Thread Drift

[IBrakeforPastry]

Yes, Crankin, and maybe I'm a skeptical fuddy-duddy, but I also feel much of it is unnecessary, and just something else to break or go wrong. I don't have cable anymore, but I used to enjoy watching HGTV. I would laugh at the appliance commercials with all these gee-whiz features and think "why?" Same with computers. Every time Apple updates their software, my computer slows down even more, and I have to learn new stuff. The salesboy at the store told me my computer was "old" and I should probably get a new one. Things get outdated too fast, there's no continuity, and, if you haven't realized it, you hit a nerve with me. It's going too fast, and we're becoming its slave, not its master.

[Pax]

I'm one of those Apple people who just lost the use of my iphone with the latest update, I'd been having issues before that and spent forever trying to get things resolved with Apple, this was the last straw. I'm going the opposite way now, less and less tech (when I can find it), my only home computer is a chromebook and I just got a simple android phone... still wish it wasn't necessary to have either. I do appreciate the value of modern tech, I just wish it wasn't so complicated and pervasive, I can still barely turn our fancy new oven on.

[Crankin]

I couldn't live without my I Phone, more for work related things, though. I know I use only .5% of the features and the only apps I have are related to email, Facebook, Yelp, etc.
DH sets up everything for me, and like you, Helene, I really don't know anything about how the wireless printers work, blah, blah, blah. We just got ours working at the new place, after a week. It really is the house stuff that just seems silly. No, I do not want to be able to control my washer and dryer from my I Phone! I figured out how to use my new oven for simple baking yesterday, but no way was I going to try the convection oven. I will never use it, but DH thought we "needed" this. I don't like the microwave at all. It has a dial instead of push buttons for some of the set up and figuring out how to set the clock was an ordeal. I think I really do have a problem with changes in the actual physical actions needed to take to complete a task. Everything seems to be taking me longer, like even opening up the veggie drawers in the fridge, because the pull out is on the bottom, not the top.
And the TV, well, we have full cable now. Before we had a combo of digital antenna, cable, and Apple TV. I never learned how to use the Apple TV and there were a few times I wanted to watch a show when DH was gone and I couldn't. He seems to regularly swear at it, when it is not synched or something, so I don't see what the point is. So now, I can turn on the TV and change channels, but that's it. I have never learned how to access the guide, look for movies, or play them. But, of course, there were times a few years ago when I rented a movie (tape) and couldn't watch it, because I couldn't get the VCR to turn on. In my house, it's always some long thing to complete a task, with many options. I hate it.
So, I am not a total Luddite, but the past couple of weeks have made me irritable, most of it stemming from this. The newest thing is, that last night DH set up the Google mail, which stole all of my contacts...

[Pax]

Crankin - my brother has a TV set up that has boxes for HD, streaming, wii, and some sort of gaming console. When my SIL had surgery and I went over to sit with her, we were going to watch some old movie on TCM, neither of us could get the TV to come on, he has four different remotes and things have to be turned on in sequence... we played cards instead.

[Crankin]

So now I will have to get rid of Outlook for my personal email, to get my contacts back. Just because my work got rid of Outlook, Google is assuming lots of things. I had my laptop set up differently before I got this job, so I have options. The contacts are still there (don't know how DH accessed them), but are not showing up in my email. I had to do some emailing for my volunteer work for AMC, which is when I discovered it. This is not a crisis, but just an example of the annoying things that have piled up in the past few weeks.

[emily_in_nc]

Planned Obsolescence.

I watched an amazing video from "The Story of Stuff" a few years ago all about this, and it does make me crazy. Manufactured "needs" and all that. And yet, the "simplification" movement is huge. How is all this crap simplifying our lives?

I used to be the computer guru in our family (Windows not Apple) and helped all my family members with their systems, networks, etc., but now it is all moving past me. I am on Windows 8.1 and have no desire whatsoever to upgrade to Windows 10. I am sure I will at some point because I'll be forced to, but I am not enthusiastic about it. And my stepdad has a wifi printer he can't get machines on his mixed Windows network to "see" and wants my help, and I am so dreading it b/c I have almost no clue about it other than I am good at researching and trying things and being more patient trying different solutions than he is.

Don't even get me started about my Android tablet...very little about it is intuitive to me. Like how the he*l do I copy/paste text? I am so used to Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V on my Windows PCs that it's very hard to train my hands to do otherwise.

