Every day I help “seasoned citizens” make the most of their computers which usually amounts to handling pictures, checking email and surfing the web.

Invariably, computer problems crop up which quickly confuses and frequently frustrates grandma and grandpa.

Friends and neighbors, the next time the senior citizens in your life clamor about going online, getting pictures of the grandkids in email or playing Soduko it’s critical you steer them away from buying a computer.

[ Pause to listen to the collective reaction of shock from my audience ]

Simply put, there is no rational reason to buy a computer for grandma and grandpa.

You already know how complicated computers can be. Click this. Open that. Run that. Right-click the other. Reboot.

Right? Right.

That’s all completely unnecessary for 99.9% of the older generation.

So how do you get grandma and grandpa on the web? How do you email them pictures? How do they play Words With Friends?

With a tablet. That’s how.

When I say a tablet I don’t mean a pill. I mean a tablet PC like an iPad 2 or a Kindle Fire.

For a large easy to view screen I suggest you go with the iPad 2. The entry level model comes in at $499 which is about the same price you’d pay for a PC with a monitor. If you’re on a budget the Kindle Fire is hard to beat at $199 but be warned; the Kindle Fire doesn’t do as much and the screen is quite a bit smaller.

Either way — the seasoned citizens in your life get the best of everything they want from the online world with none of the hassle.

Happy holidays!