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Just today I got a new credit card. Instead of simply calling an 800 number to activate they instruct you to download the app, then scan the card. Nope nope nope, not going to go to all that trouble just to activate their card. So I looked again and sure enough, in smaller print there is an 800 number to call.
This frustrates me.
It takes all of 10 seconds to download an app. And once you have the app you can make payments, check statements and everything else from your phone.
Not usually, although today I am setting up a new PC with Win 10 on it and there any number of issues with it. This is not a tablet, it is not a phone, remove the options (or let me remove them) for those types of devices. Quit trying to grab my gmail accounts. I don't want Outlook, I don't want any of this Xbox junk.
Fortunately it can be set up to (mostly) look and run like Win 7.
Tried the Apple ecosystem and didn't care for it, after this I guess I go to Linux.
I had a HUGE learning curve to learn my smart phone and how apps worked.
Noe I rarely get on the desktop, I can do it from my smart phone.
I can play music via Pandora and YouTube. I can direct Pandora on what songs I like, YouTube I can load amusing or video that has been uploaded to YouTube.
If I can get the app to accept my number from the cable company I could watch tv via streaming on my smart cell phone. I stream on Roku, when cable is boring.i cam watch Netflix on my smart phone too, all for $10/month, movies and tv shows of all kinds of all ages for all ages.
I WON'T GET an Alexa, or echo any thing though.
I'm not ready to have a smart house lock me out when the power goes out or order and charge my credit simply because I used the words Amazon and toaster in the same sentence. Nor do I need a smart fridge to order food for me, just because I'm out doesn't mean I want to refill it!! And I like to try a variety of things that fit into the food budget my fridge may not know!
So I may have yo adapt as I'm only 54. , my OH is more resistant to the uses of a smart phone. But I've learned and adapted quite well.
Recently an interface asked for my 3 digit number from the back of my credit card. At the time, my number was 044. Tried to enter that and it shot back, "Number must be between 100-999."
WHAAAT?!?
Ended up using a different card with a number within the range this provider "wanted."
Not usually, although today I am setting up a new PC with Win 10 on it and there any number of issues with it. This is not a tablet, it is not a phone, remove the options (or let me remove them) for those types of devices. Quit trying to grab my gmail accounts. I don't want Outlook, I don't want any of this Xbox junk.
Fortunately it can be set up to (mostly) look and run like Win 7.
Tried the Apple ecosystem and didn't care for it, after this I guess I go to Linux.
Outlook is a fantastic program for email - I love it! Have used it for eons - at work and at home.
Spent many years working with and coding computers. It's not the technology that bothers me, but, the apparent 'need' of IT administrators to insist on a wide variety of password parameters (Caps, special characters, etc). Ironically, one can hardly remember all of these ever-changing passwords, thus, must keep an accessible list of passwords nearby .... somewhat contradicting the point of digital security.
I'm a retired software engineer, and I feel I should know a thing or two about how software is supposed to work. But I left the industry in the mid 2000s, and times have changed since the days of rigorous testing before programs (I guess they call 'em "apps" now) leave development and enter the field.
But these days I can hardly seem to get from Point A to Point B without some sort of software glitch, necessitating a call to the Help Desk.
How's technology working for YOU lately, now that (if) you're retired?
Yesterday I had to exchange my cable modem w/ telephony and it took me several phone calls and a lot of back and forth with the cable tech people to get me online - it wasn't so much my fault because of being not so tech savy - but the technicians because they weren't customer friendly, didn't know correct terminology (I had to explain the device I just picked up from the cable company), they didn't know exactly what needed to be typed into wifi settings.
Guess my point is that I'm not shy of new technology - just that there seems to be a lot of trail and error by the people who are being paid to support you with the technology.
At 79, I resisted a home computer until 2005, so I was 67. And to think I was married to a computer genius in the early 60's the days of the Univac computers.
I only want/need (now it's need) a computer for home and everything else out there I could care Zilch. I have long time friends who I would have so enjoyed emailing over the years and they are back East and some never got onboard.
Right now I'm dealing with a worn out on/off button on my Lenovo tower and only hope I can get it repaired and it won't cost me an arm and a leg. Waiting for a call back from a technician who knows a lot about these machines. A friend said there may be to turn on computer without the button but I don't know. It turns off when updates are done but overwise I keep it in sleep when I sleep.
No smart/dumb phones for this lady. My life is too simple at this point and I've been in the fastlane for many yrs. Retirement is just that. Love going at my pace.
. . .
So that brings me to my actual frustration with tech: it is so helpful & entertaining & addictive that I fear we are being manipulated, without realizing it, by those in charge or who want to influence us. Just a few hours ago the chimps in charge now ended Net Neutrality to allow corporate interests ever more influence over the digital landscape. People have shorter attention spans, we run to get our fix of what's happening on Facebook/Twitter right now & pile-on against events/villains, half of which aren't even real things. I won't join Facebook because of the huge privacy issues & fake information/rumors that get passed around us digital addicts next to the photos of our grandkids... insidious.
I can easily imagine that someone expressed pretty close to these sentiments when television showed up. Plus ca change . . .
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