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Receive e-mail without a computer |
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Written by Craig Crossman, McClatchy-Tribune
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Wednesday, 02 May 2007 |
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Most every family has one or two and you know who they are. They are the technologically impaired. Now I'm not one for stereotypes so if I hit a nerve, there must be something to this. Usually it's one of the older members of your family. You know, the one who was around during Alexander Graham Bell's formative years, or waxes nostalgic about the good old days of kerosene lamps.
OK, so maybe they're not THAT old but they may be the children of the black and white TV era or can still remember as a child when the family sat around listening to the radio. Look, the children of the late `80s, `90s and beyond didn't suffer from technology depravation so they've embrace it as part of their own. Yes I'm sure that if you look hard enough you'll find some kids that wouldn't know a computer if they tripped over one but you're going to have to look really hard to find them. But whomever the technologically challenged members of your family are, there are ways for them to participate without them having to learn how to use a computer.
Let's look at e-mail for example. You would like to correspond via e-mail but they don't have a computer. You'd love to send some of those digital photos you took on your recent vacation attached to an e-mail but without a computer, e-mail just wasn't an option. But that's changed.
An interesting solution lies within the HP Printing Mailbox coupled with a service called Presto. The concept is a pretty simple one. If grandma doesn't have to do anything but look over and check to see if there are any documents sitting in the HP Printing Mailbox's paper tray, then you're going to get her to use the thing. Here's how it works.
You buy the TCP (technologically challenged person) the HP Printing Mailbox ($99.99) and subscribe to the Presto Service on the monthly ($9.00) or annual ($99) plan. The HP Printing Mailbox simply plugs into any electrical outlet and connects via any ordinary telephone line. Once that's setup, you're ready to bring the TCP into the 21st century. Now when you want to send an e-mail to your loving TCP, you use your existing e-mail client but address your message to their special e-mail address which is usually their
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If it's a straight text message, it will be delivered to the stand alone HP Printing Mailbox which automatically check for e-mails. You can choose the times the HP Printing Mailbox print out e-mail, up to five times a day.
Now you can send the TCP ordinary, text e-mail message but you also have the option to make it look visually appealing. Using a series of easy to use printing styles known as Presto Styles, you can have the Presto Service automatically reconfigure your message with color, expressive fonts and stylized lettering. Any images you have attached will be positioned correctly and print out on the HP Printing Mailbox in full color as well.
For example, let's say you want to send an e-mail with Mother's Day wishes. In the Subject line, you'd just type "We Love You, Mom! (Presto Mom)." The TCP would see the colorful page with a big pink heart with those words printer out at the top center of the e-mail. Any attached photos would be properly displayed on the HP Printing Mailbox's page output. To see many more template examples and how all of this works, just visit the Presto website at www.presto.com.
So there you have it. Your TCP doesn't have to know anything about TCP/IP or any other computer acronym. They may never lay a hand on a computer. But giving them the ability to see and share your digital world without having to learn all about computers may be the best gift of all.
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Craig Crossman is a national newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the No. 1 daily national computer radio talk show, Computer America, heard on the Business TalkRadio Network and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network — Monday through Friday, 10 p.m.-midnight ET. For more information, visit his web site at www.computeramerica.com. | Only registered users can write comments.
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