What’s ringing in my purse? After several weeks of having my new electronic “toy,” I still haven’t gotten used to having a cellphone with me.
Though a trendsetter in many other arenas, when it comes to all things tech, I’m riding the slow train!
What prompted this seemingly whimsical recent purchase? Something on the evening news mentioned phasing out landlines in the next few years, combined with the fact that I’d owned a dinosaur cellphone since 2019; that too-good-to-be-true offer with Verizon was a tough opportunity to ignore. So I treated myself to a holiday gift, a newest-model smartphone that all but feeds you, once I’m comfortable with its many handy-dandy features.
The concept of portable phones has been around for decades. During the previous millennium, I’d read something that someday everyone would be walking around with a phone they could use for calls essentially anywhere. That struck me as about the goofiest idea I’d ever heard.
In the 1960s, we laughed at television’s Agent Maxwell Smart who had a phone in his shoe.
Around 1946, the Dick Tracy comics made popular Mr. Tracy’s two-way wrist-radio used for making calls.
One of my friends recently acquired hearing aids that are controlled by her phone. Happily, my recent audiology visit confirmed that I do in fact have supersonic hearing, thus am unlikely to require hearing aids in this lifetime.
My mattress also badly needed replacing. I visited several big-box stores off Prospect Avenue; one tried to sell me a mattress and foundation for about $8,000. One of its many features was that you could use your cellphone to electronically elevate and lower the bed’s head and foot. I told them I was thinking closer to $1,000, and since I was still just trying to learn to make calls on my new smartphone, that was probably more mattress than I needed. (Let’s save the adventure of mattress shopping for another commentary!)
Operation of technological devices is simply not intuitive for me as it is for many people, especially younger folks, which these days appears to be most everyone! When I worked as a substitute teacher, I depended on the students more than I’d like to admit to rescue me from the challenges of technology in their classrooms, such as the Smart Board. Once, I solicited the assistance of a kindergarten boy to figure out the sound system in his music class. And kudos to my six grandchildren, each of whom may have saved me from some tech crises over the years, including the now-8-year-old, who helped me with my devices when he was only 4!
Some of the tech stuff makes me chuckle. There were a couple guys who walked together regularly at the mall when my friend and I walked. The two guys were nearly always on their phones. We contemplated if they might have been talking with each other. I sure hope they weren’t that dependent on their phones!
Often you see people who appear to be talking to themselves, and possibly they are. But many are wearing inconspicuous earbuds so they can chat, listen to music or whatever so as not to bother others. Now that I’m a hot shot with my new state-of-the-art smartphone, I may treat myself to some earbuds, especially before my long Amtrak journey.
Spooky is what I would say of some of the tech stuff, specifically, the monthly coupons I receive in the mail from Meijer. I love Meijer, I do, but their system seems to know exactly what I buy, and nearly every coupon is something I can and do use.
When was the last time any electronic device you bought came with a manual? Not in a long time. Any new device you purchase has its user manual online.
So now that I think I’m Miss Queen of Modern Tech Devices, I just replaced my 7-year-old IPad with its quickly draining battery with the newest model.
People keep telling me it’s really easy to set up all these devices, but for me, at least, it’s not. So, a huge thanks to my local tech angels, including the Champaign Public Library Book-a-Librarian librarian; Jacob, the super-patient tech help hero for seniors with the Urbana Park District; and, most of all, my many friends who have figuratively held my hand setting up all my electronic devices for the past numerous years. Even though I’ve nearly clobbered you during the tech set-up process, you all still seem to like me.
