New cellphone rant.

[hsguy]

Have to admit even at my advanced age I do like my Apple iPhone. I am sure I don't use all the features but still find it a very useful, multifunctional and handy device. I am by no means an electronics junky but did recently purchase a set of noise cancelling electronic earphones specifically for air travel and thoroughly enjoyed them last week on a pair eight hour flights! Modern technology is amazing and I suspect many members are still here today because of it. Think pacemakers, implanted defibrillators or imaging tools used in medical care. I have so far managed to not become a Luddite. It would certainly have been interesting reading here if this forum existed when the new fangled horseless carriage came along.

As an aside, I actually do know how to change a tire but at my stage in life would probably use my phone to call someone to do it for me.

 

[BigBoy99]

Saves me hours a week instead of looking through the Yellow Pages, or reading a map on the side of the road.

Are cell phone numbers listed in the "yellow pages"? What YELLOW PAGES? They are in a thing called a "telephone book" which hasn't been published in a long time.

I remember when telephone books were used to raise the seat of a chair so a child could sit at the dinner table and eat with the adult, something which can not be done today..

 

[snowman]

Are cell phone numbers listed in the "yellow pages"? What YELLOW PAGES? They are in a thing called a "telephone book" which hasn't been published in a long time.

Sir,

I get new telephone books, with yellow pages, every year as has always been the case.

Regards,
Andy

 

[prairieviper]

Thank God for text messaging. I can eat a meal at a restaurant without hearing three different conversations going on. If I never make another cell phone call it’ll be too soon.

Now the only ones talking too loud are the coots who won’t text.

If good manners were still practiced, people would have the courtesy to conduct their telephone business privately rather than in public. Good manners went away about the same time texting and "staying connected" became the order of the day.

 

[wood714]

Do any of these hit home?

My mom was worst.

One night after getting hers. I'd been on the phone "home line" with her for over an hour trying to tell her how to find het text. She said it wasn't there.

Told her to restart the phone. That took over 45 minutes. She kept telling me nothing was happening, then she had a black screen with a bunch of numbers and letters going across it.

When she hit the power button...she didn't let off it. I asked her when she stated her car if she drove around holding the button in, she said no. I told her to do the same with her phone.

She almost killed me and my daughter with that phone. I ended up getting the exact same phone as hers, so it would be easier to help her with it.

Later that winter she was filming my dad singing and playing his guitar. She got the hang of it.

 

[mmb617]

I do not text or accept texts from others. If you have something to say that requires phoning me, just use your voice and we can have a normal conversation. I have no desire to have something misinterpreted, try and decipher misspelled words or abbreviations or spend twice the time texting back and forth that it would take to just say it.

Different strokes for different folks as I'm just the opposite. I don't like talking on the phone and avoid it if at all possible. My hearing isn't very good and to me a lot of phone conversations are mumbled and the speaker often talks way too fast. I get tired of asking them to repeat what they said, and they get tired of me asking. There are some people who I can understand every word they say in a phone conversation but that's the exception rather than the rule.

I can read a text with no problems, so I much prefer that means of communication. There's no one I want to hear from who uses those stupid text abbreviations, so the message is quite clear. It's also better in that I don't have to respond immediately since I often don't have my phone with me.

 

[Truckman]

I can read a text with no problems, so I much prefer that means of communication.

I'm the same way for the same reasons you stated...I resisted text for years because of the stupid lol language I kept reading about...I'm fluent in English, not "textspeak"...

Additionally, I originally read this thread's title as concerning "cellophane" and not cell phones, which is why I'm getting here late...Maybe I should mention this to my eye doctor, or take a class in remedial reading...No telling what else I've been missing......Ben

 

[Eagle 477]

My Brother was recently hospitalized when his Diabetes was out of control. he was offered the newest technology of auto insulin injection pumps to automatically keep his blood sugar at a manageable level.. Only problem is it isn't compatible with his flip phone and he refuses to upgrade.

Rob

 

[Truckman]

...the newest technology of auto insulin injection pumps to automatically keep his blood sugar at a manageable level..

I was told I was not a candidate for that because I already inject manually more than once a day......Ben

 

[waffles]

Don't like technology (translation: don't understand technology)? Fine. But don't do the "well, I can do these things and if you're good at working with technology you couldn't possibly do these things".

