I’ve never been a true techie geek, but I did pride myself on being one of the early adopters of personal computers back in the 1980’s. I used to shake my head in dismay at my peers who were bending over backwards to avoid computers. Could they not see computers were the way of the future?
Fast forward to 2015 and the new ‘tech’ is not computers, it’s not even mobile devices like tablets and phones, it’s the apps on those devices. And guess who doesn’t want to have anything to do with those apps? Yup, me.:(
Oh don’t get me wrong, I do have a smart phone, and I do have a tablet, and I use both, but only in small, timid ways. I did work out how to get music on my Kindle Fire, but I don’t listen to it because the speakers on my computer [at home] give me a far better sound experience.
Another thing I don’t use on my tablet is the ability to browse and buy – we don’t have wi-fi at home, and I have yet to work out how to access the so-called ‘hot spots’ outside the home. Instead I do just one thing on my tablet, I read.
My smartphone is even more unloved because I can’t afford to pay for the plans that allow you to download masses of data from the internet. Here in Australia, data is expensive, so basically my monthly download limit is reserved for my bushfire warning app.
[Note! Since upgrading the firmware on my phone from Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean, the EmergencyAus app works properly.]
I don’t check emails on my phone because all my data would be eaten up by the flood of spam I always get. I don’t ‘read’ on my phone because I’d need a magnifying glass to see what I was reading. I’m not interested in Facebook or Twitter so I’m not going to waste data on social media, and I don’t play ‘games’ because…
Hmm, the real reason I don’t play games is because I don’t really know how to do the whole ‘app’ thing. And that is the part that has me scared. Why am I not embracing this new technology the way the youngies are?
When I was a kid, we used to marvel at my friend’s grandmother – the old lady would always get properly dressed before sitting down in front of the TV. Why? Because she believed the people inside the TV could see her and she wanted to look her best!
Years later, I remember wondering why old people were always so negative about new things, and so unwilling to learn. Well now that I’m becoming one of those old people, I have the answer to my questions: we all learn on a need-to-know basis, and it’s all too easy to decide that we don’t need to know the latest craze sweeping the younger generations.
I know I’ve been guilty of that ‘I don’t need to know’ attitude, but after reading about Meerkat this morning, I’ve recognized the folly of my ways. Frankly, if I don’t embrace all this newfangled stuff, and soon, I’m going to become one of those little old ladies who talks fondly about the horse and buggy, and how much nicer life was ‘back then’.
cheers
Meeks
p.s. What’s that? You haven’t heard of Meerkat? Mwahahahaha! Google it and find out, or click on the cute picture. 😀
Meeka's Mind 
March 27th, 2015 at 2:16 am
I’m resistant to technology increases, because I can’t afford to keep up with the latest; but I did finally break down and get a smartphone (and data) and I enjoy being able to sort through my e-mail on it. Though, I mostly answer e-mails on my laptop.
As for apps, I really don’t need a lot in the way of apps. Honestly, I don’t think “giving in” to the commercialism of apps is right for everyone or at all necessary. If you find one that really works for you, great; but apps for apps sake doesn’t really sound like a winning proposition.
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March 27th, 2015 at 11:51 am
Part of me hopes this obsession with apps is just a fad and that it will settle down once the novelty wears off, but another part of me is not so optimistic. Apps seem to cater to this pervading terror of ever being ‘bored’.
I can understand it to a degree, but having the time to think is the first pre-requisite to innovation and creativity. -shrug- I guess we’ll have to wait and see. 🙂
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March 29th, 2015 at 6:48 am
I guess it would help if you clarified what you mean by “apps.” Apps are just a different way to code the functions that are usually programmed into websites, but in this case the apps are coded for the functionality of mobile devices.
Almost everything that has been transformed into an app was available, to some degree, on websites before apps were available. Apps allow for more personalization and a few other technological advancements, but the technology is just the medium for the content.
