Kindle as a Christmas gift for my elderly Mother in Law

[farmwife99]

We are giving my husband's mother a Kindle for Christmas.
I know she will enjoy reading it but I am concerned about her being able to operate it (as in loading new books).
I have talked to our local library and they do Kindle ebook lending (or whatever you call the program)
I am thinking it will be easiest for her to go to the library and they said they would assist her and she can use their computer.
Mom does have a computer at home but does not have wi-fi.
I am going to get her Amazon account set up but what else do I need to do to make this easy for her.
I am so excited about her gift and I hope she likes it.

TIA for any help or advise you can give me.
 Diane from Missouri

[Ann in Arlington]

You probably will want to get her a Kindle that has 3G if she does not have WiFi in her home.  Or get her a WiFi router and set it up.  It is much easier to buy/load books wirelessly, especially for someone who's not used to drag/drop or copy/paste.  It will be 10 times easier for her if she can buy books on Amazon and get them at home easily.

I don't know that I'd simply refer her to her local library without having talked to someone specifically who has experience with Kindles. . . just because the library has kindle books to lend doesn't mean any of the librarians really know how it works.   (I'm not clear from what you said whether the library you spoke with is the one she'd use.)

Be prepared to be on call tech support.

You might pre-load it with some public domain classics from feedbooks or manybooks to get her started.

[kerrycrow]

I second the "get 3g" comment for sure!  I got my mom and dad a Kindle DX last year for Christmas (in their late 70's).  My mom easily mastered the downloading wirelessly (she does not have wifi either) but not so much the transferring of files by computer which we needed to do for Audible books on the DX.  I left her Kindle account connected to mine so she could read books that I purchased.  I also bought her a Newspaper subscription and she liked it so much that she cancelled her physical paper.   She has only purchased a couple of books on her own and she has a lot of reading available to her from all of my books. (she loved the Hunger Games series!)

My mom also really likes the word games a lot.  This Thanksgiving, she was playing with my K3 and decided she liked it better than the DX so she could listen to Audible books more easily from the archive and carry the Kindle around with her more easily.  We ended up selling the DX, she took my K3 and I bought a KT.   

Bottom line:  my mom has become a Kindle-aholic! But we spent a lot of time on Christmas and the day after mastering the equipment.

[chilady1]

I will weigh in on this topic.  My Mother is 76 and she purchased a Kindle 2 back in 2009 for not only me but one for herself.  We worked together so I could help her understand how to use it.  I agree with all comments here, the 3G option was great for her as it didn't require any thinking on her part to download.  She does have a computer and is computer savvy at a basic level, she also has WiFi in her house. 

This Christmas I decided to upgrade her from the K2 to a Kindle Touch.  I knew this was going to be a BRAND NEW experience for her having never used a touch-like device before.  I have actually given the Kindle Touch to her before Christmas because I wanted to let her have essentially a burn in period.  I figure if she absolutely hates the Touch, we can send it back.  After spending an hour with her and reviewing how to navigate I must say, she is picking it up pretty quickly.  I want my Mother to use the device for a good two weeks and make a determination if it is for her.  My biggest thing is I don't want the device to hinder her ability to read.  If moving around causes her to much angst, then I want her to tell me that.  In my mind, the goal is to make reading enjoyable but if she is thinking to much or afraid of the device then back it goes.

I think she is happy with it and I will continue to check in with her on progress.  I think you will pleasantly surprised on how easy the device is for older people to pick up on.  It takes patience and just be available to answer questions.  Remember, you are their tech support!  LOL and good luck.  I hope she loves it.

[MariaESchneider]

You might link her to an account you control/own and help her order the books she wants and have them sent directly to her Kindle.  I simply added my mother's credit card to one of my accounts and when she wants a book, I "buy" it and have it sent to her.  Yes, she could learn to use the Kindle, but yanno, this is a lot faster and I don't mind being the operator.

[Sean Patrick Fox]

Maybe try the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman. They're a fun series about an elderly woman who accidentally gets recruited to work for the CIA as a covert operative.

[lizardbeth]

Definitely get her one with physical turn buttons. She will get really frustrated with the touch changing pages with every slight brush.

[MariaESchneider]

Maybe try the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman. They're a fun series about an elderly woman who accidentally gets recruited to work for the CIA as a covert operative.

That's a great series!  I love it.  But I"m not sure how many of them are on Kindle.  I thought only a couple were, but it's been a long time since I checked!

[krm0789]

For those of you recommending 3G... I thought library books could only be delievered via wifi or USB?

If she'll be purchasing books as well as borrowing, though, I do recommend getting her a 3G Kindle. I work with a woman in her 70s who relies on the work computers to get books on to her Kindle, & she just can't master the download/transfer process on her own. The 3G would be less of a headache for someone without wifi access.

[JetJammer]

That's a great series!  I love it.  But I"m not sure how many of them are on Kindle.  I thought only a couple were, but it's been a long time since I checked!

Sadly I think only the last one is available for Kindle.  I've been monitoring the series to see if they show up, but so far none of the earlier books have been issued for Kindle.

[MariaESchneider]

Sadly I think only the last one is available for Kindle.  I've been monitoring the series to see if they show up, but so far none of the earlier books have been issued for Kindle.

Well there's always the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters.  That would be a good series for Mom-in-law.  Or anyone who likes mysteries/cozies!

[lori_piper]

For those of you recommending 3G... I thought library books could only be delievered via wifi or USB?

That was my understanding as well.

[kerrycrow]

My recommendation of the 3G was because she did not have wifi at home.  I assumed that she may want to purchase books, newspapers, games, etc.  (things that would not be available at the library).

[Ann in Arlington]

For those of you recommending 3G... I thought library books could only be delievered via wifi or USB?

Yes, that's true.  So if she plans to borrow from the library she'll either have to download and hook the device to the computer or still actually GO to the library where they probably have WiFi that she can connect to to borrow. 

But the 3G will make it easier for purchasing content from Amazon to send. . . . and if you're the 'tech support' and have her Amazon log in credentials, you can even do the purchasing for her and then just tell her to turn on the wireless and do a sync to get the books you bought her.