Three older adults in an indoor setting, possibly a living room with patterned cushions on what seems like a sofa, interacting with each other under natural light. 17:39
HSN channel icon HSNOriginal creator 2.4K views Save

The tablet that turns off the light for you

Mary and an old friend are talking about family, old recipes and old hairstyles when Mary brings out a photo album so stuffed with Kodak prints it is bursting at the seams. more

Then her grandson Mikey wants a look. He's two and a half. With Grandma's permission, he very carefully picks up a loose photo and starts swiping it from left to right, sure the next picture will slide in the way it does on a screen.

Three older adults in an indoor setting, possibly a living room with patterned cushions on what seems like a sofa, interacting with each other under natural light. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Mary and an old friend are talking about family, old recipes and old hairstyles when Mary brings out a photo album so stuffed with Kodak prints it is bursting at the…

It's a funny little moment, and it shows how fast things change. Kids grow up swiping. For a lot of grown-ups, technology moves so quickly that it is easy to feel left behind.

One easy way in is a simple, low-cost tablet like Amazon's Fire, the kind people pick up as a first tablet. On a home shopping segment from HSN, the hosts walk through what it can do.

A man with brown hair in a gray sweater over a plaid shirt gestures while speaking indoors near shelves. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
One of the presenters explains the tablet's features on the set.

It has a seven-inch screen and cameras for photos and Skype calls. There's room for books, magazines and audiobooks, plus music, games, movies and TV shows for every age in the family.

The best bit comes when one host points to a light on the set behind them. "Turn light off," comes the command, and the light goes out. "Turn light on," and it comes right back. Paired with smart plugs, the tablet can switch things around the house by voice.

Help is just as easy to reach. Instead of hunting for an icon, you can say "open help" and land on the tutorials.

Mikey already has the swipe down. For the rest of the family, a simple tablet like this one is an easy way to catch up.