What we collect!

 

Stamporama Discussion Board Logo
For People Who Love To Talk About Stamps
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Stamporama Discussion Board Logo
For People Who Love To Talk About Stamps
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Stamporama Discussion Board Logo
For People Who Love To Talk About Stamps



What we collect!
What we collect!


Off Topic/Non-philatelic Disc. : Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

 

Author
Postings
ikeyPikey
Members Picture


28 Sep 2018
03:06:19pm
I have never owned, or even used, a ToyPhone a/k/a 'smart' phone.

There, I said it.

Out'n'proud, to borrow a phrase.

My LG-B470 sets me free.

Reasons 'why' include:

- I've got enough time-sucks in my life, and

- Looking at the world thru a ToyPhone feels like looking at the world thru a keyhole, and

- I take pride in having worked with 'real' high tech / science gear; ToyPhones are way too consumery.

More than twenty years after my first cell phone, the only reason I'd upgrade to a ToyPhone is Waze (real time traffic app).

Q/ Anybody else?

Cheers,

s/ ikeyPikey
Like 
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Webpaper
Members Picture


28 Sep 2018
03:09:40pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Love my flip phone - I use it to talk once in awhile.

Like
Login to Like
this post
pigdoc

28 Sep 2018
05:39:32pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I'm using a Samsung whatever that was a hand-me-down from my stepdaughter, um...6 years ago. The browser is no longer supported, the mapping app is no longer supported, but the phone still works. And, once in a while, I use the camera. Her next hand-me-down phone has been waiting patiently for about a year now for me to re-activate it on my account.

Haven't bought a phone in at least a decade. The last car I bought was 15 years ago, and it was 26 years old when I bought it. The next car I buy will probably be nearly 100 years old.

I generally don't use GPS. Prefer to look at a real, paper map before I depart and then add detail to my corresponding mental map as I make the trip. I even plan and mentally store an alternative route if there is congestion in an urban area. Good exercise for the brain, and I never get lost. As long as East is still East, West is still West, North is still North, and South is still South, there is no problem. I am highly amused by Waze users who are perpetually lost, (looking over shoulder) like my wife. The brain has such immaculate spacial skills. Why would anyone choose to squander those?

Paper maps haven't become obsolete... quite yet.

Me, a prisoner of technology? Not on MY life!

-Paul


Like
Login to Like
this post
Brechinite
Members Picture


Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons

28 Sep 2018
08:12:40pm

Auctions - Approvals
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I've never possessed any type of mobile phone, and never intend to. Why?

Every time I phone someone with a mobile they never have the bloomin thing switched on!

Why should I pay any telecom company their extortionate fees?

Actually there is only one reason I do not have a mobile phone.

I am not that bloomin' IMPORTANT!!!



Like
Login to Like
this post

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
angore
Members Picture


Collector, Moderator

29 Sep 2018
06:21:46am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I bit the bullet and upgraded from my flip phone several years ago but do not do that much with it. When I get home from work I place it on the counter or dresser and stays there most of the time. It can be useful on trips for traffic and making hotel reservations. Any calls I make are usually for some commerce activity (reference to a service, etc).

They have a role but like a TV or a computer so some can spend a lot of time on them. I spend far more time on my laptop since I use it a lot for stamp collecting.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
philb
Members Picture


29 Sep 2018
09:01:48am

Auctions
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

My wife buys me a card once a month for my phone..a waste of money..i rarely carry it woth me..how did we survive all those years raising three children without constant communication ? I have had car troubles a couple of times on the road over the years and somehow also survived without the phone.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"If a man would be anything, he must be himself."
musicman
Members Picture


APS #213005

29 Sep 2018
09:48:16am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

And on the OTHER side of the coin;


I have owned a 'smartphone' now for about 6 years or more.

I use it to do many things, one of which is to stay connected with SOR when I am away on vacation....when connections allow that is.

I use it for the times I don't have my watch;

I use it for the handy calendar;

I use it for TEXTING with people I don't want to actually TALK to ( Laughing );

I use it for taking pictures and receiving pictures of my awesome granddaughter, Peanut;

I use it for getting my email when I am not at a computer;

I use it for the handy calculator;

I use it for getting the MLB scores of the day;

I use it for google maps and WAZE;

I use it for the QR/Barcode scanner app;

AND - I also use it to CALL people.



So......

cell phones aren't for everyone - this is true.

But for some, we use them for many things!



Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
MikeyToo
Members Picture


29 Sep 2018
10:50:17am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I have a smart phone. Unfortunately, it turns out to be smarter than I am.

It Takes lousy pictures so I'll keep my Nikon.

I use it to make/receive calls and texts from family. I also use the calendar to keep a list of appointments. Of course the Sudoku app is great while waiting in the doctors office for your appointment time.





Like
Login to Like
this post
Strider
Members Picture


29 Sep 2018
01:09:43pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I'm with Musicman over this. My mobile makes a lot of things easier.

Like
Login to Like
this post
clivel
Members Picture


29 Sep 2018
01:51:32pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I haven't missed an appointment nor forgotten a birthday since getting a smart phone thanks to the built in calendar app.

And with close family members spread around the world, one tap on the clock icon instantly shows me the current time in Australia, South Africa, London, Israel and other parts of Canada. Never again does my brother in Melbourne have to worry about me phoning him at 3am for a chat.

Which brings me to my final must-have reason for owning a smart phone, a little application called WhatsApp. Not only does his bring free instant messaging almost anywhere in the world but it also provides telephone quality voice communications also completely free (on a wifi connection). I shudder when I think back to how much money we wasted on international calls over the years.
Clive

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"AlbumEasy - Free software for creating custom stamp album pages"

www.thestampweb.com/albumeasy
larsdog
Members Picture


APS #220693 ATA#57179

29 Sep 2018
10:34:44pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I was an early adopter. After relying on a Motorola StarTac in the late 1990's, in 2001 I acquired a Casio phone/PDA combo with a slide out QWERTY keyboard and internet access. Before bid sniping services were widely available, my smartphone saved me a few bucks. I still remember making a last second bid for my White Plains S/S in 2006 at a local home and garden show where my wife and I were looking for ideas and contacts for a new house we were building.

I went to iPhones soon after they came out. I use my iPhone as a flashlight, calculator, note pad, camera, voice recorder, video recorder, speedometer, clock, alarm, reminder, calendar, etc. I don't use social media, so my non-voice interactions to people are text messages. It is handy for text message updates of deliveries to my house or flight delays for my trips. I have an app that lets me view my home surveillance cameras anywhere I have Internet connectivity.

On a recent trip to Russia (via cruise ship), however, my wife an I both powered down our iPhones and locked them in the cabin safe. We bought a burner World phone for use in Russia, and since we had it anyway, used it in Estonia as well. (Just in case).

Since this is the "What hasn't happened yet?" thread ... I'm still waiting on that jet-pack we were all promised would be there in the 21st Century.

