One-on-one tutoring, in your home
Nobody ever taught you this. So let me.
Patient, private lessons on the computers, phones, Wi-Fi and televisions in your house. Plain English, at your kitchen table — or over the phone — at whatever pace suits you.
Eric Newton · Retired AT&T executive · U.S. Air Force officer · Degreed in computer science
Warm and well lit — ideally seated beside someone at a computer, not a corporate headshot.
What we can work on
Pick the one that sounds like your house.
Most of what's frustrating in a modern home falls into one of these five. We can do one, or work through all of them.
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Your computer
Windows and Mac from the ground up. Email that stops piling up, files and photos you can find again, printers that behave. Plus the safety side: the antivirus you actually need, passwords you can live with, and how to spot a scam before you click it.
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Phones & tablets
iPhone, Android, iPad. Texting, photos, video calls with the grandchildren, and what to do when it says storage is full. We'll also switch on the accessibility settings nobody mentions — bigger text, louder ringers, hearing aid pairing.
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Wi-Fi & home networking
Why it's slow in the back bedroom, and what genuinely fixes it. Routers, dead spots, a guest network for visitors, and securing the equipment your internet company installed and never explained.
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Streaming & internet TV
Roku, Fire Stick, Apple TV, smart TVs. Which subscriptions are worth keeping and which ones you're quietly paying for twice. Thinking of dropping cable? We'll price it out honestly before you cancel a thing.
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Televisions & sound
New set out of the box and onto the wall. Soundbars, speakers, and getting the dialogue clear enough to follow without waking the neighbors. Best of all: turning five remotes into one.
Can't wait for a visit? We can do it by phone.
Plenty of problems don't need me in your driveway. For quicker questions — a worrying email, a setting that changed, advice before you buy something — we can work by phone, and if it helps, I can look at your screen with you from here (you'd be surprised how simple that is; I'll walk you through it). Remote sessions reach anywhere in Texas, not just my driving range.
I don't sell equipment.
No commissions, no brands I've signed up with, nothing in the trunk I'm hoping to move. So when you ask whether you need a new computer, the honest answer is often no — and I have no reason to tell you otherwise. If you want advice before a purchase, that's a phone call, and it's usually free.
What you keep
Every lesson ends with something in your hand.
The trouble with most computer help is that it walks out the door with the person who gave it. Ten minutes after they leave, you can't remember step three.
So before I go, I write it all down — every step we covered, in the same plain words I used out loud, on paper you can keep beside the machine. Come Tuesday, you're not starting over. And you're not phoning me in a panic either, though you're welcome to.
- Written by hand, in your words — not a printout of somebody's manual
- Large print, so you can read it without hunting for your glasses
- Yours to photocopy for a spouse, a neighbor, or the folks down the hall
For Margaret — Tuesday
Is this email really from the bank?
- Don't click anything yet.
- Look at who sent it. Tap the name to see the full address.
- Real bank? It ends in your bank's name. Not close to it — exactly it.
- Does it say your account is closing today? That hurry is the trick.
- Don't use their link. Phone the bank on the number on your card.
- Still unsure? Leave it sitting there and ring me.
Margaret — you already spotted #4 on your own. That's the hard one.
Ask me anything
There's no such thing as a question that's too basic.
Real questions people have asked me. Not one of them is silly. Here's the short answer — the long one is what we'd sit down and work through together.
A message popped up saying my computer is infected and to call a number. Is that real?
No. That's the most common scam I see. A genuine security warning never asks you to telephone anyone. Close the window, and don't call.
I keep my passwords on a sticky note by the monitor. Is that terrible?
It's not the worst thing. A notebook in a drawer beats using one password everywhere. There are easier ways, and I'll show you one you'll actually keep up with.
What is "the cloud," and is my information safe up there?
It's somebody else's computer. Your files sit on a company's machine instead of yours. Usually safer than your desk — with two settings worth understanding.
Everyone's talking about AI. Do I need it? Should I be worried?
You don't need it, and no. It's a tool, like a calculator. Fifteen minutes and you'll know what it does, what it gets wrong, and how scammers are using it.
