Friday night ...but seriously

[malaise]

I fought off the technology for ages but my brother insisted on giving me some new stuff for Christmas.
Never in my wildest dream did I think I'd enjoy Facetime so much.

That I can chat with siblings and friends while we're doing stuff in our homes across the globe using a simple email address speaks volumes about technological advances.

That said phone companies will soon be obsolete as international calls vanish. And damn the iphone is like the Swiss army knife of technology.
I never thought I'd say this but I'm hooked in my dotage

[lunatica]

1. It's a hell of a lot of fun too!

It’s a great gadget for us reclusive!

[malaise]

2. I love the stop watch

to check out my heart rate before and after walking
I still don't know how to use most of the stuff but I spend time every day watching how to use videos or let the young folks show me. Hehehehe

[lunatica]

5. When in doubt just hand your gadget to a kid.

That was the advice a manager gave us when I was working in UC Berkeley. It’s second nature for them.

I do have one suggestion that’ll save you many problems later. There’s an icon called notebook where I enter all the information I don’t use enough not to forget. Like how to do things, or Logins and passwords, account numbers for all my bills. That way if I need the information I can just look it up quickly. You can put all kinds of helpful info there. And learn to use the camera and the flashlight.

[malaise]

7. Thanks

Will look for that tomorrow

[Harker]

18. Would you please accept an invisible heart?

You're everywhere, and you are a delight.

[malaise]

19. As long as it's invisible

[Harker]

27. Well, then...

Here it isn't.

[Tribalceltic]

23. they make smartwatches

that keep track of your pulse, and even blood pressure. they connect your your phone by bluetooth

[lunasun]

3. I'm not home right now my kids are in the neighborhood store buying groceries they

scan the freezer aisle with FT so I can be included in picking which pizzas we will have tonite when we all meet
My boss needed a certain doc from offsite and I had no idea what he was talking about he guided me to the area on FT and then I was able to show him it to verify I’m bringing back the right stuff
Lots of uses like that just today
better than texting or screen shots or describing by phone

[malaise]

4. Amazing indeed

Revolutionary times for technology

[lunasun]

13. I picked up a used 6s online and many were like Why you so bougie ? I said no it's worth it

I saw that when my kids did the same thing before I did . If your bro gifted you one of the new # iPhones you got the Supreme Enjoy! I heard there are so many more new features although it may take awhile to figure out
Yes 2 yrs later and I am not using to full potential I’m sure because I don’t know everything about it

Have fun and HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 💕

[malaise]

14. He gave me an 8

Compared with what I had - it sure is fun
Happy Valentine's Day to you lunasun

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. face time is wonderful

It lets me visit with my kids and grandkids so when we see each other in real life, I'm not such a stranger to the little ones...…...

[malaise]

8. It sure is

wonderful

[kimmylavin]

21. Yes!

My parents and one sister are in NJ.
My other sister lives in Ireland.

But my 6 year-old daughter knows who they are, and can call them whenever she wants.
She even has games of Battleship and Guess Who going with my sister in Ireland.

[Zoonart]

9. Enjoy.

Happy Valentines Day, Malaise.

[malaise]

10. Back at you

[Archae]

11. Skype is what amazes me...

I talk to a guy in southern Georgia just about daily, and on occasion we get others too, including a guy in Sioux Falls, SD, and another guy in Albuquerque.

Yup, me here in Sheboygan, and 3 other guys around the country, just yakking and seeing each other.

[malaise]

12. Unbelievable - our neighbor lives on Skype as his wife and kids are in India

My siblings used it but I was hesitant

[panader0]

15. mal-- I doubt you'll have "dotage".

[malaise]

16. I won't ever be a Dotard

but either I'll drop dead suddenly one of these days or face dotage. Eventually it's one or the other

[BlancheSplanchnik]

17. Wait, you mean all this time, you've been on a desktop?

I imagined you with an iPhone, typing away!

[malaise]

20. No I use lap tops and the iPad when that needed repairs or to be replaced

Had my Nokia for years

[BlancheSplanchnik]

24. Nokia! Ha!!!

[Skittles]

22. when I was growing up as a GI brat

I sometimes moved overseas - transatlantic calls or even long distance calls were out of the question, so expensive....I would go four years at a time without seeing or hearing my grandparents....now I instant message people all around the globe.

[malaise]

25. It's amazing

Mom moved to Denmark to be with big sis after dad died. I used to call her for her birthday, for Christmas or if she was sick. We wrote a lot of letters but this would have been so much fun.

[Skittles]

29. I used to trace my hand on the back of envelopes I sent to my grandparents

starting from age 5

[Danascot]

28. We have a white board that we use for our shopping list

Take a picture of it when you leave and you're set.

[malaise]

32. Great idea

Thanks

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. I'm one of the old fogies who does not use the technology as much as I should.

The truly sad thing here is that I was using computers before most people, including I'm sure many here, were even born. In 1969 I went to work for the very second airline to get a computerized reservations system. It was so basic, that if I learned just a little more about creating data bases, I could probably mimic it fairly well.

But that was very much an early, and by today's standards a primitive system.

I do have a computer and other bits of technology including a smart phone. I do often ask younger people to help me, and they are always wonderful, whether it's because it's their job, as they work at Best Buy or some such, or simply a random young person I've asked for help. I have never even seen any of them rolling their eyes at me. I suppose it's because they all have parents and grandparents and so are simply used to helping out.

There are times when people persist in trying to over use the technology when something a bit simpler would suffice. Not too long ago I was in a car with a couple of friends and we were trying to find a restaurant, and they were trying to use GPS, which wasn't at all helpful. I kept on saying, "Just go to Google Maps and look at the map" because we had the address. Honestly, it took far, far longer than it should have.

Speaking of maps, I do find that people who only rely on the GPS to give them directions never actually learn how to get places. They just follow the directions (Turn right here, turn left there) and don't seem to pay attention to how they actually get somewhere. I saw that in my (now ex) husband about 15 years ago when he acquired his first GPS, and started using it to get to places he already knew how to get to. Huh?

Me, I always look at a map, sometimes a real one, sometimes an electronic one, before I set out for a place I don't already know how to get to. A while back I had a GPS, and gave up on it when it decided that to get from Overland Park, KS, to Tulsa, OK, I had to go via Oklahoma City. Really? For those of you who can't already picture this routing, do look at an actual map.

Enough complaining. I do really love the new technology. I want to write some kind of a science fiction story where someone from now (currently 2020) goes back to about 1985 and spends the rest of the story complaining about no smart phones, no internet, no GPS.

[malaise]

31. What a great post

and yes some folks abandon common sense for technology - write that story

[mnhtnbb]

33. Another old fogey here

I decided to trade my 12 yo car for a newer one--3 yo--last December. The 2016 model has all the navigational, camera, computer on a screen stuff that I have no idea how to use and I'm not sure I want to spend hours trying to figure it out.

When I go somewhere new, I use Google maps to get directions ahead of time from my laptop or phone. I don't use my phone in the car.

I don't spend a lot of time in my car. I live downtown and walk everywhere. Sometimes I don't get the car out of the parking garage for a week! I had to create a system for myself to remember which level I parked on, and it's not electronic!

[malaise]

35. stuff that I have no idea how to use

Join the line - we give thanks for the young folks

[lunatica]

34. LOL! If you traveled back in time and complained

the young people would roll their eyes at the old fogey who just complained about how bad it is in the past.

This just struck me as ironically hysterical!