This stripped-down desktop package is aimed at senior citizens and billed as "quite possibly the world's easiest computer." We sent one to Peggy Clay, the 67-year-old aunt of one of our photo editors. Here are her first impressions.
"When I open the box there's just the keyboard, mouse, monitor thing, and a little nine-page manual. The cables and holes have different shapes, so connecting it is easy. There's a sticker that says using the touchscreen is optional. That's good, because I keep automatically going to the mouse. OK, let's try e-mail. Oh, doggonit! Right to the mouse! Now, how do I get onto AOL? This says 'mac address.' This isn't a Mac, is it? Wi-Fi? We don't Wi-Fi. [Editor's note: We determined that Peggy had Wi-Fi and got her connected.] This is too different from computers I'm used to, but the instructions are too simplified for novices. OK, here's my e-mail. Ooh, the fonts are big and easy to read. But the scroll bar on the touchscreen is kind of slow. And now I've left a big streak on the glass. There are fingerprints all over it! This needs one of those covers like on an iPhone so you can take it off and clean it. How do I quit e-mail? Maybe over here? Oh, I have four messages from support. 'Download update for version 2.3.0.' What's that?! 'New software has been downloaded. Please restart to install.' Well, I'm not going to do that."