Lars

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."

www.larsdog.com/stamps
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


30 Sep 2018
12:57:06am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

It's hard to understand why the moniker "smart phone" conjures up images of frivolous activity and time wasting. We all have computers we "waste time" using such as posting on forums, etc. Todays phones are merely small computers that provide many uses and replace many other products. I use mine for mail, replacing postal mail, for research, for maps, as a camera, a video recorder, a television, for following news and posting to online forums, as a calendar, an address book, a notebook, for conference calls, texts and emails for work and on and on.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Opa
Members Picture


01 Oct 2018
11:40:48am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I have a very old pre paid Nokia that I only use when I go fishing alone or on a trip. Most people look at me a little strange when I tell them that I don´t own a smart phone. I just say if it´s important call me at home, if you want to text me send me a letter. By the way here we call cell phones Handys.


Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


01 Oct 2018
01:17:11pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Most people don't use these devices for making calls. "Phone" is a misnomer because phone calls are probably 1% of my usage. I can't conceive how people travel without such a device, to plan routes on a map, find restaurants and sites to visit, order a cab, make hotel reservations, take photos, watch downloaded shows or listen to music on the plane. The device is my boarding pass, my soccer match and movie ticket holder, it holds my itinerary and travel contacts, and provides the means to meet up with colleagues.

In answer to the initial post, "what hasn't happened yet" after having a phone is have to buy four large ADC map books for the four major counties around DC. I don't have to dig them out from under the seat to find a route to North Capital street or where-ever. Just for the map alone, the phone pays for itself in time and cost of paper maps.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
michael78651
Members Picture


01 Oct 2018
02:03:34pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I have a flip phone, and have resisted upgrading. I don't use it all that often, and I can usually go about a week on a single charge. I rarely text, play games and I don't use the internet (my screen is too small to see anything) with my flip phone. However, I know that my sales at the flea market, model railroad shows and stamp meets would be better if I had a smart phone as I would be able to take credit card payments.

I got rid of my landline many years ago. I only received spam/scammer calls on the landline, so why pay for that?

Having a mobile phone has shown it's importance to me several times when I have been stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car breakdown. There's a lot of "nowhere" when driving around Texas! Also, the alarm company for my house contacts me on my flip phone if there's a problem. So, I take my flip phone with me whenever I leave the house.

Like
Login to Like
this post

www.hipstamp.com/store/the-online-stamp-shop
Brechinite
Members Picture


Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons

01 Oct 2018
02:19:16pm

Auctions - Approvals
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

" I can't conceive how people travel without such a device, to plan routes on a map, find restaurants and sites to visit, order a cab, make hotel reservations, take photos "



YYYUUUPPP!!!....Done all that for decades without a smartphone.
Like 
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
Guthrum
Members Picture


02 Oct 2018
06:47:54am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I am, I suspect, the only person in England without a 'smartphone' or mobile communication device of any sort, owing to some deep psychological resistance to the possibility of anyone knowing where I am at any time, as well as a fairly general antipathy to modern technology. Like my Scots compatriot above, I have always managed easily to travel, plan, take photographs, etc., without one.

Until, that is, last Friday. I was due to meet my friend Michael at 11am at Embankment Tube Station and waited there for two hours before returning, somewhat worried that he may have taken ill, to my home. There, checking his most recent email (as I should have done before setting out), was his message "see you around eleven at Temple".

Temple is the station one stop before Embankment.

I Don't Want To See


Like 
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


02 Oct 2018
09:15:54pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

" I can't conceive how people travel without such a device, to plan routes on a map, find restaurants and sites to visit, order a cab, make hotel reservations, take photos "

"
YYYUUUPPP!!!....Done all that for decades without a smartphone."



That's not the point. I also traveled for years with out a computer, but at least I didn't resort to carrying a dime in my penny loafers for a phone call. However, travel happens to be way more efficient with a computing device. I also used to collect stamps without resorting to a computer to buy, sell, look up pricing and catalog numbers, or research. I'm sure when the first automobiles arrived on the scene there were a bunch of folks that said they got around fine for years in a horse and buggy. Higher efficiency replaced the physical stamp marketplace, the horse and buggy, and is currently displacing the land line, cable and broadcast television and portions of the postal system. Add in the savings from not needing to buy a watch, camera, ADC map books, an address book. etc. and its a no-brainer (besides its a requirement for most employment).

I'm not saying people should own "smart phones". Certainly they shouldn't if they are happy without them. But they are not phones per se, they are not frivolous, and they don't have to be time-sucks.
Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Brechinite
Members Picture


Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons

03 Oct 2018
11:33:29am

Auctions - Approvals
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

It is "horses for courses".
People have the right to choose. I have no objection to smartphones etc.
They can be a great tool when used correctly.
However I do object when Local Authorities, National Governments insist that services can only be initiated on line or by App.
A small example of this is car parks that only have cashless machines for payment. You either have to pay using an App or by card. If the driver types in the wrong registration number they get a $75 fine.(it is easy done as the screens are poor especially when the sun shines and the car park owners make more on the fines than the actual car parking charges)
I have had 3 people walk in front of my car while using their smartphone this past month, the result is a screech of brakes and the people giving me the finger as if I was in the wrong!!
What happens when the various terrorist groups, and other "enemies of the state" get an Electro magnetic pulse machine/gun? There is a whole generation that will not be educated to survive.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
BenFranklin1902
Members Picture


Tom in Exton, PA

03 Oct 2018
03:24:57pm

Approvals
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I'm seldom an early adapter with technology but I take advantage of what is available that makes my life better or easier. Smart Phone is one of those things for all the reasons people have stated. It's more of a computer than a phone so maybe we should call it our pocket computer with phone option?

Just last evening my daughter Skyped me. She just got her very first home completely decorated and moved in (she bought her own condo! Very proud of her!) and she was so excited to give me a live video tour!

And I love Waze.. it's a real time crowd sourced navigation system. So when I'm on my way home from work and it tells me to get off the Turnpike two exits early, I know it's directing me around an obstruction. Gotta love that! Or when I've turned myself around somewhere strange, I just hit the "Go Home" button!

Like
Login to Like
this post
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


03 Oct 2018
03:54:48pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I've had the same problem with "car parks" or parking lots here in the states. They once accepted coins, then had humans at the gate and now have machines. I don't mind the ones that have machines you pay and then insert at the gate, but the ones that require an app or account are few but annoying.

Unfortunately I am pretty sure the US, China and Russia all have sophisticated EM pulse weapons at this point in time. That will affect more than mobile devices.

Like
Login to Like
this post
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


03 Oct 2018
03:56:46pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Both Russia and the NSA and I am sure China also have malware that can rewrite the flash memory on you PC motherboard for permanent access. But you probably have to be a high value target for this to happen to you.

