When Wikipedia, YouTube, Skype, Livejournal, Photoshop, and ICQ appeared, a lot of people  were in their sixties. Here’s Tamara Posisaeva. She’s 72 and that’s what she thinks about it.

She decided to get a laptop for two reasons. First of all, she wanted to talk to her granddaughter, who studied in Milan, on Skype. And the second reason was the fact that her husband saw an advertisement about free one-month computer courses, so they decided to try. Being industrious students, they would write all kinds of notes down. However, they’d been thinking themselves to be advanced pupils, until the time for practice came. It was much harder than they’d thought, so at first, they had to consult their children on the phone a lot, but some time later they were Ok. Now Tamara knows how to surf the web to find the best deal on vacation tours, and she doesn’t have to bother her children anymore. She’s learnt how to download movies, so she’s watched all the oscar-winning movies of this year. ‘King’s Speech’ is her favorite. She also likes old Soviet movies which are rarely shown on TV. Tamara’s husband managed to find his classmates, whom he hadn’t seen for 50 years!

They do like the Internet and think it’s great! When she was a child, a TV-set was something beyond belief, and now people who are far away from each other, can see each other and talk. One of Tamara’s retired friends has purchased an electronic book and she loves it! So wants Tamara.

Tatyana Manaeva is 73, she lives with her husband. They both are retired. Their daughter gave them a computer to play patience, but it was not enough for them, so at first, they installed ICQ. After that, they learnt how to download movies and music, how to send e-mails, and how to talk on Skype. Her husband is a good technician, so he likes fixing old computers. Tatyana has a book reader, although she likes regular books more. They both prefer to read news on the Internet, because they think it’s different from what they show on TV. They want to know what’s going on in their country, because they love it.

Vasily Manaev is 80. He’s wants to know how the computer works, how it’s arranged, unlike his wife who’s more into Wikipedia. He is interested in computer programs, and wants to know the differences among them. His latest passion is Picasa.

Dmitry Borisovich Lomonosov is 86 and he’s been using the Internet for over 15 years. At first, he had his own web-site, where he shared his memories about World War 2. Now he has a blog where he tells about the war, the way a regular soldier sees it. There he tells about death, heroes and traitors, fears, courage, and victory. His readers leave feedback and ask him to keep on writing, and he’s very happy about that. What he’s unhappy about is the fact that there are people who call themselves Nazi, and write all kinds of nasty things to him. At these times, he feels very bitter.

Lubov Pushina, 74, is a scientist. She’s been monitoring gas storages for over 15 years. Computers and the Internet made information handling much easier for her. Apart from work, computers help her communicate with other people, particularly with her granddaugter from London. She e-mails to her, but doesn’t know how to call her on Skype yet. Recently, she bought a gas heater online! Lubov, unlike her friends of the same age, is not afraid of the computer and enjoys exploring it.

Ernst Boyarsky, 72 has always been using the computer for work. Now it is an integral part of his everyday life.

via bg.ru