Senior helpers: free text messaging & fullsize folding keyboard
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Why would texting cause any degree of uncomfortableness and/or social anxiety whatsoever?
It's not a matter of uncomfortableness or of social anxiety whatsoever pertaining to texting - perhaps for you it was,
but I tend to think you are being facetious and cloaking put-downs in inanities and talking down to people as if they have IQ's of 70, rather than people who have run companies, owned businesses, held expertise in many skilled fields, held well-paying positions in a very broad range of professions, have skill in law, medical fields, technology, etc.
Last edited by matisse12; 12-27-2016 at 12:37 AM..
My kids (20s) mostly communicate with each other via Snapchat and their Snapchat "stories".
I'm on Instagram which is a messaging app like Snapshot. While messaging apps are more vibrant and personal than texting, they require downloading the app and knowing usernames. I don't see them as the replacement for texting with those limitations unless one messaging app becomes a single platform everyone has, like texting.
Why would texting cause any degree of uncomfortableness and/or social anxiety whatsoever?
It's not a matter of uncomfortableness or of social anxiety whatsoever pertaining to texting - perhaps for you it was,
but I tend to think you are being facetious and cloaking put-downs in inanities and talking down to people as if they have IQ's of 70, rather than people who have run companies, owned businesses, held expertise in many skilled fields, held well-paying positions in a very broad range of professions, have skill in law, medical fields, technology, etc.
She has social anxiety, not that texting causes it - or whatever.
I have a sister that freaks out about things like this - texting. She finally got a cell phone but will at times refuse to turn it on because she doesn't want to know what might happen. For example if her grandkid is traveling somewhere. She would rather pretend to not know that he is flying out somewhere and then in case something happens to him, be "surprised" by the news of the disaster. Its weird.
She also doesn't want to spend the 5 dollars a month for texting. She can receive but not send. She is loaded but has a pay as you go phone. Hmm - maybe why she is loaded? But then I did the math and she ends up paying the same as me - and I have all the bells and whistles on my smart phone.
Why would texting cause any degree of uncomfortableness and/or social anxiety whatsoever?
...
I find texting (or even taking calls on a cell) like being on a leash where someone else can demand your attention. Except for a very limited number of people I don't take cell calls and will communicate via email on my schedule, not yours. Leave a message and I may get back to you when I choose.
I use email the same way I'd use a letter, for distance friends, chatty, conversational. I do love to type and feel very fluent on a real keyboard. I dislike phone conversations on cell phones, especially because the other person is often moving away from the phone, doing other things, etc.
I don't have a smartphone because I don't want a computer in my pocket, plus the screen is so small and my eyesight is already not so great. I have a flip phone for the car and will likely use it as my only phone when I move in retirement, but then, I don't use the phone for long conversations as a rule.
I will not text.
I agree with you BDL. Once land-lines were replaced by cell phones, conversations became unpleasant, for all the reasons you mentioned, PLUS the very poor audio quality. The days of long, chatty phone conversations are over. Now that my parents are gone, the need for long phone conversations are gone too. My sisters and I email---we all enjoy both writing and typing and used to snail-mail, pre-Internet. Now we can send pictures and keep up to date with long-ish emails. They text their kids mainly.
When we were selling a vehicle, I was amazed that potential buyers wanted to conduct the whole biz via text! Wouldn't you want to talk to the owner, in that case? I had to say over and over, just call me and I'll tell you all about the car. Texts were useful to me for "is now a good time to call" but anything more is just tedious. I can't handle those teensy keyboards!
We were forced to get a smart-phone and I absolutely hate it. Give me back my flip-phone any day!
Phone calls are a thing of the past for us now, as reception is so poor and so is the "smart-phone". So bizarre to have such a major form of communication---GONE, zap, just like that!!!
I agree with you BDL. Once land-lines were replaced by cell phones, conversations became unpleasant, for all the reasons you mentioned, PLUS the very poor audio quality. The days of long, chatty phone conversations are over. Now that my parents are gone, the need for long phone conversations are gone too. My sisters and I email---we all enjoy both writing and typing and used to snail-mail, pre-Internet. Now we can send pictures and keep up to date with long-ish emails. They text their kids mainly.
When we were selling a vehicle, I was amazed that potential buyers wanted to conduct the whole biz via text! Wouldn't you want to talk to the owner, in that case? I had to say over and over, just call me and I'll tell you all about the car. Texts were useful to me for "is now a good time to call" but anything more is just tedious. I can't handle those teensy keyboards!
We were forced to get a smart-phone and I absolutely hate it. Give me back my flip-phone any day!
Phone calls are a thing of the past for us now, as reception is so poor and so is the "smart-phone". So bizarre to have such a major form of communication---GONE, zap, just like that!!!
Cell phone service where I live is wonderful. But I hate talking on the phone.
My older sister can talk for hours. I used to talk a lot on the phone when I was young. I still "talk" to people all day online, text etc, just not on the phone -voice. Just a different way of communicating. Maybe it is easier to get away from people that love to chat on the phone.
As for the texting of the car sale - texts can be kept and saved for future use - make sure they have all the details of the purchase confirmed?
The full size blue tooth folding keyboard now makes using the ipad almost as good as using my laptop. I did have a BT keyboard/cover for my Nexus 7 but found typing on the small keyboard was not much better than pecking at the letters on the screen. I used to lug my Fujitsu 10" Tablet while travel mainly to use the keyboard but now can leave it at home and just use the ipad with this fullsize folding keyboard.
The big ipad screen and the keyboard make a world of difference in texting. It was quite painful before to text on the tiny smartphone screen without a real keyboard let alone fullsize.
After using the freetext app for few days, I started to appreciate the quick and immediate communication method of texting. As RB has noted, one can 'ping' the other party with the text message to ask either calling back or checking emails on the subject.
IMO, texting is much less intrusive than phone calls. It is not much different than emails, the receiver can choose to read or reply the text messages at his or her convenience. I also agree with Clemencia that unlike phone calls, text can be saved for the record or reference just like emails.
Bottom line is that I am very pleased with the purchase of the full size folding keyboard, and think the free texting through wifi is a wonderful app.
I'm glad to have the suggestions as I need to replace my smart phone pretty soon.
I've only texted once on this current phone so I don't really know how to do it. But with the next phone I realize that I am going to have to get it set up for texting and just learn to be more comfortable with it. I don't have very many people to text though.
Funny--on Christmas Day, four of us sat there on our phones! Oldest was 81--thrilled with her new phone and says she loves that she can take videos with it. We weren't doing the rude thing though. We were all just looking at each other's phones and comparing features.
I love my iPad Mini and Snugg keyboard cover case. Not a full size like a PC but it sure beats typing on a phone.
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I had to say over and over, just call me and I'll tell you all about the car. Texts were useful to me for "is now a good time to call" but anything more is just tedious. I can't handle those teensy keyboards!
