"Computer-related things" isn't a thing, any more than an evolutionary biologist who works with fruit flies is well-qualified to work on a particle accelerator

"Computer-related things" isn't a thing, any more than an evolutionary biologist who works with fruit flies is well-qualified to work on a particle accelerator (despite both being "science"). I'm an engineer. I'm not a Microsoft help-desk staffer, a GMail support center, or an Acer repair technician. If my family members don't use the same equipment, software, and services that I do, I'm unlikely to have any special knowledge that will help them more than what they'll get from tech support (bad as it often is). Half the time I can't even understand what they're talking about and just end up reading the manual to them until everyone is too angry to continue the conversation. If you work on a consumer e-mail app, sure, by all means get them using that and help them with it. But many (most) of us don't work on products that are targeted at consumer needs, or have any special knowledge about the products our family members use. Let the people who do, do their jobs; everyone will get a better outcome that way.