Like
Login to Like
this post
sheepshanks
Members Picture


03 Oct 2018
04:48:01pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

No mobile 'phone, but land line at home.
Not sure about the pulse weapons but concerned with how easy it will be to disrupt driverless vehicle systems with the availability of signal jamming technology.

Like
Login to Like
this post
51Studebaker
Members Picture


Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

03 Oct 2018
06:44:54pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Some of the folks here must have read Conrad Gessner (respected Swiss scientist) landmark book where he opines that the modern world has completely overwhelmed people with data and that this is “confusing and harmful” for us all. Clearly Gessner is on to something in his book (which was published in 1560) when he lamented the newfangled printing press.

In the 1600s newspapers became popular media for delivering news. But wait…there were people who railed against this ‘new’ form of getting news. Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (French minister) famous argued against getting your news from a newspaper saying that they isolated readers and worked against the more traditional method of delivery from a pulpit.

Here is Mark Twain’s first correspondence typed on the Remington typewriter he bought in 1874 describing this newfangled te4chnology…
Image Not Found

The New York Times, with the first known usage of the word automobile, published this on January 3rd, 1899;

"There is something uncanny about these new-fangled vehicles. They are all unutterably ugly and never a one of them has been provided with a good, or even an endurable, name. The French, who are usually orthodox in their etymology if in nothing else, have evolved ‘automobile,’ which, being half Greek and half Latin, is so near to indecent that we print it with hesitation."


There was a huge amount of 'push back' against automobiles when they were first introduced to the public. Many felt strongly that without the additional intelligence of the horse all kinds of travel problems would arise. In England an old law dubbed the Red Flag Act required self-propelled vehicles to be led at walking pace by someone waving a red flag. And of course the issue with automobiles scaring horse was an often used justification for being critical of the new technology. The push back was so strong about this someone came up with this solution...
Image Not Found

Or recall that in 1930s radio was accused of rotting the minds of children. Radio was accused of being a ‘distraction from reading’ and negatively impacting school performance. In 1936 the magazine the Gramophone published an article which said that children had “developed the habit of dividing attention between the humdrum preparation of their school assignments and the compelling excitement of the loudspeaker”.

Or how about television? Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s there were published articles on how would kill off radio, reading, conversation, and literally destroy the ‘pattern of family living’.

So here we are now, educated people who specialize in philately and history, and we are repeating patterns? The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Don

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
larsdog
Members Picture


APS #220693 ATA#57179

03 Oct 2018
09:30:37pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

"I have a flip phone... I don't use it all that often...

I got rid of my landline many years ago...

Having a mobile phone has shown it's importance to me several times when I have been stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car breakdown. There's a lot of "nowhere" when driving around Texas! Also, the alarm company for my house contacts me on my flip phone if there's a problem. So, I take my flip phone with me whenever I leave the house."



I don't understand. How can your home alarm system communicate with the alarm company without a landline? Do you have a cellular link? Are you using Voice over IP through cable? I can't get a cell link that will handle the alarm signal and VOIP doesn't work here for that. The ONLY reason I have a landline is for the alarm system, but then again, with underground utilities in my subdivision, our landlines worked when almost NOTHING else worked (including cell phones) during the big ice storm several years ago.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."

www.larsdog.com/stamps
Bobstamp
Members Picture


03 Oct 2018
11:03:43pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Hmmmm.... Which am I, and "early adopter" of cell phone technology or a 75-year-old "child" with a new toy? Well, I guess I'm both.

My cellphone (an Apple iPhone 7) is fun to use, and very useful. It’s my third (or my fourth?) cellphone; my wife and I each bought our first one soon after Apple started producing them. The cost of new iPhones is staggering, but you don’t get anything for nothing, and our iPhones offer a great deal.

It's intriguing and very useful that I can be almost anywhere (except perhaps at the top of Mount Everest or deep in the Marianas Trench) and call (or text, or email) virtually anyone with a computer.

I enjoy having a high-quality camera with me whenever I'm out and about, and I do mean high quality: it's capable of producing huge, sharp prints only slightly smaller than those I can take with my cumbersome Canon EOS T3i. T Here's a recent iPhone image:

Image Not Found

And the iPhone 7 camera isn’t nearly as good as the cameras in recent iterations of the iPhone. The latest one has the capability of adjusting depth of field before or even after exposure. I’m not in love with the ergonomics of the iPhone camera or any other cellphone camera, and it can be downright impossible to use in bright light. But as my son, Paul, says, “The best camera is the one you have with you!” Besides which, good photographs are produced by good photographers, not good cameras.

I love the fact that while I’m waiting to see my doctor, who is inevitably far behind in his schedule, I can read any of the several hundred eBooks I have stored on my iPhone, and easily learn the meaning of any unfamiliar words I encounter. I can listen to any of the scores of albums stored on my iPhone, or play some interesting games, or read the latest news stories, or add items to my shopping list, or check the weather and the weather forecast, or find out where my wife is on her shopping trip, or edit a photograph, or listen to a podcast, or listen to CBC Radio or an audiobook, or check to see what other appointments I have coming up, or even watch a movie. On my way home, I can find out how long I have to wait for the next bus, and order some take out from any of our favourite restaurants. If I encounter an interesting scene that features movement — a flock of geese walking across the street and stopping traffic, or leaves her flowers blowing in the wind, or waves breaking on the beach at English Bay, I can take a hi-res video, with sound, that’s about 10,000% better quality than any “Super 8” movie you ever saw. If I get home before my wife, I can use my iPhone to turn off the alarm system. If I encounter a mugger on my way home, I might have enough time to “instantly” call 911.

I once found a “lost” cat with my iPhone. Callie was my son’s cat, and we were cat sitting for him, but she disappeared. I didn’t see how she could have gotten out of our third-floor apartment, but…could she have gotten onto the balcony and committed suicide? That didn’t seem likely. Finally, after looking “everywhere” for her, I thought of the one place where she might be, and where we would never be able to see her: behind the water heater in the closet off the hallway. It was such a cramped space that I couldn’t stretch my neck far enough to see her, and it was very dark. My iPhone came to the rescue: I turned the flash on, pointed the camera at the floor behind the water heater, and pressed the shutter. I got a vague image of a cat with two very large, bright green eyes looking up at the camera. She eventually emerged for food.

I have often thought of my days in the Navy, from 1962 through most of 1966, when the only communication I had with my family was through the mails. I was posted to Yokosuka, Japan for two years, and then spent five months in Okinawa and then more than a month in Vietnam with the Marines, during which time I wasn’t even able to call my parents — the trans-Pacific telephone cable hadn’t been completed. My tour of duty in Vietnam ended when I was wounded; it would have been wonderful if I’d been able to call my parents and tell them that I was OK (well, mostly OK) and was on my way home. As it was, however, I wasn’t able to talk with them for almost five days, when I was evacuated to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. An airman who was a ham radio operator patched a call through to my parents, going through another ham operator in my home town in New Mexico.

