My father lives as if it is 1975.
He refuses to interact with a computer.
To put things in perspective, every member of the family owns at least one computer and presented the advantages of owning one to him repeatedly. He never even touched a computer and seemed genuinely offended by the presence of one. Even at the (quite modern) hospital where he worked as the pharmacist, he refused to touch the computer and made his assistant do the work. He took his principle to extremes when he made the janitor use the computer while the assistant was on vacation. In an audit, the inspector asked him to produce a report but neither the assistant nor the janitor was around. One can only imagine his predicament. To this day, he claims that he randomly pressed a button on the computer and the report started printing.
He’s never owned a smart phone.
He couldn’t resist the cell phone. He bought one in 1996 and stuck with it. Since a smart phone has a CPU, which is technically against his principles, he dismissed the idea of owning one right then and there.
He’s never owned an email address.
I think he is the only person in Turkey below sixty and who doesn’t have an email address.
On July 17 2011, my uncle stayed at my parents for a few days. One day he casually lied down on the couch and started reading on his iPad. He gave up on the idea of introducing computers to his brother long time ago. To his surprise my father showed an enormous interest to iPad and asked many questions. He loved the fact that, he could buy an app and just look at beautiful painting while listening to music. He loved to touch items on the screen make them do things.
On July 18 2011 my father bought an iPad.
No matter how many billions of dollars they made, Gates, Dell, Page and Brin were not able to get a penny from my father. Steve Jobs sold my father an iPad for $499, a cover for $69, and an app for $0.99.
Steve Jobs found a way through my father’s stubbornness, resistance and denial. He showed us the path. And for that I am thankful…
Yalım K. Gerger (@yalimgerger)
