MILLENNIALS ASK EDEN TO FIX PARENTS’ TECH TROUBLES

W hen it comes to families and computer issues, “It helps the relationship not to ask,” she said, half-joking. “How many times can you call a son? Eventually, he’ll stop picking up the phone.” Abby, a 64-year-old retired psychologist, had been having trouble with her computer, but didn’t want to ask her son or keep pestering her husband David, who she said is more technologically inclined, for help. Instead, she explained the problem to the Eden Tech Wizard who showed up at her apartment on Thursday afternoon. “My computer is really slow,” she said — especially on startup, and she had a hunch it had to do with too many programs and all the photos she had, but she didn’t know what to do with them. Part of the problem, the Eden Tech Wizard determined, was that there were a lot of programs opening up automatically when the computer turned on. He helped her whittle them down. He also showed her how to manage contacts on her iPhone. Another issue was that she kept her photo files — all 40,000 or so of them — on her hard drive in addition to on iCloud.

Before long, the phone rang. “It’s your father,” David said. Abby’s 92-year-old father, who lives in Miami, calls regularly for David’s help with tech conundrums. Lately, it’s been his smartphone. “This is so needed,” Abby said of the ondemand help, asking when Eden is moving to Florida. The concept behind Eden was born from the exact issue it hopes to remedy. Co-founder and CEO Joe Du Bey was inspired to create a new tech-support solution after a visit home was filled with more tech problem-solving requests than relaxation. Aiming to become the Uber, Instacart, and TaskRabbit of the tech support industry, Eden offers a supply-and-demand model for users in need of an in-home “Tech Wizard.” Once a user books online, Eden dispatches a background-checked tech guru to your home or office within a few hours, or at a specified time. To ensure peace of mind, Eden even offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Currently, services offered fall into one of six categories: Computer, Sound & Home Theater, WiFi, Home Printer, Mobile, and Smart Home Installation. “Tech Wizards” can help with everything from setup, to training and troubleshooting — making it a one-stop shop for tech assistance at an ultimate convenience. While Millennials do use the service for themselves — often for the mobile cracked screen repair service — they are most likely to book the service for their parents. It’s a winwin for both generations: Millennials are happy to be relieved of tech support duty, and their parents are happy to have a more stable — and readily accessible — solution. The service launched last month, is participating in the Y Combinator (a leading Silicon Valley startup incubator) and already has more than 20 on-demand “Tech Wizards.” It’s quickly growing both in company size and popularity, and is poised to surpass more traditional services, including Geek Squad. At $69 an hour, the on-demand service is cheaper both than Geek Squad and local competitor Enjoy — plus, they offer the first hour free to new customers. Eden has priced the service to make it widely accessible, hoping to convince users to hire one of their “Tech Wizards” instead of turning to their tech-savvy family members. Ready to book your Eden “Tech Wizard?” Bay Area residents can head to www.edentech.co or give the service a call at (844) 311-3336 to get started.