View Full Version : I can't be trusted with an iPhone
I was sooooo enjoying my 2 week old iPhone.
But..........this morning, I wanted to transfer my pics on the phone to the computer. I don't know what happened.......maybe I just blacked out or my brain was taken over by aliens.......but I clicked on a button that moved my DH's iPhone stuff to mine. :(
The phone wouldn't let me even call with it. So I drove to the AT&T store and they said the Apple store would be better. (These places are about 28 miles away). The Apple store guy said, "Oh no problem.......just do this, this and this when you get home." Well, of course I forgot some of it and also couldn't find the screen he was looking at when I got back home.
So, I did a chat with an Apple tech.........for 2 hours. It wasn't easy for him, since I'm not real computer savvy.
We got all my previous stuff moved to iTunes, but for some reason, I couldn't download it back to my phone. (had something to do with "skipping" the request for a wifi paseword").
So this evening, DH spent about an hour and a half on it and finally got it to transfer to my phone..................BUT..........it was all the stuff from HIS iPhone.
I guess it serves me right for using things I'm not smart enough for. :(
DH thinks that for some reason, the Apple tech made a mistake. I don't know. I can't even guess.
At least I can still make calls on the phone!
I guess I'll chat with another Apple tech and see if we can save all my stuff. If not, I'll just start over........which won't be too bad. I will lose a couple neat pics.
Serves me right though, for having a smart phone in the first place. :~)
I don't have a smart phone because I refuse to spend time doing the things you've described.
When I retire and feel up to spending 2 hours on the phone with a techno geek is when I may get one.
See, gadgets were put out there for a number of reasons, but several of the top reasons are: 1) To make the company offering the latest gadget look superior. 2) to make the people who buy the latest gadget feel superior 3) To make money for the media carrying the advertising for the latest gadget 4) To get money away from the consumer, as if they already don't spend enough 4) And this is the relevant one to this thread, and of course it doesn't apply to me---to make many of the people who buy the latest gadget feel inadequate, frustrated and stooped(did I spell that correctly?)because they can't quite get it to work. They are further annoyed because the 300-page "user manual" was written by someone who speaks fluent Chinese, but English.....not so much. Those are the top reasons---and by the way--I am not "trying to be funny OR cute" . Thanks.
The iPhone doesn't have any official "user manual."
I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with your iPhone. That electronic stuff can be frustrating but when you find that one feature (or two, or 10) that makes your life simpler, easier or just plain more comfortable it is completely worth it.
Off to find a Level app to help a friend hang their work straight in a gallery show...who knew?
I had a smart phone for about two weeks, too. It was fun, but I realized I didn't need one--at least for the moment. The ideal customer is someone who is always on the move, which is definitely not me. For those people, they are invaluable--better than a Swiss army knife.
SteveinMN
8-14-14, 10:08am
The iPhone doesn't have any official "user manual."
Actually, it does :): Apple iPhone 7.1 User Guide (http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1565/en_US/iphone_user_guide.pdf)
That electronic stuff can be frustrating but when you find that one feature (or two, or 10) that makes your life simpler, easier or just plain more comfortable it is completely worth it.
Absolutely agree. It took a bit of work, but I managed to sync my calendar and address book across my iPhone, MacBook, and a third-party cloud service. Now no matter where I am, my one calendar and my one address book are with me -- and backed up. As a solution it may not rank up there with world peace, but it certainly makes my life simpler.
Well, after many more hours on the phone with tech support........this time with a more knowledgeable tech, we discovered none of my stuff had been backed up. So it was all gone. No biggie. The worse thing is all the pics I lost. One of those First World problems, right?
I wanted it mostly for weather and for gps and directions. Now I know to be absolutely, positively sure that I know what pressing a button will do. My DH does alot of things with it, but he has trouble communicating it to me.
I downloaded the user's manual, but this problem was something I needed more help with. These electronic things can definitely turn into monsters if you don't know much about how to operate them.
sweetana3
8-14-14, 12:58pm
I have found it just easier to do without and live like I have done for over 60 years. The minor inconvenience of not having a smartphone is made up with the simplicity and stress free life style of doing without. (does that sentence even make sense?)