I'm paying for four streaming services and still can't find anything to watch.
You're probably paying for six. Some get billed through the television, some through the phone. We'll find them all and cancel what you don't watch.
My grandson set up my email years ago and now I can't get in.
More fixable than you'd think. Gather whatever you have written down anywhere, and we'll work through it together.
You will not be talked down to. I spent a career explaining complicated systems to people who didn't build them. If I use a word you don't know, stop me — that's my mistake, not yours.
How it works
A lesson, start to finish
You call
Tell me what's going on in whatever words you've got. We'll pick a time. The phone call costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
I come to you
Your house, your equipment, your chair. We work on what's actually bothering you — not a lesson plan I brought along.
You keep the notes
Everything we covered, written out in plain language before I leave. So next Tuesday you're not starting from scratch.
About Eric Newton
Forty years inside technology. The last few spent slowing it down.
I spent my career inside the systems most people only ever see the outside of — first as an officer in the United States Air Force, then in a senior role at AT&T, one of the largest communications companies in the world. I hold a degree in computer science.
None of that is really why you should call me. Call me because somewhere along the way I learned that knowing how something works and being able to explain it are two different skills, and the second one is much rarer.
These days you'll find me in retirement communities around the Metroplex, teaching residents to spot a scam email or get the photographs off a phone. It's the most satisfying work I've done. Technology has left a lot of capable, intelligent people behind, and it never had to.
- U.S. Air Force officerCommissioned service, retired
- Senior executive, AT&TA career in large-scale communications and network technology
- Degree in computer scienceFormal training, not self-taught guesswork
- Background checked & insuredA registered Texas LLC. References from local retirement communities on request.
I was drowning in a sea of technology. Eric didn't throw me a rope — he taught me to swim.— A client, Dallas
Straight pricing
You'll know the cost before I ring the doorbell.
No meter running while you decide what to ask. No surprise charges. If I can't help you, you don't pay.
The First Lesson
We walk the house together — computer, phone, Wi-Fi, television — and sort out what's working, what isn't, and what's costing you money for no reason. You keep the written notes and a one-page summary of what to watch out for.
Follow-up lessons
For when something new comes up, or you'd like to keep going. Billed in half-hour steps after the first hour, so you never pay for time you didn't use.
Four-lesson package
The best value if you want to get genuinely comfortable rather than fix one thing. Works well for couples learning side by side. No expiration date.
Remote session
For quicker questions and advice before you buy — no visit needed. If it helps, I can view your screen with you; I'll walk you through setting that up. Available anywhere in Texas.
Travel included within 20 miles of Plano; beyond that a flat $25 trip charge, which I'll tell you about on the phone. Quick questions between lessons are free — I'd much rather you call than click something you shouldn't. Payment by check, card or cash after the lesson, never before.
For residential & retirement communities
Scam & internet security training, on-site
Fraud aimed at older adults is a growth industry, and the scripts change every few months. I bring current, plain-English security training to residential communities across the Metroplex — fake bank emails, gift card demands, "grandparent" calls, tech-support pop-ups, and the newer AI voice scams — using real examples on screen.
Sessions run about an hour, one topic at a time, built for a room where everyone is at a different level. Every attendee leaves with a printed one-page reminder they can keep by the computer or the phone. Regular monthly visits available, and beyond security I also teach the everyday-skills classes below.
- How to Spot a Scam — the current playbook, in real examples
- Internet Security Basics — safe browsing, safe shopping, safe banking
- Passwords Without the Headache
- What AI Actually Is — plain English, including the new voice scams
- Video Calls with the Grandkids — hands-on, bring your device
- Cutting the Cable Bill — streaming, honestly explained
- Your Phone's Camera and Where Photos Go
- Open Help Hour — residents bring one problem each
Get started
Call and tell me what's going on.
You don't need to know the right words for it. That part's my job.
(214) 555-0134
Monday–Saturday, 9am to 6pm · eric@techtutortexas.com
Home visits in Dallas, Plano, Richardson, Frisco, McKinney, Garland and nearby.
Remote sessions anywhere in Texas.