I know my memory is not as good as it used to be, but I don’t remember that the one flip phone I owned could do anything more than place or receive a phone call, and it wasn't consistently good at that. It certainly couldn’t find a lost cat!

Bob

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasures.net
Bobstamp
Members Picture


03 Oct 2018
11:30:23pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

@Larsdog: My wife, Susan, and I each have iPhones, as I discuss in my previous post, and we also have a landline, although it's a digital landline and our telephone is digital — the service is part of our Shaw television/internet/telephone package. A few years ago, our cable service failed for a few hours. We had no television, no "landline," and no internet. But our cellphones still worked, because our cellphone service provider is not Shaw, but Rogers. I was able to call Shaw with my cellphone to find out what the heck was going on.

When we are within range of the wifi signal that our computers generate, our cellphone use goes through our router and prevents additional charges from Rogers (although we have a "full-service" cellphone contract with Rogers). When we leave the apartment, our cellphones automatically switch to Rogers' wireless internet service. When we leave our apartment, we arm our security system through our computers, and we can disarm it when we're a block or so away through our Rogers internet connection.

In my previous post, I forgot to mention another useful feature of our cellphones, an app called "Tile". Tile uses little rectangular bluetooth trackers that you put wherever you wish — on your keyring, in a backpack, in your wallet, etc. Using your computer or a cellphone, you can ask Tile to tell you where your items are, and how long they've been there. A few weeks ago, my wife and I stopped at an A&W for lunch. When we got home, my wife realized that she she didn't have her backpack with her. Using her cellphone, she asked Tile where her backpack was. It was right where she left it 10 minutes earlier, at A&W. She called A&W and learned that another customer had turned it in to an A&W employee, and we walked back to pick it up. If you lose your cellphone, you can use your computer to locate it.

Bob

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasures.net
51Studebaker
Members Picture


Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

04 Oct 2018
06:40:48am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I got inspired, so here is a possible solution for anyone who is uncomfortable with a smart phone. To get the phone to power on and keep it running you must crank the handle on the side. Incoming calls ring the bells on top loud enough to wake the dead. Use the speaker to talk to your caller. But the best feature is that this is wireless.
Don

Image Not Found

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


04 Oct 2018
10:45:19am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

The posts above reminded me of some of the most important uses of a mobile device:
1) Alarm clock - I never buy bedside clocks anymore and don't have to worry about the hotel's crappy alarm clock not working properly
2) The flash was mentioned above - now that most folks don't smoke we use the flash at concerts and sporting events for encores/tributes etc.
3) Magnifying glass

Like
Login to Like
this post
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


04 Oct 2018
10:49:26am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Still most important for me is the map. One thing I never need to experience again:

My wife needs to have a map everywhere we go and have things planned out. I like to just explore. So on our honeymoon in London, for two weeks she carried 20-30 pounds of tour guides and maps in her backpack. Although I told her I wasn't carrying that load, I ended up with it at least half the time. That will never happen again if she has a phone with maps.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Brechinite
Members Picture


Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons

04 Oct 2018
11:48:00am

Auctions - Approvals
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Back in '72, while I was working in Canada, We had a phone just as 51studebaker describes (but not wireless).
We had to count the number of rings to see if the call was for us or somebody else up the line!!

AAHH! Memories!!

Like
Login to Like
this post

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
larsdog
Members Picture


APS #220693 ATA#57179

04 Oct 2018
08:06:53pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Bob,

My comment was for Michael. He said he didn't have a landline.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."

www.larsdog.com/stamps
ikeyPikey
Members Picture


08 Nov 2018
09:11:12pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

REI tells me that my REI credit card now comes with cellphone accident coverage, as long as I pay my monthly bill via their card.

Nice!

Of course, it would be even nicer if I had a phone that cost more than the fifty dollar deductible Winking

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like
Login to Like
this post

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
tooler
Members Picture


09 Nov 2018
10:45:59am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I remember when you picked up the receiver, someone asked, number please.Surprise

Like
Login to Like
this post
snowy12
Members Picture


10 Nov 2018
06:31:28am

Auctions
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Like Michael we ditched our land line ,it was over $40-00 a month line rental and we used to make around $5-00 of calls at 40 cents a pop and most of the calls we received were spam .
So we opted for a voip phone it plugs in the modem we now pay $9-95 a month and 10c a call.
I do have a mobile also, as most of the time people want a phone number I give them my mobile,as our voip phone number is not in the phone book we get no spam calls at all.
I use my mobile to make calls ,send text and take photos even used it to record bird songs in the back garden ,checking my emails and play the odd game when I go on the train.I know it will do a lot more ,I just have to figure out how Hypnotized
Brian

Like
Login to Like
this post
michael78651
Members Picture


10 Nov 2018
08:13:01am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I agree that "smart" phones are useful, but they are being abused, or maybe they are abusing in nature. I was in a restaurant last night for supper. A family of three came in and ordered food. The entire time, the three were using their own "smart" phones. There was very little conversation between the three.

When the food arrived, the father did not eat, instead he sat there texting. The mother and teen-aged daughter ate with one hand and texted with the other. Oh, and while they were doing all that, they kept an eye on the television as well. That was a wonderful family outing.

Technology can be a big help for people. However, when it is abused like the example I just gave, it is dangerous.

Like
Login to Like
this post

www.hipstamp.com/store/the-online-stamp-shop
51Studebaker
Members Picture


Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

10 Nov 2018
09:08:40am
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Same logic was said about television being abused (and rotting kids minds) in 1960 yet somehow we managed to mature into fairly decent generation. (But I guess that is debatable!)

I remember sitting in a meeting at a technology company in 1990 listening to a CEO who was beating the table saying, ‘the internet is just a fad’. We argued back and told him that the internet and ubiquitous computing was here to stay.

Ubiquitous computing, like the internet, is not going away. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing means having access to a computer anytime, anywhere, in any format.

The biggest current challenge is I/O (input/output) and new technologies will hurl us past these limitations. Projection 3D displays and voice recognition is making large strides which remove dependencies upon typing/swiping with fingers and trying to see tiny screens. (Think Dick Tracy watch but one that projects display screens any size you want and only using your voice to control the device.) So good news; our grandchildren’s kids will not be using smart phones.
Don

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
ikeyPikey
Members Picture


10 Nov 2018
01:28:49pm
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

"... our grandchildren’s kids will not be using smart phones ... "



The radical evolutionary biology approach is that we ourselves are just gene delivery systems, much as cigarettes have come to be viewed as (principally) nicotine delivery systems.

So our grandchildren’s kids are going to be digital/silicon delivery systems?