I dont even want Windows 8 since the way I have my computer may take more time and keystrokes but is easy and familiar and I only use 10% or less of its capabilities.
gimmethesimplelife
8-14-14, 1:00pm
I have found it just easier to do without and live like I have done for over 60 years. The minor inconvenience of not having a smartphone is made up with the simplicity and stress free life style of doing without. (does that sentence even make sense?)
I dont even want Windows 8 since the way I have my computer may take more time and keystrokes but is easy and familiar and I only use 10% or less of its capabilities.Your sentence there makes perfect sense to me. Rob
I know it has recently caused me some angst, but I've thought about it, and I feel like there are still so many things in my life that I'm involved in and get joy from. I spend time on the computer, lots of time just looking up info on cooking, gardening, repairing, raising chickens, water garden problems, house repair, plumbing, etc., etc., etc. It's like having my own library.
And I do worry about having to suddenly make a trip to my children's cities myself, and I appreciate Siri telling me how to get there.
And it would have come in handy at the nursery, when I was trying to find out if certain plants were native.......since the staff didn't know. Little things like that save on returns...especially when I live far from most places.
I'm happy for all of you who don't have a need for it. I wonder if those of us with children feel a bigger need for it?
And really, this problem was all my fault. I did something stupid. I know better now.
There are alot of things in modern society that I've rejected and prefer living more simply. But the computer, phone, and my digital camera are parts I really like.
"Actually, it does : Apple iPhone 7.1 User Guide" - YAY!! I couldn't find one when I got mine 3 years ago!
I dont even want Windows 8 since the way I have my computer may take more time and keystrokes but is easy and familiar and I only use 10% or less of its capabilities.
As someone who has used computers for 35 of my 46 years on this planet I feel like windows 8 was not a step forward in the convenience department.* I tried using it for about a day when I recently got my new computer but then gave up and spent a couple of hours online figuring out how to make it function in a non windows 8 fashion. I opted not to totally eliminate 8 and now I feel like I sort of have the best of both worlds. In my day to day usage I don't use any of the 8 features, but when I need a particular control panel or something I can use the 8 search feature to find it much more quickly than pulling up the old main control panel.
*to be fair, both my current windows 8.1 and previous windows vista computers are certainly more user friendly than the TRS 80 my elementary school bought in 1979...
As someone who has used computers for 35 of my 46 years on this planet I feel like windows 8 was not a step forward in the convenience department.I agree! Over the past 20 or so years the various Windows releases have satisfied my inner Geek. When Win 8 was designed with a changed focus, from traditional PC's to touch screen devices such as smart phones and tablets, my enthusiasm for the platform faded.
Over the past 10 years I've played with various Linux flavors and watched as they became increasingly user friendly and intuitive. A few months ago, I finally abandoned Windows on my primary laptop and now dual boot into Ubuntu or Linux Mint. I still maintain Windows 2008 Server and Win 7 on a file server and several desktops, but my primary use machine will never see another Microsoft product.
I agree! Over the past 20 or so years the various Windows releases have satisfied my inner Geek. When Win 8 was designed with a changed focus, from traditional PC's to touch screen devices such as smart phones and tablets, my enthusiasm for the platform faded.
Over the past 10 years I've played with various Linux flavors and watched as they became increasingly user friendly and intuitive. A few months ago, I finally abandoned Windows on my primary laptop and now dual boot into Ubuntu or Linux Mint. I still maintain Windows 2008 Server and Win 7 on a file server and several desktops, but my primary use machine will never see another Microsoft product.
As my mother used to say long ago, when she didn't understand anything we were talking about "Where does an alien go to register?" :laff:
As my mother used to say long ago, when she didn't understand anything we were talking about "Where does an alien go to register?" :laff:
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
http://www.linuxmint.com/
Being open source, these are free products. Simply download the appropriate ISO file, burn it to a DVD and install on your PC. Easy Peasy!
Thanks Alan.........I'll take a look at those.
Cathy, I forgot to mention you can try either of those operating systems without committing to them. Once you've created an install DVD, boot your computer from it and it will load the operating system from the DVD, without overwriting any files on your computer. You can then play with it, explore to your hearts content before telling it to install.
