Get Mom using the Internet.
I'm not sure how to make it happen, but I've got almost 3 years to do this...
I had pretty much given up on the idea but about a week ago she decided she wanted to and I jumped on it; she came over we got a new laptop for her: HP 15.4 inch Dual Core, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB hard drive, Dual-Layer DVD burner w/LightScribe, SD chip reader (maybe reads more than that, with the media center “stuff” and a remote for that (which slides nicely into the laptop). A bit more machine than she needs right now but she won't need anything else more than that for a while and it's small enough she can bring it over when she has questions/problems instead of me having to always go over there. The cable people showed up today and she's now on-line at home! AND she signed up for a 4 week (2 hours a week) class that starts next week.
Specifically it's an HP Pavilion 15.4" Widescreen Notebook PC (DV6226US) from Circuit City ($699 AR this week).