Friday, February 6, 2015

Smart phones, emails and texting.......

It seems I am not as hip and happening as I thought I was.  Are hip and happening cool words you use nowadays?  Who knows???

When we went to Britain we took dh's Apple IPad.  I never touch the thing as I prefer my laptop.  I did however want to check my emails so logged into GMail and attempted to access my account.  To cut a VERY LONG and VERY FRUSTRATING story short, "they" (who ever they are) thought I was trying to hack into my account.  I attempted in my sleep deprived state to answer 7 million questions but gave it up as a bad job.

When I got home, not only did I have to reset my email account, it also screwed up my KOBO and my cell phone.  In my cell phone's case I had to take it to the store to sort it out as neither me nor dh (who is smart when it comes to smart phones) could fix the problem of me receiving and sending emails with my phone.  It took the guy a few minutes of pressing this button and that to get everything working.  It turned out I had two icons for the same gmail account, so double emails were coming in and filling up the space on my phone.  

The guy did show me how to do a couple of things and told me to come back if I had anymore questions.  Honestly though, it all went over my head.

Which comes to texting.  I text how I write an email; basically long hand.  The only "text word" I have down pat is LOL.  The rest is like a foreign language to me.  I also used to always add my name to the end of a text, just like you do in a letter.  That was until ds pointed out everyone knows it's from you so don't put your name on it?  So when I send a text it is usually at least two messages long.  

Dh finally MADE me set up a voice mail on my cell phone.  As I have pointed out to him I am always forgetting to turn my phone on or charge the battery, so having a voice mail seems pointless to me; but he insisted.  I don't even know my cell phone number; who does?

I never hear the bloody phone anyway unless I have the volume turned right up, and then it tweets like a bird which confuses everyone.  If I could I would get rid of the phone, but as I am totally useless when it comes to doing anything with the car, at least if I happen to break down when I am out, I can call someone; assuming I managed to remember to charge the battery on the phone or even turn it on???  

I have 18 months still left on my phone contract and then I HAVE to get an Apple I Phone as dh has one and is familiar with everything on it.  Me, well I couldn't care less one way or another. 

 How about you?

18 comments:

Debbie said...

I have a samsung that we got as Christmas presents. My kids are tech smart and my oldest had to show me how to use it. I'm clueless. I love it now, but still struggle when I'm trying to do something different. When it rang the first time, my oldest just looked at me, and said, "Oh mom, that's your phone ringing". She did this kind of smirking thing to her face and giggled. Oh well. Cell phones are not one of my abilities. I'm a nurse, not a smart technology person. HAHA. I like my husband's lap top better.

Cathy said...

Hello Gill
Nice to see you back - Ditto to all you have side. That;s all I need to say.
Nice to see you back - oh I already said that :)
Take care
Cathy

Maggie said...

This post made me laugh :-)

I text mostly long hand too, when i have to, it's all so much trouble, i would much rather speak to the person and say what i want to say, simple!

Things change so quickly what's the point in trying to keep up.

Have fun x

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

As long time users of the old flip style cell phones, we were reluctant to get "smart" ones that would know more than we do :-)But last year, at contract renewal, we caved and both got iPhones as we already had Mac computers & iPads. I suddenly went from never texting to doing it a lot (no social media posting for me) and admittedly it has been great fun to send quick photos and messages to friends this way.
And, I also do not know all the capabilities and features of these gadgets.

Boyett-Brinkley said...

I do not have a smart phone. I gave up a Blackberry to get a brand new Samsung old school flip phone that I can talk on, I can text on and if I want to wait an eternity, I can access the internet although I don't because it is too frustrating. I only use the phone to keep up with my children and for an emergency. We also have pay as you go plans. When my husband retired we took a long look at where our money was being spent and the phone bill and the cable bill were the first to get slashed. I am not sorry on either count. In fact, the most annoying thing to me is when I am trying to have dinner with my family and some nice conversation and I look over and my daughter and son-in-law are both almost falling into their phones and I find out they are playing some stupid game -- with each other! How rude! So, I want/need a phone for basic reasons but I will never be attached to one like that.

EG CameraGirl said...

I have had similar problems, Gill, and I'm pretty fed up with how complicated it has all become!

Scrappy quilter said...

I have an IPad which I love. I still have a flip phone. I will als o never go on another plan. When I get a new phone I will purchase it outright. I've owned my phone now for a couple of years now.

Piece by Piece said...

Phew...glad I am not the only one.
I have a "dinosaur" phone, no bells or whistles of any kind, calls come in and go out.....if I remember to charge it and turn it on. A couple of months ago I found out that I could text!!! and those texts are like writing
letters.
I do know "r"==are, "u"===you, "2"===to and lol.

Patricia

slugmama said...

Well I am still living in the Stone Age with my dumbphone. It doesn't text but who wants to pay for those charges? Besides if my kids found out I can text I'd NEVER get anything done! lolz

Rose said...

I don't have a smart phone either...just an old trackfone which I try to think and keep charged and take with me if we are out...but even then forget it, or else forget to turn it on.

But my daughters and I text through my email account...

There are pluses and minuses to texting..one thing, you don't hear their voice, but on the other hand, you don't have to ask them to repeat what they have said cause it is there in print.

William Kendall said...

I've got a smartphone, but just use it for backup if I need a spare camera.

You know, I've never texted anything.

Jane and Chris said...

Apparently, you can text on my phone...who knew?
Jane x

Jane said...

I love my iPhone, but having said that I probably only use about 1% of its capabilities. My daughter shows me what to do (lol) but it goes in one ear and out the other. When did communication get so complicated?
Jane (lol)

Karen said...

I got my first real cell phone just before Christmas. Only use the phone feature. I can get text messages but don't have a clue how to respond to them.

Winifred said...

I have a Windows phone now & it's quite easy to use. The rest of the family have iPhones but have to say I begrudge giving a penny to Apple. Their stuff is vastly overpriced & to boot they don't pay their taxes.I'll stick with my Nokia. Never thought I'd say this about a phone but I do like it! My problem is I keep forgetting where I've put it.

Like you I prefer a laptop but I quite like my Windows tablet. Can't see the point of iPads as they're basically just a browser, not much good for anything but photos & Internet.

Also like you I don't use text speech. Have misinterpeted far too many messages from people using their own daft abbreviations & sticking number is which I think is the time!

DeniseinVA said...

I was the last hang-out for texting, gps, and now I have an iPhone which I love and everything else. I can't say I know all the bells and whistles. Also there is an app called WhatsApp. It is free texting and I can get in touch with my niece overseas quickly as well as other members of the family. My friends aren't savvy with these things and treat them with suspicion, just as I did but I woulldn't be without them now.

Anonymous said...

I also have a Nokia Windows phone but I use it minimally, just for emergencies. My kid used to tease me for signing my name to texts so I finally stopped. But it still feels rude to me not to sign off! I had problems recently like the one you mentioned with Gmail (only it was my Apple ID for my iPad and iTunes) and finally figured out I had two accounts as well! That was a hard one to troubleshoot!

angela said...

I have an iPhone and iPad and an apple mack laptop. I love them I'm an apple girl lol

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