A new PC for the older generation is not patronising, its co-creator Valerie Singleton has said.
TV presenter Singleton, best known for hosting Blue Peter in the 1970s, launched the SimplicITy earlier this month. Aimed at computer novices, particularly the over-50s, the machine has just six large-text buttons to access basic functions such as email and web browsing.
“There are older people who are totally conversant with computers and love them, and there are also younger people who find them a bit complicated,” Singleton told PCR. “It’s for people who aren’t familiar with computers at all. Why is it patronising to offer something to people that they can understand?”
Singleton, who has used a PC for almost ten years, admitted: “There are still things I don’t completely understand. I’ve got a book that I call my computer book, which I check every time I need to do scanning or something,” she said.
The SimplicITy runs the Linux Mint operating system powered by Eldy, a software package that limits itself to the most basic tasks and, according to the firm, is virtually immune to malware.
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