Good luck to them.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey
Like
Login to Like
this post

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
snowy12
Members Picture


11 Nov 2018
07:15:42am

Auctions
re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Several years ago my brother and I and our wives were on holiday in Kio Samui in Thailand .We were out for dinner in a restaurant ,a young Japanese at least I think they were couple sat at the next table ,they ordered their meal out came their mobile phones they were still on them when their meals came ,didn't even put them away.
Most annoying thing is people who walk and text at the same time and never look where they are going.
What did we do before mobile phones (besides look were we were going)
Brian

Like
Login to Like
this post
        

 

Author/Postings
Members Picture
ikeyPikey

28 Sep 2018
03:06:19pm

I have never owned, or even used, a ToyPhone a/k/a 'smart' phone.

There, I said it.

Out'n'proud, to borrow a phrase.

My LG-B470 sets me free.

Reasons 'why' include:

- I've got enough time-sucks in my life, and

- Looking at the world thru a ToyPhone feels like looking at the world thru a keyhole, and

- I take pride in having worked with 'real' high tech / science gear; ToyPhones are way too consumery.

More than twenty years after my first cell phone, the only reason I'd upgrade to a ToyPhone is Waze (real time traffic app).

Q/ Anybody else?

Cheers,

s/ ikeyPikey

Like 
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Members Picture
Webpaper

28 Sep 2018
03:09:40pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Love my flip phone - I use it to talk once in awhile.

Like
Login to Like
this post
pigdoc

28 Sep 2018
05:39:32pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I'm using a Samsung whatever that was a hand-me-down from my stepdaughter, um...6 years ago. The browser is no longer supported, the mapping app is no longer supported, but the phone still works. And, once in a while, I use the camera. Her next hand-me-down phone has been waiting patiently for about a year now for me to re-activate it on my account.

Haven't bought a phone in at least a decade. The last car I bought was 15 years ago, and it was 26 years old when I bought it. The next car I buy will probably be nearly 100 years old.

I generally don't use GPS. Prefer to look at a real, paper map before I depart and then add detail to my corresponding mental map as I make the trip. I even plan and mentally store an alternative route if there is congestion in an urban area. Good exercise for the brain, and I never get lost. As long as East is still East, West is still West, North is still North, and South is still South, there is no problem. I am highly amused by Waze users who are perpetually lost, (looking over shoulder) like my wife. The brain has such immaculate spacial skills. Why would anyone choose to squander those?

Paper maps haven't become obsolete... quite yet.

Me, a prisoner of technology? Not on MY life!

-Paul


Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Brechinite

Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons
28 Sep 2018
08:12:40pm

Auctions - Approvals

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I've never possessed any type of mobile phone, and never intend to. Why?

Every time I phone someone with a mobile they never have the bloomin thing switched on!

Why should I pay any telecom company their extortionate fees?

Actually there is only one reason I do not have a mobile phone.

I am not that bloomin' IMPORTANT!!!



Like
Login to Like
this post

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
Members Picture
angore

Collector, Moderator
29 Sep 2018
06:21:46am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I bit the bullet and upgraded from my flip phone several years ago but do not do that much with it. When I get home from work I place it on the counter or dresser and stays there most of the time. It can be useful on trips for traffic and making hotel reservations. Any calls I make are usually for some commerce activity (reference to a service, etc).

They have a role but like a TV or a computer so some can spend a lot of time on them. I spend far more time on my laptop since I use it a lot for stamp collecting.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
Members Picture
philb

29 Sep 2018
09:01:48am

Auctions

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

My wife buys me a card once a month for my phone..a waste of money..i rarely carry it woth me..how did we survive all those years raising three children without constant communication ? I have had car troubles a couple of times on the road over the years and somehow also survived without the phone.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"If a man would be anything, he must be himself."
Members Picture
musicman

APS #213005
29 Sep 2018
09:48:16am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

And on the OTHER side of the coin;


I have owned a 'smartphone' now for about 6 years or more.

I use it to do many things, one of which is to stay connected with SOR when I am away on vacation....when connections allow that is.

I use it for the times I don't have my watch;

I use it for the handy calendar;

I use it for TEXTING with people I don't want to actually TALK to ( Laughing );

I use it for taking pictures and receiving pictures of my awesome granddaughter, Peanut;

I use it for getting my email when I am not at a computer;

I use it for the handy calculator;

I use it for getting the MLB scores of the day;

I use it for google maps and WAZE;

I use it for the QR/Barcode scanner app;

AND - I also use it to CALL people.



So......

cell phones aren't for everyone - this is true.

But for some, we use them for many things!



Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
MikeyToo

29 Sep 2018
10:50:17am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I have a smart phone. Unfortunately, it turns out to be smarter than I am.

It Takes lousy pictures so I'll keep my Nikon.

I use it to make/receive calls and texts from family. I also use the calendar to keep a list of appointments. Of course the Sudoku app is great while waiting in the doctors office for your appointment time.





Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Strider

29 Sep 2018
01:09:43pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I'm with Musicman over this. My mobile makes a lot of things easier.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
clivel

29 Sep 2018
01:51:32pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I haven't missed an appointment nor forgotten a birthday since getting a smart phone thanks to the built in calendar app.

And with close family members spread around the world, one tap on the clock icon instantly shows me the current time in Australia, South Africa, London, Israel and other parts of Canada. Never again does my brother in Melbourne have to worry about me phoning him at 3am for a chat.

Which brings me to my final must-have reason for owning a smart phone, a little application called WhatsApp. Not only does his bring free instant messaging almost anywhere in the world but it also provides telephone quality voice communications also completely free (on a wifi connection). I shudder when I think back to how much money we wasted on international calls over the years.
Clive

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"AlbumEasy - Free software for creating custom stamp album pages"

www.thestampweb.com/ ...
Members Picture
larsdog

APS #220693 ATA#57179
29 Sep 2018
10:34:44pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I was an early adopter. After relying on a Motorola StarTac in the late 1990's, in 2001 I acquired a Casio phone/PDA combo with a slide out QWERTY keyboard and internet access. Before bid sniping services were widely available, my smartphone saved me a few bucks. I still remember making a last second bid for my White Plains S/S in 2006 at a local home and garden show where my wife and I were looking for ideas and contacts for a new house we were building.

I went to iPhones soon after they came out. I use my iPhone as a flashlight, calculator, note pad, camera, voice recorder, video recorder, speedometer, clock, alarm, reminder, calendar, etc. I don't use social media, so my non-voice interactions to people are text messages. It is handy for text message updates of deliveries to my house or flight delays for my trips. I have an app that lets me view my home surveillance cameras anywhere I have Internet connectivity.

On a recent trip to Russia (via cruise ship), however, my wife an I both powered down our iPhones and locked them in the cabin safe. We bought a burner World phone for use in Russia, and since we had it anyway, used it in Estonia as well. (Just in case).

Since this is the "What hasn't happened yet?" thread ... I'm still waiting on that jet-pack we were all promised would be there in the 21st Century.