Will she need to partition her hard disk, if she intends to use both?
Will she need to partition her hard disk, if she intends to use both?
Yes, but that's done automatically if you choose to install both and dual boot. I'm not sure why any average user would want to dual boot two different versions of Linux although it does make sense to dual boot Windows and Linux. I'm that odd outlier.
both my current windows 8.1 and previous windows vista computers are certainly more user friendly than the TRS 80 my elementary school bought in 1979...
Hmm ... I worked at a place that used "Trash-80s" to prepare documentation for typography. In today's age of 32GB smartphones, it seems strange that we were able to get production work done in 48 KB, but there was just so much the computer did and that was it. No nosing around for which of 200 fonts to use, no notifications popping up distracting us from the work at hand, and no continual releases of software (at several months to, sometimes, years between version releases, you had half a shot at optimizing your use of the application before it was updated).
I certainly don't want to go back to those days. Even a 128 KB Macintosh was like moving to the 23rd century compared to that. But we managed to get quite a lot done with very little hardware or software. I kinda miss that.
I've considered giving up my smart phone for budgetary purposes, but for business, I feel it's important to be able to respond quickly to clients when I'm on the road.
I actually still love playing with it.. I love the kindle app, so I can read books while I'm in line at the supermarket, and I love my Dave Ramsey app so I can listen to his radio shows in my car, and I love Evernote, and my task master app, and the alarm feature (I NEVER have to ask for wake-up calls anymore).
And to your point, kids don't call their parents anymore--they text them. I know you can do that on a regular phone, but it's SO cumbersome. The maps feature is also very handy and the camera is great (as long as you save your pictures ;)
Personally I can't imagine giving up my iPhone, at least at this stage of my life. It really does provide usefulness in so many ways. I'm sure there are people here who will decry the loss of time to be alone with my thoughts, but I love that I can use it to constantly have a stack of articles that I want to read with me, podcasts I want to listen to, etc. The latest use I've found for it is doing my expense report while waiting to board planes. Previously wasted time now spent productively, thus saving me time when I get back to the office.
As my mother used to say long ago, when she didn't understand anything we were talking about "Where does an alien go to register?" :laff:
Don't feel bad Cathy. I'm younger then you and I have no idea what any of this stuff means. Even Alan's response :-)! I'm like this one old guy I I once heard say - "I can push the internety button thingie and that's about it".
And no, I don't have a Smartphone either :-)!
ApatheticNoMore
8-18-14, 9:16pm
I agree! Over the past 20 or so years the various Windows releases have satisfied my inner Geek. When Win 8 was designed with a changed focus, from traditional PC's to touch screen devices such as smart phones and tablets, my enthusiasm for the platform faded.
The push toward touch screens is mostly so no No Such Agency can take your unique fingerprint plus measure skin resistence and track your stress and relaxation response minute by by minute in response to stimuli, and get instant (bio)feedback. Also it doubles as a polygraph so they can tell if you are lying. :laff:
Windows 8 is dumbed down for sure in terms of access to the file system etc.. I mean I know you could just call it a different style but I think it's very accurate to call it quite literally dumbed down (ooh push a button to shop ....), and Windows was never the geek favorite to begin with, so it is quite serious dumbing down.
Oh all the companies windows 8 pushes, all intelligence agency fronts :laff:
ApatheticNoMore
8-18-14, 9:29pm
Serves me right though, for having a smart phone in the first place.
possibly as I have no idea how difficult the transfer from a phone to a computer is (although I imagine you could always email it if nothing else worked) but the transfer from a digital camera (even the cheapest one) to a computer would be fairly easy. Just need something that plugs into the memory card one one side and into a usb slot on the other.
the transfer from a digital camera (even the cheapest one) to a computer would be fairly easy. Just need something that plugs into the memory card one one side and into a usb slot on the other.
Wires are so 2012! :D With a wedding and a big vacation and, we hope next year a grandchild coming up, DW wanted a real camera (not a cell phone camera). There now is a number of cameras available with WiFi which can connect to your home network (if you have one) or even to just your computer/tablet. No more wires! So now she has one of those.
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