Monday, April 1, 2013

luddite’s revenge







TO has steadfastly refused to surrender her old pc which even has, for gosh sakes’ a 3 ½ inch floppy drive.
Last year it was contract time so we upgraded our phones [free of charge] to a Sony mobile phone which is half androidy. [See, at least FruitCake is trying to get the hang of it.]

TO’s new phone is still in its packaging until I have a spare year when I can take her old phone to the new-phone-man and make sure we don’t lose her 9 million contacts in the changeover.



Last year, the day after her birthday, TO came home from work hinting about wanting an i pad for Christmas. [Of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her baby sister has an i pad, or the immeasurably competitive nature of their relationship.]

On one of the many days we took Miss Maude to the vet last year [puppy farm syndromes], I picked up a piece of paper about a competition to win an i pad. “Here,” sez I, “we can’t afford a sick dog and an i pad - if you want one, you’ll have to win it.”

She is as lucky in her life as I am lucky to know her, which is extremely lucky and so naturally she won an i pad. 24 hours after the cheesy promo photos were taken, i pad brought home and a lot of tapping and swiping done, she dumped it in my lap and said “Here, you have it.”

Smart nephew dropped in one night and, over time and with a little hint here and there from various smart people, she is now addicted to playing yahtze and chatting with people from all over the world.

I’m confident it’s only a matter of time before she asks me to change her phone over.

And maybe, just maybe, she will eventually upgrade her PC to a new gee whiz interactive touch screen version. It will be good if we can afford to do so soon, because her i pad-champ little sister is getting frustrated trying to tap/swipe all the stuff on her home PC screen before remembering she needs an old fashioned mouse. That would place TO a couple of points up on little sister!



6 comments:

  1. Would you really want a touch screen desktop computer? I certainly don't but I believe it is easy to download and app to make Windows 8 look like Windows 7. Of course if you are talking Apple, I know nuffin'.

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    1. Andrew, the chap I work for owns two companies, and one of them is in IT. Their current policy is to only install PCs with the CPU incorporated into the on-desk screen, [i.e. no box under the desk needed] but they are also chugging ahead with touch screen software in anticipation of a big change in the corporate sector.
      It's all PC based, and none of it apple.

      But no, I wouldn't want a touch screen PC. I'd wear myself out lifting my arm to touch it.

      As for me, when I get a new phone contract the first thing I do is cancel all services except Australian calls, and SMS. I didn't even know I was connected to the net a few years ago til I got a bill for data downloads [the accounts department asked me if I had a teenage son? ROFLMAO.]
      I swear I know nuffin about nuffin, all I do is answer the phone.

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  2. TO and I I have a lot in common FC..apart from the fact I did get an iPad for my birthday and I loooooooove it!

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    1. Grace, no sarcasm intended, I am very happy for both of you. All I want is something to read books on [if someone will show me how to do it].

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  3. As a determined technophobe I have so far resisted upgrading my non-smartphone, separate camera, and non-mouse computer screen. But today I witnessed the end of analogue TV as all the stations switched to digital only. End of an era? Or beginning of a new age?! You tell me!

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    1. LOL - one of the discussions on ABC this morning was about the moment "you" suddenly realised you were of another generation [i.e. I think they were really talking about "old"].
      A friend of mine [may she rest in peace] was forever saying "you remember when the Olympic games were in Melbourne... well..." and I would have to remind her I was in nappies and don't even remember wearing them.

      Change can be a milestone as much as a once in a lifetime event. Colour TV? B&W TV? Transistors replacing valves? Electricity?

      Do you have a work reference that says you were once a ledger machinist?

      "What's a pianola?" the young man asked. "An analogue ipod" sez I.

      C'mon Red, you tell me... when was the first time you realised you were of another era?

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