How do you keep up with technology?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Many moons ago, I was one of the first on my block to get a computer. That was 30-40 years ago. The other day , I had to get a car inspection sticker. I had to give my phone to the clerk, so he could copy the info- I didn't know how. It dawned on me- how do you keep up with technology? Yeah, there are some scientific type sites, but I don't have a doctorate in computerese.
How do you keep up with technology?
 

I tend to pass it all by until I know that I need something. For home maintenance, or light construction, or gardening, wood cutting, and welding. I've always invested only in what I needed. I use a wide range of tools, from the commonest hand tools, to cordless, to motorized equipment.

Used a computer at work in a job I had in the mid '80s. Bought a desktop model in 1990 when I had my first independent contract to assemble a database. Laptops after that, upgrading those when one finally developed too many issues to hang onto it. Our TV and kitchen stove aren't the latest iteration. Beyond our simple needs, I don't follow the offerings of the marketplace.
 

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If you mean keep up in the sense of information, yes, I am very interested in new tech. I have an old windows 10 laptop that is jerry rigged to have everything work. But, I do experiment a lot with AI, and different kinds of software. I have lost interest in games of any kind. I use to play computer golf and was addicted to it for about a year. :)
 
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I canā€™t keep up. Reached that point several years ago. Now I listen to a couple of tech podcasts.
 
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TheOtherRick said:
I wait until I need to do something to learn new things then it's off to youtube or Google.
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Same here; I use YT and Google a lot. And I'm really lucky that I found a good computer tech for hire; he's wonderful and gives senior discounts. I also like that he'll come to the customer and do the work at the customer's house, so no having to unhook your stuff and haul it in to a computer shop.
 
You know the best way to enjoy 5 G is to piggyback your iPad to your phone to your Wi-Fi. I only have 2 bars of Internet at my place on my phone but when I piggyback it with my 12 Pro iPad or 9.7 it immediately shows 5G on my phone. Maybe 5G isn't what its bragged to be in Burrough living away from the Towers of Big - Lil City Centers. 2 - 4 G were always great here. I changed my Cell because of their poor coverage even. If I travel, I always have an iPad with me to piggyback with for great coverages. Most likely they have better antenna.
 
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I use youtube and searching the internet a lot , too. There are some good channels on youtube just to help seniors with leaning new tech, and I try to keep updated when I see new videos that look interesting.
Otherwise, I just search for answers when something is not working right.
My kids are my Gurus, but the first thing they will ask me is ā€œDid you google it, Mom ?ā€. So I have to have at least tried my best before I ask for help, and be able to explain what I tried and why it didnā€˜t work, and then they will help me.
(I DID teach them to be independent thinkers, so this is what i would expect them to do.)
 
I'm so used to Windows 7, I am dubious about upgrading. My old computer probably couldn't run any higher versions, but I don't have to worry about the monthly updates that used to take hours to download and install.

BTW - I still have a CRT TV set. When the cable guy was here last, he said they are phasing out traditional cable boxes and going to XUMO. My TV will then become useless as XUMO requires an HTMI hookup which my antique doesn't have.
 
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You need an email address to be a member on this forum, I haven't a clue what my email address is, it was set up for me and it's been dormant ever since. It doesn't bother me that technology has passed me by, or that my mail is the postal version. My so called smart phone, fitted with all the whistles and bells can do everything that you ask, but you have to know how to ask, so my poor phone just voice calls and texts. Ninety-five percent of those texts are incoming, I answer them by returning a phone call. What texts I do send amount to something like: "OK!"
Technology illiterate I may be, but my written correspondence never gets ignored, so I just go on using snail mail.
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When I can't figure something out, I wait until my daughter comes around. She lives about 25 minutes away. She is a whiz with computers.

I carry a pocket calendar and have a lot of phone numbers in the back of it.
 
I'd get a new flat screen TV, but what would I do with the Panasonic CT-27SF11S27" CRT. It weighs about 50 pounds, so I can't move it. It's in the same spot where the movers placed it. I've been dusting around it for over 2 years. Nobody wants an old CRT TV and to being it to a recycle center costs a LOT.
 
debodun said:
I'd get a new flat screen TV, but what would I do with the Panasonic CT-27SF11S27" CRT. It weighs about 50 pounds, so I can't move it. It's in the same spot where the movers placed it. I've been dusting around it for over 2 years. Nobody wants an old CRT TV and to being it to a recycle center costs a LOT.
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Do you have Best Buy in your Area?

Will Best Buy take down my old TV?
$59.99 haul-away with replacement product

We will haul away a TV from your home for $59.99 when a replacement product is delivered by Geek SquadĀ® or Best Buy Home Delivery. Then we will make sure it is properly and safely recycled.
 
I have a desk top PC. An iPad, Radio and TV!

That is all the "technology I now have and all I care to have!

Thanks anyway...
 
I struggle but, I do my best. We have things we have to do on the computers at work. I am one of the lucky ones to be reasonably literate. The others must be baby sat which I find to be a bit ridiculous.
 
Not only is technology hard to keep up with because it changes day to day, but it's expensive. Why is it necessary to spend $50 or more on Alexa just to ask a question? I don't get spending $1,000 or more for a phone. Is Sirius XM really necessary in your car? Is an Apple watch worth spending $400+? Why does a new car have so much technology built in that you don't really need? Because it costs a bundle and the dealer's and manufacturers are the only ones that make any money while you spend, spend, spend. It's the American way :)
 
Colleen said:
Not only is technology hard to keep up with because it changes day to day, but it's expensive. Why is it necessary to spend $50 or more on Alexa just to ask a question? I don't get spending $1,000 or more for a phone. Is Sirius XM really necessary in your car? Is an Apple watch worth spending $400+? Why does a new car have so much technology built in that you don't really need? Because it costs a bundle and the dealer's and manufacturers are the only ones that make any money while you spend, spend, spend. It's the American way :)
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Those are just ways for them to empty our pocket books.
 
I spent my working life in I.T and electronics. Now I do without technology as much as possible. I'm 73 so for most of my life a lot of modern gadgets didn't even exist. I got by without without them, so I recon I can do without most of them now. If I feel I do need some gizmo, I wait till they start appearing on eBay or charity shops and buy it cheap.
 
papa tiger said:
You know the best way to enjoy 5 G is to piggyback your iPad to your phone to your Wi-Fi. I only have 2 bars of Internet at my place on my phone but when I piggyback it with my 12 Pro iPad or 9.7 it immediately shows 5G on my phone. Maybe 5G isn't what its bragged to be in Burrough living away from the Towers of Big - Lil City Centers. 2 - 4 G were always great here. I changed my Cell because of their poor coverage even. If I travel, I always have an iPad with me to piggyback with for great coverages. Most likely they have better antenna.
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I have 5G as standard here...
 
I'm no good at technology I'm the first to admit. ..and it was easy to leave it to my husband who is very technically minded... so since he's been gone, I've had to learn a whole load , sometimes with the help of my Daughter who lives 2 hours away.. but she can be very impatient so I try not to ask her, and instead use the internet to do what I can when it's needed.

What I do miss is being ahead of the technology game, because the estranged O/h always knew about new things before the majority knew.. so we'd upgrade early..or at the very least he would explain the technology to me and why we would need it, ... now I find myself behind the game... at times..
 

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