So at my daily lifestream show on AskAdria.com, I received a question from BMET about what would be the best gift to give his mom.  A Netbook?  An iPhone?

The Gift of Knowledge

Rather than giving your mom some new fangled techo device which may leave her feeling lost (how does this thing work?) or offended (why did my child give me a pink laptop?), for just $99 you can give her 1 year of One-To-One training at the Apple store.

As a One to One member, enjoy a year’s worth of personal training sessions for just $99. Sit down for in-depth, face-to-face sessions with your very own personal trainer. Experts in all things Apple, our Trainers help you get the most out of your Apple products. Just tell them what you want to be able to do, and they’ll teach you how. To become a One to One member, visit your local Apple Retail Store.

Invest in Your Mom’s Success

A couple of minutes into the video, BMET shares that his mom is a teacher so this suggestion really struck a home run!  I think buying someone you love a gift based on them becoming more knowledgeable says, “I Love You” more than any technical trinket because you are saying, “I want to see you be happy in life and I know technology is here to stay”.

Who Should Take Apple One-To-One Training?

Once I get my macbook (or macbook pro), I plan to sign up for the Apple One-To-One as well so when I recommend it to my clients, I have already walked a mile in their “future” shoes and can go into detail about the benefits.

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Some people may be thinking, “But Adria, my mom has a PC so these classes won’t help her”.   Au contraire, these sorts of classes benefit your mother for a deeper reason.  They give her the opportunity to become comfortable with technology.  Many people find technology to be frustrating and too fast paced.  They often have a ton of unasnwered questions and feel they never have a chance to truly understand “what’s going on”.  Now just put your mom in the Apple One-To-One environment and you can see how it would be a dream come true…no distractions, a focused topic, hands-on training.  This will build confidence, competentancy and most likely create an increased sense of comfort around technology for your mom.

View this as an opportunity

You: “Mom, meet technology.”

Your Mom after a few sessions: “You know, that technology stuff is pretty awesome.  I understand why <fill in the blank> and I am going to try <some awesome technology thing>.  Please don’t forget to confirm for next Saturday on your Google Calendar.”

You: “Ok, Mom.  Geeze!  You’re all techie now!  I kinda like it.”

Your Mom: “Good because I like it too.”