An Unlikely UMPC User

So I’ve been home from college on Holiday Break for the past few weeks. Of course I brought home my UMPC as well as laptop. On the second day home, I went out to CompUSA and picked up a wireless router for the family so my brother and I could both use our laptops (and UMPC) wirelessly. So after the rather painless setup of the wireless network, all went well. I was able to take my UMPC with me, and my brother could surf the web from his bedroom.

Now my dad’s computer needs have always been rather simple. We had owned only two computers throughout my childhood, he first being an Apple Performa something or other, and a 400mHz Compaq Presario. It wasn’t until last year when I was home for Holiday Break that I managed to convince the family to upgrade to a faster, more powerful, machine. Now my dad however still being a man of simple needs (eBay, email and stock quotes) still uses that 400mHz Compaq Presario.

These past few weeks he changed a bit. At first it was surprise when I showed him some of the stuff he’s listed on eBay, while standing in the kitchen. Then he picked up the UMPC and asked me how to use it (navigate around, enter text, the whole routine). Over the next week on at least 5 different occasions he was sitting in the living room watching football bowl games and using my UMPC.

Now my dad isn’t one to be an early adopter, as gadget gurus often refer to themselves, neither is he one to spend more than what he has deemed an appropriate amount of money on new tech gadgets, but I think that we can still call him a UMPC user. Whether he knew it or not, he was using my UMPC the same way as many of us do day in, and day out. At the very least he’s become a couch web surfer.