Lars

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."

www.larsdog.com/stam ...
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

30 Sep 2018
12:57:06am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

It's hard to understand why the moniker "smart phone" conjures up images of frivolous activity and time wasting. We all have computers we "waste time" using such as posting on forums, etc. Todays phones are merely small computers that provide many uses and replace many other products. I use mine for mail, replacing postal mail, for research, for maps, as a camera, a video recorder, a television, for following news and posting to online forums, as a calendar, an address book, a notebook, for conference calls, texts and emails for work and on and on.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
Opa

01 Oct 2018
11:40:48am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I have a very old pre paid Nokia that I only use when I go fishing alone or on a trip. Most people look at me a little strange when I tell them that I don´t own a smart phone. I just say if it´s important call me at home, if you want to text me send me a letter. By the way here we call cell phones Handys.


Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

01 Oct 2018
01:17:11pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Most people don't use these devices for making calls. "Phone" is a misnomer because phone calls are probably 1% of my usage. I can't conceive how people travel without such a device, to plan routes on a map, find restaurants and sites to visit, order a cab, make hotel reservations, take photos, watch downloaded shows or listen to music on the plane. The device is my boarding pass, my soccer match and movie ticket holder, it holds my itinerary and travel contacts, and provides the means to meet up with colleagues.

In answer to the initial post, "what hasn't happened yet" after having a phone is have to buy four large ADC map books for the four major counties around DC. I don't have to dig them out from under the seat to find a route to North Capital street or where-ever. Just for the map alone, the phone pays for itself in time and cost of paper maps.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
michael78651

01 Oct 2018
02:03:34pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I have a flip phone, and have resisted upgrading. I don't use it all that often, and I can usually go about a week on a single charge. I rarely text, play games and I don't use the internet (my screen is too small to see anything) with my flip phone. However, I know that my sales at the flea market, model railroad shows and stamp meets would be better if I had a smart phone as I would be able to take credit card payments.

I got rid of my landline many years ago. I only received spam/scammer calls on the landline, so why pay for that?

Having a mobile phone has shown it's importance to me several times when I have been stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car breakdown. There's a lot of "nowhere" when driving around Texas! Also, the alarm company for my house contacts me on my flip phone if there's a problem. So, I take my flip phone with me whenever I leave the house.

Like
Login to Like
this post

www.hipstamp.com/sto ...
Members Picture
Brechinite

Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons
01 Oct 2018
02:19:16pm

Auctions - Approvals

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

" I can't conceive how people travel without such a device, to plan routes on a map, find restaurants and sites to visit, order a cab, make hotel reservations, take photos "



YYYUUUPPP!!!....Done all that for decades without a smartphone.
Like 
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
Members Picture
Guthrum

02 Oct 2018
06:47:54am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I am, I suspect, the only person in England without a 'smartphone' or mobile communication device of any sort, owing to some deep psychological resistance to the possibility of anyone knowing where I am at any time, as well as a fairly general antipathy to modern technology. Like my Scots compatriot above, I have always managed easily to travel, plan, take photographs, etc., without one.

Until, that is, last Friday. I was due to meet my friend Michael at 11am at Embankment Tube Station and waited there for two hours before returning, somewhat worried that he may have taken ill, to my home. There, checking his most recent email (as I should have done before setting out), was his message "see you around eleven at Temple".

Temple is the station one stop before Embankment.

I Don't Want To See


Like 
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

02 Oct 2018
09:15:54pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

" I can't conceive how people travel without such a device, to plan routes on a map, find restaurants and sites to visit, order a cab, make hotel reservations, take photos "

"
YYYUUUPPP!!!....Done all that for decades without a smartphone."



That's not the point. I also traveled for years with out a computer, but at least I didn't resort to carrying a dime in my penny loafers for a phone call. However, travel happens to be way more efficient with a computing device. I also used to collect stamps without resorting to a computer to buy, sell, look up pricing and catalog numbers, or research. I'm sure when the first automobiles arrived on the scene there were a bunch of folks that said they got around fine for years in a horse and buggy. Higher efficiency replaced the physical stamp marketplace, the horse and buggy, and is currently displacing the land line, cable and broadcast television and portions of the postal system. Add in the savings from not needing to buy a watch, camera, ADC map books, an address book. etc. and its a no-brainer (besides its a requirement for most employment).

I'm not saying people should own "smart phones". Certainly they shouldn't if they are happy without them. But they are not phones per se, they are not frivolous, and they don't have to be time-sucks.
Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
Brechinite

Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons
03 Oct 2018
11:33:29am

Auctions - Approvals

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

It is "horses for courses".
People have the right to choose. I have no objection to smartphones etc.
They can be a great tool when used correctly.
However I do object when Local Authorities, National Governments insist that services can only be initiated on line or by App.
A small example of this is car parks that only have cashless machines for payment. You either have to pay using an App or by card. If the driver types in the wrong registration number they get a $75 fine.(it is easy done as the screens are poor especially when the sun shines and the car park owners make more on the fines than the actual car parking charges)
I have had 3 people walk in front of my car while using their smartphone this past month, the result is a screech of brakes and the people giving me the finger as if I was in the wrong!!
What happens when the various terrorist groups, and other "enemies of the state" get an Electro magnetic pulse machine/gun? There is a whole generation that will not be educated to survive.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
Members Picture
BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
03 Oct 2018
03:24:57pm

Approvals

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I'm seldom an early adapter with technology but I take advantage of what is available that makes my life better or easier. Smart Phone is one of those things for all the reasons people have stated. It's more of a computer than a phone so maybe we should call it our pocket computer with phone option?

Just last evening my daughter Skyped me. She just got her very first home completely decorated and moved in (she bought her own condo! Very proud of her!) and she was so excited to give me a live video tour!

And I love Waze.. it's a real time crowd sourced navigation system. So when I'm on my way home from work and it tells me to get off the Turnpike two exits early, I know it's directing me around an obstruction. Gotta love that! Or when I've turned myself around somewhere strange, I just hit the "Go Home" button!

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

03 Oct 2018
03:54:48pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I've had the same problem with "car parks" or parking lots here in the states. They once accepted coins, then had humans at the gate and now have machines. I don't mind the ones that have machines you pay and then insert at the gate, but the ones that require an app or account are few but annoying.

Unfortunately I am pretty sure the US, China and Russia all have sophisticated EM pulse weapons at this point in time. That will affect more than mobile devices.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

03 Oct 2018
03:56:46pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Both Russia and the NSA and I am sure China also have malware that can rewrite the flash memory on you PC motherboard for permanent access. But you probably have to be a high value target for this to happen to you.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
sheepshanks

03 Oct 2018
04:48:01pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

No mobile 'phone, but land line at home.
Not sure about the pulse weapons but concerned with how easy it will be to disrupt driverless vehicle systems with the availability of signal jamming technology.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
03 Oct 2018
06:44:54pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Some of the folks here must have read Conrad Gessner (respected Swiss scientist) landmark book where he opines that the modern world has completely overwhelmed people with data and that this is “confusing and harmful” for us all. Clearly Gessner is on to something in his book (which was published in 1560) when he lamented the newfangled printing press.

