“This Christmas I made a pot to send photos to my grandmother who doesn’t have a cell phone or internet.” This is how the thread that has gone viral on Twitter this week begins and in which Guido García, telecommunications engineer and software development expert, explained how he has set up a home printer so that his grandmother can have the photographs taken with the mobile in physical format.
The only thing that has been missing is the Telegram application, the Raspberry Pi microcomputer, an internet connection and a SIM card. The result is the printing of a photo through a thermal printer. “The result has vintage notes and a certain polaroid aroma. Better than I expected,” Guido summarizes in his thread.
The thread contains all the technical explanations to assemble the home printer and has had quite an impact because of how easy it seems. “The truth is that it is not a particularly complicated device. It is affordable for anyone with basic knowledge of electronics and programming. For me, the most complicated part was configuring the 4G modem that it has inside, because it was the first time that I used one “, explains Guido García to Hipertextual.
This Christmas I made a pot to send photos to my grandmother who doesn’t have a cell phone or internet. The requirements were to spend a short time (~20h) + that I could plug it in and go + without maintenance.
All for grandmothers
In the comments of the thread, many users applaud that the programmer had the idea to assemble the home printer for his grandmother. In fact, a similar idea was launched a long time ago with a very similar mechanism. This is Yayagram, the device with which you can send voice messages via Telegram by simply pressing a button and which prints each message you receive, in this case, yaya.
Hello world, I present to you the Yayagram! A device that helps older people to communicate with their grandchildren. How? I open thread with the details of the pot! pic.twitter.com/qR4zA6iq4c
In the end, it has been two grandchildren with knowledge of programming and technology who have had an idea so that their grandmothers without technological training can access the immediacy of communicating with platforms such as Telegram with home printers. Guido García believes that more initiatives like these are necessary, but not only to help the elderly. “It is necessary to work more so that technology is at the service of people and not the other way around,” he points out.
“We live in a time of wealth of means and poverty of ends: technology is more accessible than ever, but generally we only dedicate effort to what is economically profitable. Thus, we have the brightest minds on the planet working to put us better ads. At an amateur level, there is indeed a large, very active “maker” community. People sharing ideas, code, designs, inventions… but who may not have enough visibility.”
The important simplicity of a home printer
On the other hand, in a world full of technological novelties, a simple home printer can conquer the internet. Even more so if it has behind it an endearing story of a grandson and his grandmother. “I have a very technical profile but I value simplicity and usability more and more. It may sound paradoxical, but sometimes making a simple design and reducing complexity is the most difficult thing”, explains the engineer to this medium and added that behind This idea may be the key to the success of some brands and companies.
Guido García’s grandmother has not yet seen the home printer that her grandson has set up. “It will be a surprise. I am sure she will receive it with some skepticism because she is not very fond of technology,” she laments. However, García hopes that when the photos begin to arrive and he sees that he does not have to do anything at all, he will change his mind. Surely she does it just to see the effort her grandson has put into making her life a little easier technologically.