Well put. Not wanting a smartphone is fine, but crapping on those who do use them is a real petty look. Most people have the ability to both change a tire and use a smartphone, thankfully the one doesn't push the other out.

Also, fun related story. I taught my little sister how to change a tire on her first car (and how to drive it in general), an ancient F150XL, 4 speed manual without a tachometer, two fuel tanks, plenty of minor Ford problems, the whole nine yards. She also learned plenty of maintenance and repair practices on that old junker.

Fast forward seven or eight years. She's got a good job and doesn't need to drive junkers. She got a flat tire for the first time since she had that truck. She's rusty, doesn't quite remember everything (because in another technological advance, tires are much more durable and changing flats is a very rare occurrence these days). Know what she did? She took out her smartphone, watched a YouTube video to refresh her memory, and changed the tire without trouble. Pretty handy!

 

[Golddollar]

Fast forward seven or eight years. She's got a good job and doesn't need to drive junkers. She got a flat tire for the first time since she had that truck. She's rusty, doesn't quite remember everything (because in another technological advance, tires are much more durable and changing flats is a very rare occurrence these days). Know what she did? She took out her smartphone, watched a YouTube video to refresh her memory, and changed the tire without trouble. Pretty handy!

Good for her. With my heart there is no way I am going to try to change a tire, so the phone will be used to call AAA (and has been).

 

[waffles]

Good for her. With my heart there is no way I am going to try to change a tire, so the phone will be used to call AAA (and has been).

And thats totally fair too, and often the right call (I'll be damned if I'm going to be out of my car in high traffic areas of i25 in denver waiting to get smeared).

 

[pawngal]

My son recently spent a couple of hours programming my new AT&T cellphone. Computer programming was his profession, before his retirement, from, an agency of the State of Ohio.
I just made my first attempt to use that new AT&T cell phone. It was a complete disaster!
It would be easier to stand, on your head, in a corner, and try to defecate in your vest pocket, than to get that hateful Phone to operate.
It also proves an old adage; ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’.
AT&T sent me this new CF, free of charge. They made this new cell phone mandatory, by rendering their old smartphones obsolete, and inoperable.
My old Smart-Phone had 45, subscribed apps, available for my use. One by one, most of them were, rendered unusable, by AT&T. A large sum of my money down the drain, unrecoverable.
Bluetooth, for hands-free car use, and the camera were the most useful of the apps.

What phone did AT&T send you? I can't imagine a phone that would take hours for a computer person to set up. You stated that your old phone was a smartphone, all of your info, contacts and apps should have been transferable to the new phone Then the apps could be updated unless they were no longer available.
Who uses that many paid apps? There are free ones for most everything except newspaper subscriptions.

I'm well past normal retirement age and enjoy the challenges of of modern technology, keeps the mind sharp and working.
Yes, I could change a tire and a lot more car related stuff.

 

[Chubbo]

An explination.

I learned, today, that my son’s computer operating system is faulty. Word was mentioned.
It was this computer that he was using, trying to activate my new cellphones, and it needs replacement.
I don’t understand this garblygook, but it is supposed to explain his difficulty in programming my wonderful new cellphones.
I can’t carry my son, or anyone else, with me, if help is needed, in using my cell phones. Therefore, most of their technology is useless to me.
I still maintain my candid opinion; that “Advanced technology isn’t worth a tinker’s darn, if one doesn’t have the ability to use it”.

 

[pawngal]

I learned, today, that my son’s computer operating system is faulty. Word was mentioned.
It was this computer that he was using, trying to activate my new cellphones, and it needs replacement.
I don’t understand this garblygook, but it is supposed to explain his difficulty in programming my wonderful new cellphones.
I can’t carry my son, or anyone else, with me, if help is needed, in using my cell phones. Therefore, most of their technology is useless to me.
I still maintain my candid opinion; that “Advanced technology isn’t worth a tinker’s darn, if one doesn’t have the ability to use it”.

Sorry, but it sounds to me like you don't want it to work, period.

I know nothing about AT&T, do they have company stores that you can go into?

I have Verizon, when I get a new phone, I go to one of their stores, I hand them my old phone and the new one, 10-15 minutes later all of my info, contacts, texts, pictures, apps, everything is transferred and the new phone is ready to use.