In the 1600s newspapers became popular media for delivering news. But wait…there were people who railed against this ‘new’ form of getting news. Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (French minister) famous argued against getting your news from a newspaper saying that they isolated readers and worked against the more traditional method of delivery from a pulpit.

Here is Mark Twain’s first correspondence typed on the Remington typewriter he bought in 1874 describing this newfangled te4chnology…
Image Not Found

The New York Times, with the first known usage of the word automobile, published this on January 3rd, 1899;

"There is something uncanny about these new-fangled vehicles. They are all unutterably ugly and never a one of them has been provided with a good, or even an endurable, name. The French, who are usually orthodox in their etymology if in nothing else, have evolved ‘automobile,’ which, being half Greek and half Latin, is so near to indecent that we print it with hesitation."


There was a huge amount of 'push back' against automobiles when they were first introduced to the public. Many felt strongly that without the additional intelligence of the horse all kinds of travel problems would arise. In England an old law dubbed the Red Flag Act required self-propelled vehicles to be led at walking pace by someone waving a red flag. And of course the issue with automobiles scaring horse was an often used justification for being critical of the new technology. The push back was so strong about this someone came up with this solution...
Image Not Found

Or recall that in 1930s radio was accused of rotting the minds of children. Radio was accused of being a ‘distraction from reading’ and negatively impacting school performance. In 1936 the magazine the Gramophone published an article which said that children had “developed the habit of dividing attention between the humdrum preparation of their school assignments and the compelling excitement of the loudspeaker”.

Or how about television? Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s there were published articles on how would kill off radio, reading, conversation, and literally destroy the ‘pattern of family living’.

So here we are now, educated people who specialize in philately and history, and we are repeating patterns? The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Don

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
Members Picture
larsdog

APS #220693 ATA#57179
03 Oct 2018
09:30:37pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

"I have a flip phone... I don't use it all that often...

I got rid of my landline many years ago...

Having a mobile phone has shown it's importance to me several times when I have been stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car breakdown. There's a lot of "nowhere" when driving around Texas! Also, the alarm company for my house contacts me on my flip phone if there's a problem. So, I take my flip phone with me whenever I leave the house."



I don't understand. How can your home alarm system communicate with the alarm company without a landline? Do you have a cellular link? Are you using Voice over IP through cable? I can't get a cell link that will handle the alarm signal and VOIP doesn't work here for that. The ONLY reason I have a landline is for the alarm system, but then again, with underground utilities in my subdivision, our landlines worked when almost NOTHING else worked (including cell phones) during the big ice storm several years ago.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."

www.larsdog.com/stam ...
Members Picture
Bobstamp

03 Oct 2018
11:03:43pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Hmmmm.... Which am I, and "early adopter" of cell phone technology or a 75-year-old "child" with a new toy? Well, I guess I'm both.

My cellphone (an Apple iPhone 7) is fun to use, and very useful. It’s my third (or my fourth?) cellphone; my wife and I each bought our first one soon after Apple started producing them. The cost of new iPhones is staggering, but you don’t get anything for nothing, and our iPhones offer a great deal.

It's intriguing and very useful that I can be almost anywhere (except perhaps at the top of Mount Everest or deep in the Marianas Trench) and call (or text, or email) virtually anyone with a computer.

I enjoy having a high-quality camera with me whenever I'm out and about, and I do mean high quality: it's capable of producing huge, sharp prints only slightly smaller than those I can take with my cumbersome Canon EOS T3i. T Here's a recent iPhone image:

Image Not Found

And the iPhone 7 camera isn’t nearly as good as the cameras in recent iterations of the iPhone. The latest one has the capability of adjusting depth of field before or even after exposure. I’m not in love with the ergonomics of the iPhone camera or any other cellphone camera, and it can be downright impossible to use in bright light. But as my son, Paul, says, “The best camera is the one you have with you!” Besides which, good photographs are produced by good photographers, not good cameras.

I love the fact that while I’m waiting to see my doctor, who is inevitably far behind in his schedule, I can read any of the several hundred eBooks I have stored on my iPhone, and easily learn the meaning of any unfamiliar words I encounter. I can listen to any of the scores of albums stored on my iPhone, or play some interesting games, or read the latest news stories, or add items to my shopping list, or check the weather and the weather forecast, or find out where my wife is on her shopping trip, or edit a photograph, or listen to a podcast, or listen to CBC Radio or an audiobook, or check to see what other appointments I have coming up, or even watch a movie. On my way home, I can find out how long I have to wait for the next bus, and order some take out from any of our favourite restaurants. If I encounter an interesting scene that features movement — a flock of geese walking across the street and stopping traffic, or leaves her flowers blowing in the wind, or waves breaking on the beach at English Bay, I can take a hi-res video, with sound, that’s about 10,000% better quality than any “Super 8” movie you ever saw. If I get home before my wife, I can use my iPhone to turn off the alarm system. If I encounter a mugger on my way home, I might have enough time to “instantly” call 911.

I once found a “lost” cat with my iPhone. Callie was my son’s cat, and we were cat sitting for him, but she disappeared. I didn’t see how she could have gotten out of our third-floor apartment, but…could she have gotten onto the balcony and committed suicide? That didn’t seem likely. Finally, after looking “everywhere” for her, I thought of the one place where she might be, and where we would never be able to see her: behind the water heater in the closet off the hallway. It was such a cramped space that I couldn’t stretch my neck far enough to see her, and it was very dark. My iPhone came to the rescue: I turned the flash on, pointed the camera at the floor behind the water heater, and pressed the shutter. I got a vague image of a cat with two very large, bright green eyes looking up at the camera. She eventually emerged for food.

I have often thought of my days in the Navy, from 1962 through most of 1966, when the only communication I had with my family was through the mails. I was posted to Yokosuka, Japan for two years, and then spent five months in Okinawa and then more than a month in Vietnam with the Marines, during which time I wasn’t even able to call my parents — the trans-Pacific telephone cable hadn’t been completed. My tour of duty in Vietnam ended when I was wounded; it would have been wonderful if I’d been able to call my parents and tell them that I was OK (well, mostly OK) and was on my way home. As it was, however, I wasn’t able to talk with them for almost five days, when I was evacuated to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. An airman who was a ham radio operator patched a call through to my parents, going through another ham operator in my home town in New Mexico.

I know my memory is not as good as it used to be, but I don’t remember that the one flip phone I owned could do anything more than place or receive a phone call, and it wasn't consistently good at that. It certainly couldn’t find a lost cat!