Crankin (and others), I share your frustration. I fear this makes us "old dogs".

[Crankin]

Yes, DH sees having all of this stuff (like Nest) as a way to simplify, while I just see it as one more thing to learn. A thing I don't want or need to learn, like algebra! He gets excited about gadgets. Nest will now know when I am heading home and raise/lower the temperature accordingly because it's synched with my I Phone. The test will come one day when I want to shut off the heat and open the windows, or worse, put the AC on.
Funny, my kids are a bit Luddite for their generation.

[Trek420]

I'm one of those Apple people who just lost the use of my iphone with the latest update, I'd been having issues before that and spent forever trying to get things resolved with Apple, this was the last straw. I'm going the opposite way now, less and less tech (when I can find it), my only home computer is a chromebook and I just got a simple android phone... still wish it wasn't necessary to have either. I do appreciate the value of modern tech, I just wish it wasn't so complicated and pervasive, I can still barely turn our fancy new oven on.

If the latest update bricked your iPhone it might not have installed properly. If you installed over wifi I think the fix is settings > iCloud > back ups > manage storage and see if you have iOS 9.3 in there. Delete it.

Then wait for Apple to re-release it. I never get the software when it first comes out. Nor rush, no reason to. I update before things start crashing for sure but never the first on the block.

Can't wait to retire. About 01/21/18 but who's counting?

[shootingstar]

So far I haven't had tv for last 5 yrs., before that he had tv and was paying cable for 8 yrs.

Prior to that I didn't have tv for about 25 yrs. Admittedly if it weren't for a tv in Vnacouver, I would be out of touch...with foodnetwork, HGTV, etc.? Latter has not influenced my own quality of living. It hasn't changed my taste..since on the food side I was already eating broadly and trying different things without foodnetwork.

I'm pretty certain once he finishes his contract job, he will cancel his cellphone plan. And write off the iPhone as business expense..which you can in Canada.

[Crankin]

I am more connected than I used to be when I was teaching. The day in school didn't allow me to surf the web!
I am on FB and TE and that's it. However, I do check them a lot.
I started texting when I got my I Phone when I got my first counseling job. It was the best way for in home therapy clients to reach me. Now, I tell everyone to text me to cancel/reschedule appointments, or if they need to talk. I don't talk about their private stuff by text, but if they need to reach me, it's the fastest way. Sometimes, my VM at work takes hours to go through. I give everyone my cell number and no one has abused it. DH and I do text during the day, but, it's mostly around cooking dinner, or other things like that. I also text my older son for initial contact; he never answers his phone or listens to voice mail.
We have a Comcast monopoly, too as our town refuses to put in underground wires for FIOS. The town now has it's own system, but I don't want a different email, and it's only for Internet, not TV. But, we always get good deals, so we are now back to the phone, Internet, and cable with them. I actually don't watch a lot of TV, except for news, but I still want to have it.

[Pax]

If the latest update bricked your iPhone it might not have installed properly. If you installed over wifi I think the fix is settings > iCloud > back ups > manage storage and see if you have iOS 9.3 in there. Delete it.

Then wait for Apple to re-release it. I never get the software when it first comes out. Nor rush, no reason to. I update before things start crashing for sure but never the first on the block.

Can't wait to retire. About 01/21/18 but who's counting?

Thanks, I'll try that, I am one that got bricked. My other issues with Apple are an Apple ID that is linked to an old hacked and no longer accessible yahoo account. I've been all the way up through senior apple tech support and apple engineers and they say they cannot unlink the eleven apple products from it, so no access to my account/itunes/music/anything, well anything except updates that brick my phone.

[Trek420]

Thanks, I'll try that, I am one that got bricked. My other issues with Apple are an Apple ID that is linked to an old hacked and no longer accessible yahoo account. I've been all the way up through senior apple tech support and apple engineers and they say they cannot unlink the eleven apple products from it, so no access to my account/itunes/music/anything, well anything except updates that brick my phone.

You should be able to link a second email to your Appleid and you use that one. Just do not create a new Appleid. The only issue with the old one would be if you change your password or need to reset it. Since you can't have Apple send you an email you'd just use security questions.

I hope you set those up and or remember who you considered your favorite teacher at that time

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203983