 

[Golddollar]

I learned, today, that my son’s computer operating system is faulty. Word was mentioned.
It was this computer that he was using, trying to activate my new cellphones, and it needs replacement.
I don’t understand this garblygook, but it is supposed to explain his difficulty in programming my wonderful new cellphones.
I can’t carry my son, or anyone else, with me, if help is needed, in using my cell phones. Therefore, most of their technology is useless to me.
I still maintain my candid opinion; that “Advanced technology isn’t worth a tinker’s darn, if one doesn’t have the ability to use it”.

Chubbo is right. Back in the early 1980s, I was taking computer courses in night school. One of the courses was Systems Analysis. The one principle I learned from that course which has stuck with me all these decades is when designing any kind of system, it has to be designed with the people who are going to use it in mind. I believe that the failure to observe this principle is what frustrates the end users who didn't grow up with a computer in their cribs.

Here and there I have mentioned that I did a lot of work with real property and could draw metes and bounds descriptions of real property from deeds to show the configuration of the land. I did it with hand tools, even though computer programs had been developed to do it. Believe it or not, the Land Records contain mistakes, and sometimes the legal description will not close (the last line returns to the point of beginning). A couple years ago I went back to the firm I quit in 2002 to teach the people now there about legal descriptions because whether you use hand tools or a computer, you have to understand the underlying tenets of land descriptions so that you can figure where a mistake came from. Knowing the underlying tenets of legal descriptions makes it easier to use the plotting programs. My work with land descriptions has sometimes been referred to as my calling, so I wanted to make sure that my experience was passed along to those who were going to be involved with them.

 

[Chubbo]

I'm sorry,I've griped too much about my cellphones.
No need to whip a dead horse.
I think it's best to let this dead horse lay.

 

[hemiram]

I have a friend who had an old fliphone and refused to get a new one, even after it began to show signs it was going to fail. He annoyed the hell out of me as he refused to either text or email, ever. His wife works strange hours and I can't call him sometimes because it would wake her up. If he had texted or emailed, it would have made life a lot easier. Finally, whatever cellphone carrier he used told him his phone was not going to work anymore, as they were dropping whatever G (Probably 1) his phone used, so he had to get a new one. He's cheap (one of his PC's has Windows XP on it and is not long for this world. He freaked out with Windows 10 on a new laptop and was almost ready to take it back before I walked him through some simple steps to get him able to work on it) and was planning on getting another flip, but his stepdaughter has some sort of connections and got him an iPhone, and while he still complains about it all the time, he does actually text, sometimes, and even checks his mail occasionally! He still refuses to learn how to work any apps other than mail and text, but at least he does do something other than make phone calls with it. One thing really gets me wondering about his basic sanity. He has a bunch of serious medical conditions, diabetes, he's had bypass surgery, and a couple of others and he rarely takes the phone with him when he goes out, unless he's going out of town. I don't understand his thinking at all, neither does his wife. Having my phone to call 911 with has taken a couple of drunk drivers off the road, and I was able to call for help when I fell a couple of times. I don't have any medical issues like he does and I always always have my phone. He doesn't even take it in the winter to be able to call AAA. I don't get it.

 

[Chubbo]

Latest report

I couldn’t resist giving a report, on the latest cellphone fiasco.
My son had to buy a new computer, and operating system. The store Geek, was programming the new computer, and transferring the data from the old one. While doing this, the geek became totally bumfuzzled, and locked up the new computer, making it unusable.
The last I heard, he was still trying to reprogram, it, and make it usable.
This last debacle, absolutely proves my opinion of today’s high technology, cellphones I believe that any phone for sale to the public, should, within reason, be programmable for everyone’s use, regardless of their mental capabilities.
One member stated, that they believed, that I don’t want my phone to work, period. Actually, I do.
Since I have a new smartphone, it seems senseless for me to, invest in a dumb phone.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I've never needed anyone to set up a new phone or computer for me over the years. I might be younger than some here, but I'm not considered a young man at 61. It's just not that complex.

I'm betting you'll learn to do what you need to on your new phone eventually. Try looking up some youtube videos on your particular phone model that explain how to use it. They're probably out there. I've used youtube videos to help me do lots of home repair and improvement along with a few vehicle repairs over the past few years.