Bob

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasur ...
Members Picture
Bobstamp

03 Oct 2018
11:30:23pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

@Larsdog: My wife, Susan, and I each have iPhones, as I discuss in my previous post, and we also have a landline, although it's a digital landline and our telephone is digital — the service is part of our Shaw television/internet/telephone package. A few years ago, our cable service failed for a few hours. We had no television, no "landline," and no internet. But our cellphones still worked, because our cellphone service provider is not Shaw, but Rogers. I was able to call Shaw with my cellphone to find out what the heck was going on.

When we are within range of the wifi signal that our computers generate, our cellphone use goes through our router and prevents additional charges from Rogers (although we have a "full-service" cellphone contract with Rogers). When we leave the apartment, our cellphones automatically switch to Rogers' wireless internet service. When we leave our apartment, we arm our security system through our computers, and we can disarm it when we're a block or so away through our Rogers internet connection.

In my previous post, I forgot to mention another useful feature of our cellphones, an app called "Tile". Tile uses little rectangular bluetooth trackers that you put wherever you wish — on your keyring, in a backpack, in your wallet, etc. Using your computer or a cellphone, you can ask Tile to tell you where your items are, and how long they've been there. A few weeks ago, my wife and I stopped at an A&W for lunch. When we got home, my wife realized that she she didn't have her backpack with her. Using her cellphone, she asked Tile where her backpack was. It was right where she left it 10 minutes earlier, at A&W. She called A&W and learned that another customer had turned it in to an A&W employee, and we walked back to pick it up. If you lose your cellphone, you can use your computer to locate it.

Bob

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasur ...
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
04 Oct 2018
06:40:48am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I got inspired, so here is a possible solution for anyone who is uncomfortable with a smart phone. To get the phone to power on and keep it running you must crank the handle on the side. Incoming calls ring the bells on top loud enough to wake the dead. Use the speaker to talk to your caller. But the best feature is that this is wireless.
Don

Image Not Found

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

04 Oct 2018
10:45:19am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

The posts above reminded me of some of the most important uses of a mobile device:
1) Alarm clock - I never buy bedside clocks anymore and don't have to worry about the hotel's crappy alarm clock not working properly
2) The flash was mentioned above - now that most folks don't smoke we use the flash at concerts and sporting events for encores/tributes etc.
3) Magnifying glass

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

04 Oct 2018
10:49:26am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Still most important for me is the map. One thing I never need to experience again:

My wife needs to have a map everywhere we go and have things planned out. I like to just explore. So on our honeymoon in London, for two weeks she carried 20-30 pounds of tour guides and maps in her backpack. Although I told her I wasn't carrying that load, I ended up with it at least half the time. That will never happen again if she has a phone with maps.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
Brechinite

Neddie Seagoon from The Telegoons
04 Oct 2018
11:48:00am

Auctions - Approvals

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Back in '72, while I was working in Canada, We had a phone just as 51studebaker describes (but not wireless).
We had to count the number of rings to see if the call was for us or somebody else up the line!!

AAHH! Memories!!

Like
Login to Like
this post

"StayAlert.......Control The Virus.......Save Lives."
Members Picture
larsdog

APS #220693 ATA#57179
04 Oct 2018
08:06:53pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Bob,

My comment was for Michael. He said he didn't have a landline.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."

www.larsdog.com/stam ...
Members Picture
ikeyPikey

08 Nov 2018
09:11:12pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

REI tells me that my REI credit card now comes with cellphone accident coverage, as long as I pay my monthly bill via their card.

Nice!

Of course, it would be even nicer if I had a phone that cost more than the fifty dollar deductible Winking

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like
Login to Like
this post

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Members Picture
tooler

09 Nov 2018
10:45:59am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I remember when you picked up the receiver, someone asked, number please.Surprise

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
snowy12

10 Nov 2018
06:31:28am

Auctions

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Like Michael we ditched our land line ,it was over $40-00 a month line rental and we used to make around $5-00 of calls at 40 cents a pop and most of the calls we received were spam .
So we opted for a voip phone it plugs in the modem we now pay $9-95 a month and 10c a call.
I do have a mobile also, as most of the time people want a phone number I give them my mobile,as our voip phone number is not in the phone book we get no spam calls at all.
I use my mobile to make calls ,send text and take photos even used it to record bird songs in the back garden ,checking my emails and play the odd game when I go on the train.I know it will do a lot more ,I just have to figure out how Hypnotized
Brian

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
michael78651

10 Nov 2018
08:13:01am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

I agree that "smart" phones are useful, but they are being abused, or maybe they are abusing in nature. I was in a restaurant last night for supper. A family of three came in and ordered food. The entire time, the three were using their own "smart" phones. There was very little conversation between the three.

When the food arrived, the father did not eat, instead he sat there texting. The mother and teen-aged daughter ate with one hand and texted with the other. Oh, and while they were doing all that, they kept an eye on the television as well. That was a wonderful family outing.

Technology can be a big help for people. However, when it is abused like the example I just gave, it is dangerous.

Like
Login to Like
this post

www.hipstamp.com/sto ...
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
10 Nov 2018
09:08:40am

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Same logic was said about television being abused (and rotting kids minds) in 1960 yet somehow we managed to mature into fairly decent generation. (But I guess that is debatable!)

I remember sitting in a meeting at a technology company in 1990 listening to a CEO who was beating the table saying, ‘the internet is just a fad’. We argued back and told him that the internet and ubiquitous computing was here to stay.

Ubiquitous computing, like the internet, is not going away. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing means having access to a computer anytime, anywhere, in any format.

The biggest current challenge is I/O (input/output) and new technologies will hurl us past these limitations. Projection 3D displays and voice recognition is making large strides which remove dependencies upon typing/swiping with fingers and trying to see tiny screens. (Think Dick Tracy watch but one that projects display screens any size you want and only using your voice to control the device.) So good news; our grandchildren’s kids will not be using smart phones.
Don

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
Members Picture
ikeyPikey

10 Nov 2018
01:28:49pm

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

"... our grandchildren’s kids will not be using smart phones ... "



The radical evolutionary biology approach is that we ourselves are just gene delivery systems, much as cigarettes have come to be viewed as (principally) nicotine delivery systems.

So our grandchildren’s kids are going to be digital/silicon delivery systems?

Good luck to them.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey
Like
Login to Like
this post

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Members Picture
snowy12

11 Nov 2018
07:15:42am

Auctions

re: Still no 'smart' phone ... the "What hasn't happened yet ?" thread

Several years ago my brother and I and our wives were on holiday in Kio Samui in Thailand .We were out for dinner in a restaurant ,a young Japanese at least I think they were couple sat at the next table ,they ordered their meal out came their mobile phones they were still on them when their meals came ,didn't even put them away.
Most annoying thing is people who walk and text at the same time and never look where they are going.
What did we do before mobile phones (besides look were we were going)
Brian

Like
Login to Like
this post
        

Contact Webmaster | Visitors Online | Unsubscribe Emails | Facebook


User Agreement

Copyright © 2024 Stamporama.com