A Technological Dinosaur

I started with a Commodore 64 and I used to type in games and other programs out of magazines. This was a great way to learn some Basic Programming as I would always make some typos, and while trying to find the problem, I often learned what various commands did.  I was able then to create a little program of my own, that enabled my hubby to shave hours off a monthly task he did at home as part of his job.  I was quite proud that I had learned enough to be able to help him in that way.

As time went on, I was able to help various friends do the things they wanted to be able to do on their computers, and even became a Newbie Helper on the 50Plus chat room. I was pretty good at that as I was able to get 80 year olds, who had never had a computer before, to understand and implement what I was telling them.  And all that was done online, though the chat window, or sometimes by private message.

Times have changed however, and the technology has been developing so quickly I have had trouble keeping up with it. I'm still working on an old Windows XP machine (which I will cling to as long as I possibly can). I also now have a second hand laptop, but I seldom use it as I find it awkward to type on, and often revert to the two fingered method (and I really don't want to do that).  My young grandsons both have  iPads, and I'd love one, but I'm not sure it would suit my needs. I want something with a USB port, so I can load geocaching way points on it if we find ourselves with some spare time while away from home.  Today there are so many different tablets, and I hear they don't all do the same things, so I'm leery about choosing the wrong one.

Recently my house phone got short circuited by a snow storm and I had to resort to using my cell phone.  I was on a pay as you go plan, which accumulated so much credit that Telus finally decided to let me use that credit if I switched over to a monthly plan instead. Now I don't have to top up every month. But when I turned the cell phone on the other day, I got an automated message from Telus saying I had to top up or I'd lose my balance. I started to reply to them, asking why I  needed to top up when I had already had a message from them recently that told me I didn't need to do that because I had over $......oh wait a minute, how do you type a number into a text message anyway?  I don't have a fancy phone with a built in keypad. I don't have a smart phone, or anything fancy at all.  My phone is the most basic model because, as I said, I don't use it for anything. My hubby uses it as a way to track me down when we get separated in a mall. He calls to ask me where I am.

While I fooled around trying to figure out how to text numbers, (and I still don't know) I got an incoming call from my hubby (he is the only one who has my number). He would have been calling to tell me when to expect the Bell Telephone guy who was supposed to come and string a new line from the pole to the house so I answered the call and immediately lost the text message I was labouring over.

When I finally got land line phone service restored, I immediately went online went online to the Telus site. I'd been without the internet for 3 days by that point, suffering, as one of my Facebook friends implied, from a severe case of withdrawal by that time.  I'm usually good at finding things online, but I discovered Telus are very good at hiding their contact information.  I finally found a chat box, and had a lovely chat with someone who assured me that the message I had received was just an automatic thing and that it would be the last one I got like that. I wasn't going to lose my balance after all. (Darn, what was that person's name in case the money disappears tomorrow and I have to get back to them?) 

I asked, since I had contact with a live person, if my new monthly plan (which gives me 50 messages or texts for the same $10 I've always paid) still included voice mail.  I was asking because I had spotted something on one of their web pages that said "Add Voice Mail" when I was hunting for some contact information.  I had earlier tried to retrieve some voice mail and couldn't get in. The phone was not recognizing the password I'm sure I've always used.  The nice person at the other end quickly decided to reset my password for me, and told me how to access it, and what to do when I did. I disconnected, thinking all was well.  I tried to get into my voice then, as I now had two messages to retrieve, but the password she had given me did not work either. Obviously she must have typed it in wrongly at her end, and I'm going to have to connect with Telus again to straighten that out.

This weekend I was at a party, and even though there where ten of us gathered at one table, several of those were busy socializing on their phones instead of with each other.  I have even seen people actually texting while jumping around on the dance floor, and for the life of me, I don't know how they managed that!  I have a hard enough time getting away from my computer as it is, so I'm pretty sure I'm better off not having such a gadget that kept me connected all the time. Not that I'd ever learn how to use it properly anyway.    

How I went from being so far ahead of others technologically, to being so far behind, is beyond me.  I doubt I'll ever get caught up now.   I've turned into a technological dinosaur. 

Techological Orphan

I'm doing something wrong.

This afternoon, on Facebook, I mentioned several of the places where I knew the power was out. I got responses from people who I knew were within a blacked out area.  Even without power, they could still communicate with me on the computer. Well, I'm on the computer, but they are on laptops, notebooks, tablets and cell phones.  Everyone seems to have these wonderful gadgets except me!

In fact, here I sit, on an old Windows XP machine that is built out of bits and pieces by my hubby.  That's right. It's not even a name brand machine.  Now, that's fine by me, as I'm perfectly happy with it.....or at least I was until about a year ago when it picked up some nasty virus.  Hubby cleaned it out, fixed it up so it would run again, and I had to start over with an empty machine. It's been a little fussier about what it will and will not do since then, but for the most part, it still does it's job.

If my power went off though, I sure would be out of luck.  I saw messages online today about school buses (not that I need those) and road closures, etc, but if I didn't have power, I wouldn't see those.  And yet, they are posted on places like Facebook and Twitter for all to see....but where I would definitely need power to see them. 

A couple of people I know have shown me their tablets. I've never really been interested in a laptop, but I'd really love to have a tablet, for some reason.  I watched as one lady I know took a picture with one, in a church basement, without a flash, and it was perfectly clear. Now, that's impressive!  My actual camera couldn't do that!  I also find it much easier to flip through digital magazines on a tablet than to try to do that on a conventional computer. I'm not sure why, but they seem almost made for that kind of application.

I must also mention all the little kids that I see with much fancier phones than mine.  I've never quite understood why a kid needs a phone, but the kids I'm mentioning here are much younger than you may think. I've seen several kids that can't be older than 3 and may even be younger, actually playing with smart phones.  I'd be afraid a kid that age would get mad and throw the thing, but that does not seem to occur to the people who hand them over, for the amusement of little fingers. 

I did get a new cell phone recently, as my old one would no longer hold a charge and it was so antiquated that they don't even sell batteries for it anymore.  This new one is the first cell phone I've had that actually has a camera on it.  Now, I realize the photos you take with such things are not all that great, but at least now I'll have one with me more often without it weighing as much as either my regular camera or my old cell phone.  But even so, I'd never be able to upload pictures to some social network, or e-mail it to you, as I can't substantiate paying the extra price for that privilege.  Computer connections cost enough, and the necessity of a home phone is another expense. I get along fine paying $10 a month to keep my cell phone alive, as I never use all of that, since it gets used mainly so I can be located in the mall, or phone for help if a bear chases me in the woods, or some other such emergency.

Since everyone else seem so technologically connected, I put a request on Facebook to be adopted.  I am, after all, an orphan, since both my parents died of many years ago.  I'd like to become part of one of these families that can not only afford all these technological toys, but also afford to connect them. When I think how much some of them pay out each month, it just boggles my mind!

I started out having a computer long before most people I knew. It was a Commodore 64 and I could converse with people all over the country using forums on the old BBS system.  It was great, at the time.  Some people thought I was rather tech savvy so how I fell so far behind in this tech race is beyond me.  I've gone from the front of the pack to the back. Yep.  I'm definitely doing something wrong.