Well connected

Thinking about making the jump to cyberspace? Read about how some bay area seniors are enjoying their time online, e-mailing family and friends, shopping, checking investments and generally enriching their lives.

By MARY EVERTZ, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 27, 2000

[Times photo: Kevin Sullivan] Joan Appleyard Tucker, 72, of St. Petersburg surfs the Internet using a product called the “i-opener,” smaller than a computer but with a 10-inch screen that allows full Web access.

Three years ago, Mary Adcock of St. Petersburg decided it was time to get online. Her three adult children and their families lived in far-flung areas of the nation. Her seven young grandchildren were computer-literate. It was time for "Biggie," as they affectionately call her, to connect with them.

Adcock went to Gateway Country Store in Tampa, bought a computer and signed up for a course. She has been online ever since.

Joan Appleyard Tucker, 72, never felt the need to be on the Internet. Then, a member of her Friday lunch group received an i-opener, an Internet communications tool, from her son and raved about its versatility so much that Tucker looked into getting one.

The slim i-opener provides e-mail and Internet access without a computer.

"I had promised my children who live in New York and Houston that I would get a computer, but I was leery of the complexities of one," Tucker said. In March she made the call to i-opener, which had reduced its price from $295 to $99.

"I ordered it on the spot," she said. Within a week, Tucker was in business.

"I plugged it into my phone and into the electrical outlet, and in 5 minutes, I was on the Internet. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I use it for education and information and for communicating with my family and friends."

Ralph J. Morrison of Palm Harbor spent much of his career with Union Carbide managing, designing and installing computer systems for the company. When he retired and moved to Palm Harbor in 1986, the self-taught computer whiz realized that he was well ahead of most other people he knew when it came to computer savvy.

A weeklong look at everyday life with the Internet. Stories

When they first moved to Florida, Morrison and his wife, Joyce, volunteered as math tutors at Palm Harbor Middle School. He then designed a volunteer database system for use by the East Lake High School volunteer coordinator. With two friends he designed and implemented a computer lab for use by students and teachers at Tarpon Springs High School.

Putting know-how to work, Morrison, 68, turned to teaching. He is now an instructor in computer literacy at Palm Harbor Senior Activity Center, an adjunct instructor at the Tarpon Springs campus of St. Petersburg Junior College and a participant in the Lifelong Learning program at the Clearwater campus. He is also a volunteer instructor for some of the adult computer classes at Tarpon Springs High School, under the sponsorship of the Tarpon Springs Library.

At home, Morrison has a Gateway computer on which he keeps his financial records; he also uses it to keep the database for the Lake Tarpon Mobile Home Village's security patrol.

Adcock, Tucker and Morrison are among the growing number of seniors who are subscribing to the wonders of the Internet.

[Times photo: John Pendygraft] “When I retired, I decided this is my chance to teach,” says retired computer systems designer Ralph Morrison, 68, of Palm Harbor, sitting in the computer room of the Palm Harbor Senior Activities Center. At home, Morrison uses a Gateway computer.

In a May survey released by America Online, the St. Petersburg-Tampa-Sarasota area ranked third in the nation in the number of hours residents 55 and older spend online. The average was 19.15 hours per week.

Seniors are a fast-growing Internet user group with higher-than-average disposable incomes, more time to surf and a penchant for the conveniences the Internet can offer, according to New York-based Jupiter Communications.

Jupiter's numbers show 55- to 59-year-olds running almost neck-and-neck with the Internet's average users, 35- to 39-year-olds, in the frequency in which they shop online.

The number of seniors online has spiked sharply in the past few years, roughly quadrupling between 1996 and 1999, to about 14-million. Those numbers are expected to rise. Jupiter predicts that adults 50 and older will account for 1 in 10 Internet users by 2002.

Earlier this month, America Online announced that it will launch AOLTV, its much anticipated interactive television service, in July. In doing so, it will bring e-mail, instant messaging and Web browsing to home TV screens. AOL is playing down the expectations for AOLTV, which will compete with Microsoft's WebTV. Analysts predict growth could be slow as consumers are introduced to the product. Of all Internet sources, interactive television, most notably WebTV, has gotten a slow start in the marketplace.

Adcock, 65, says the $60 course at Gateway was beneficial.

"I first took the course and then went home and worked with my computer. I would list areas in which I needed assistance, and after a period of time I went back and re-audited the course," she says.

Each morning after breakfast, she logs in. First, she checks her e-mail and answers any correspondence she has received. Then she clicks on the St. Petersburg Public Library's online book club. "The library offers a chapter a day for five days at http://www.chapteraday.com/library/stpetersburg/. If you like the book, you can reserve it," Adcock says. Adcock also checks the Associated Press for breaking news stories. An avid moviegoer, she checks movie reviews and movie times, and at 3 each afternoon, she checks the stock market.

Recently, when she received an invitation to an out-of-town wedding, she called up Dellaweddings.com (http://www.weddingchannel.com) and was able to put in the name of the bride and find out at which stores she had registered.

Adcock says she also checks with Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) for books and CDs. She says she likes being able to look a book up by author and to read a review or two before she makes a choice.

"I can listen to some of the songs before I decide to buy a CD," she says.

Another way she uses the Internet is for comparative shopping. Recently she was looking for a particular doll for one of her granddaughters.

"I found out where I could get it for the price I wanted to pay," she said. "I prefer to shop in town if there is a store that carries the item."

For fun, from time to time, she sends online greeting cards (http://www.bluemountain.com) to her seven grandchildren.

As a member of AARP, Adcock subscribes to AOL for $19.75 a month. "There are hook-ups for less, but I find AOL to be user-friendly. I have tried other services, but I prefer AOL," she says. "I like the service that AOL has as its opening on the screen: "New today, check it out,' " she says.

A former teacher, Adcock avoids chat rooms. She likens them to "passing notes in class."

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She also uses her computer as an educational tool. When she plans to visit another city, she often calls up museum exhibits for a short course on the artist. Those who haven't invested in computers "are missing wonders of the world," she says.

Tucker has been so enthused over her i-opener that she has "sold" six of her friends on getting one. Netpliance, for which she pays $21.95 a month for online access, is plugged into everything from the latest weather forecast to airline schedules. She finds she can quickly check her stocks as well as the latest medical updates.

When Morrison is not teaching, he finds he is "e-mailing tons of people . . . it prompts people to talk to you," he says.

Morrison "talks" to his son's family in Atlanta. His daughter lives nearby, and they visit several times a week, so they don't communicate by computer.

Morrison is scheduled to teach two upcoming classes on the Clearwater campus of St. Petersburg Junior College. On July 12 he will offer "Getting Comfortable with Your Computer," and on July 19, he will teach "Using and Understanding the Internet."

He is currently writing a children's story about "Corey, the Contrary Computer" which can be read on his Web site (http://www.ij.net/corey). "You're never too old to learn something," Morrison says. Adcock and Tucker agree.

-- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report

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