In reply to iksander:
My 80-yr old mum decided to buy an iPad2 just over a year ago. She's able to use it to do things like Facebook, email, browsing, watching demand TV, and some apps. I have an iPad to provide technical support, though it drives me nuts because it's so restrictive compared to a real computer that I have years of experience using.
She seems to get on with hers okay without getting as frustrated as I do, because she has no expectations of what it should be able to do. She still struggles with more esoteric operation, but then, so do I...