funny sometimes. And the scary thing is he’s like the techie guru with his golf buddies. He’s one of the younger ones, and one day was explaining to them the difference between email and Twitter. He’s never used Twitter. I about died laughing. I could picture all these older guys standing around listening to him, thinking he’s a tech god.

ElaineG: Glad it gave you a laugh. I can only imagine how that fax machine conversation went. I’d have a hard time explaining how stuff like that works too. I’m still freaked out by cameras. You click a button and there’s a copy of something. Seriously, how does that stuff work? LOL

Ayda: Sounds like a great son you’ve got there, especially with the patient sigh. How cute.

Chris: Oh man, that’s funny! I bet it was all the more painful because he is such a techie. I can’t imagine explaining Dropbox to mine. You have some serious patience. Go you!

It was sooooo painful. The only thing worse was trying to explain to him how to create a microSD card that would let him boot his Nook Color as an Android tablet. I finally just set up the microSD card for him. :D