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March 29th, 2015 at 11:45 am
Hmm… you know I never quite saw apps that way before. I mean, yes, I knew what an app was, but I guess I didn’t see any of them as modular programs. Thanks for this.
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March 31st, 2015 at 1:09 pm
You’re welcome. 🙂
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March 21st, 2015 at 12:35 pm
I’m a lost cause already, I think – when I click on the meerkat I just get another window with a bigger meerkat!
Are Meeka’s related to meerkats I wonder? 😉
Given my lack, I did manage to Google it; a clever name for the app, given the behavior of meerkats 🙂
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March 21st, 2015 at 2:46 pm
oops! I thought I put a proper link in there for the pic. 😦 Sadly no, meerkats are no relation. 🙂
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March 20th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Lovely post!
I have a little bit of that old lady in me, too. I’d rather play solitaire with real cards than on an iPhone screen. (I have a Poe-inspired deck with scary illustrations).
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March 20th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
-grin- I’m glad I’m not alone! And where did you get Poe cards?
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March 20th, 2015 at 1:34 pm
I can see why you’d want to stay with the horse and buggy- the whip. But as for new apps It’s fairly easy to see why you wouldn’t embrace some of them. Meerkat, live video streaming. Who would want that? Surely only a youngster in case one of her friends forgets what she looks like 20 minutes after school ends. It’s sort of like the webcams people set up in their bedroom for 24/7, a continuous selfie.
I have 3 apps on my tablet. A music one I don’t use as frankly youtube is better, and two photography ones, the second as it’ much better than the first but to be honest for the amount I use it is say less than once a month just to manipulate a picture.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a refusal to embrace new technology,, it’s a case of deciding how much or how little you’d use it. Unless you could upload one of the war type games you play so that you can continue where you left off before wherever you are. is it worth it to you?
I’m older than you and trying to convince myself I’m just the new middle age so stop with the ‘Old’.
Cwtch xxxxxxxx
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March 20th, 2015 at 2:37 pm
-giggles- Apologies. All references to ‘old’ withdrawn. 😀 And you’re right in what you say about functionality – the things I use are in fact on my mobile devices but I can’t help wondering if I’d use ‘more’ if I felt more comfortable with the technology?
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March 20th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
Maybe you could hook the Meerkat up to your buggy…. 😉
I admit it — I have both an iPhone and an iPad. The iPad is great for traveling, especially now that there’s an actual, honest-to-gods version of Word for it. But I refuse to get involved in the biggest data hog I’ve seen so far — a game called Ingress. One of my kids is kind of obsessed with it….
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March 20th, 2015 at 2:41 pm
-giggles- Yeah, I could just see myself with a Meerkat buggy. I could get it to deliver cups of coffee straight to the desk. 🙂
In a more serious vein, however, the live video streaming app caught my attention because of its potential use as a form of grassroots news gathering.
So many people are already using social media to disseminate breaking news, this would be one more step in that process.
As for Ingress… I might have to look that up .:D
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March 20th, 2015 at 11:47 am
I actually don’t have a smartphone. Mainly because I have no use for it. I don’t make calls and all the stuff I could do on one I do on my iPad. But then our house is run on wireless. At some point I would like to have wireless control of all the lights and the garage door.
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March 20th, 2015 at 2:44 pm
lmao – I don’t think you have to worry about becoming a Luddite just yet!
When I designed my house [not the outside, just the inside] I had cat5 cable put through the whole house and it’s still going strong. Makes it difficult to justify buying a wireless set up. It will happen one day, and perhaps when it does, I’ll join the 21st century but until then I’ll have to make do. 😀
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March 20th, 2015 at 10:14 am
(Giggling, as she sits here typing on her ten-year-old laptop while her “dumb phone” recharges.)
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March 20th, 2015 at 2:45 pm
rofl! One of my mob! Although I confess my desktop is a wee bit more cutting edge. 😀
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